Pistil stitch starflower hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Pistil stitch starflower: preview of the stitched design

A starflower is built of forty-eight pistil stitches that spring from a ring at the center at equal steps all the way round. Each pistil stitch is a straight stalk with a knot at its tip, and the stitches are navy and teal by turns. Their lengths rise and fall in order, so the knots of the pistil stitches lie along the outline of a star of eight points, with a navy knot at the tip of every point. Pistil stitch does most of the work. The ring at the center is gold stem stitch, and the knots at the center are gold French knots that fill it.

Size and details

Intermediate. Dozens of knots.

3 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.7 in	6.9 × 6.9 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.7 in	9.4 × 9.4 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.6 in	11.7 × 11.7 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 6.4 in	16.3 × 16.3 cm

In a 3 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 336 Navy BlueNavy stalks of the pistil stitches and navy knots of the pistil stitches
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTeal stalks of the pistil stitches and teal knots of the pistil stitches
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawRing at the center and knots at the center

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

Pistil stitch 2 strandsStalks of the pistil stitches, knots of the pistil stitches
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing at the center
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots at the center

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.