Seven plume fan with handle hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Seven plume fan with handle: preview of the stitched design

A fan of seven plumes is seen from the front, spread in a half circle over a long handle. Each plume stands on a gold stick that runs out from the round gold head of the fan, which has a purple rivet at its center. A plume is a drop outlined in green chain stitch, with a second line of gold chain stitch inside it and a purple eye in its wide end. Below the head of the fan a gold collar tops the purple handle, which swells toward its foot and ends in a gold cap. The sticks, the eyes, the head, the rivet, the collar, the handle and the cap are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

3 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.7 in	4.6 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.5 in	7.1 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.3 in	9.4 × 8.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.1 in	11.7 × 10.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 5.8 in	16.3 × 14.7 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.

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

What you need

DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawSticks of the plumes, second line of the plumes, cap of the handle, collar of the handle and head of the fan
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenPlumes
DMC 208 Very Dark LavenderEyes of the plumes, handle and rivet

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

Satin stitch 2 strandsSticks of the plumes, eyes of the plumes, handle, cap of the handle, collar of the handle, head of the fan, rivet
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsPlumes, second line of the plumes

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.