Plump bumblebee hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Plump bumblebee: preview of the stitched design

A bumblebee is seen from straight above, round and plump, with its four wings spread. The head, its two eyes, the gold and brown thorax (the middle of the body) and the bands of the abdomen, gold and brown with a cream tail end, are satin stitch laid along the body like fur. The wings are outlined in stem stitch with veins of back stitch, and the feelers and six jointed legs are stem stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 4 inch hoop up.

6 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)	1.9 × 1.4 in	4.8 × 3.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.1 in	7.1 × 5.3 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 2.8 in	9.7 × 7.1 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 3.5 in	11.9 × 8.9 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.6 × 4.9 in	16.8 × 12.4 cm	13/16 in (21 mm)

In a 5, 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownFeelers, legs, eyes, brown bands of the abdomen and brown thorax
DMC 336 Navy BlueOutlines of the hind wings and outlines of the fore wings
DMC 3755 Baby BlueHind wing veins and fore wing veins
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownHead
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold band of the abdomen and gold thorax
DMC 543 Ultra Very Light BeigeCream bands of the abdomen

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 strandsFeelers, legs, outlines of the hind wings, outlines of the fore wings
Back stitch 2 strandsHind wing veins, fore wing veins
Satin stitch 2 strandsHead, eyes, bands of the abdomen, thorax

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.