Peony and forget-me-not wreath hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 8 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Peony and forget-me-not wreath: preview of the stitched design

Three peonies and three clusters of forget-me-nots are set in turn on a single round stem, with a pair of leaves between each flower and the next. The stem is stem stitch and the leaves are satin stitch in a dark and a light green; each peony is all satin stitch, rings of petals in blush pink, pale pink and deep rose round a gold center, and the forget-me-nots have blue satin stitch petals round yellow French knots. The open middle takes a name, a monogram or a date.

Size and details

Intermediate. Eight colors; from a 6 inch hoop up the widest satin stitches are long.

8 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.9 in	4.3 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.8 in	6.6 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.8 in	8.6 × 9.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.7 in	10.9 × 11.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6 × 6.6 in	15.2 × 16.8 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) across. Satin stitches longer than about 12 mm (just under 1/2 in) tend to work loose: divide the shape into sections, or work it in long and short stitch.
In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStem and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 3755 Baby BlueForget-me-not petals
DMC 726 Light TopazForget-me-not centers
DMC 152 Medium Light Shell PinkPeony back petals and peony center petals
DMC 3779 Very Light RosewoodPeony outer petals
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RosePeony inner petals
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawPeony centers

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsStem
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), forget-me-not petals, peony back petals, peony outer petals, peony inner petals, peony center petals, peony centers
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsForget-me-not centers

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.