Pointed Dresden plate hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Pointed Dresden plate: preview of the stitched design

A Dresden plate has twenty pointed blades round a middle ring, the seams in back stitch and the ring in stem stitch. Every other blade is filled with pink satin stitch laid across it, and inside the ring is a gold flower of ten satin stitch petals, one pointing to each filled blade, round a small pink disc of satin stitch.

Size and details

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

3 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)	1.4 × 1.4 in	3.6 × 3.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 2.2 in	5.6 × 5.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.6 × 3.6 in	9.1 × 9.1 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5 × 5 in	12.7 × 12.7 cm	5/8 in (16 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 5/8 in (16 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 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseDark blades and center of the flower in the middle
DMC 336 Navy BlueSeams and middle ring
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawFlower in the middle

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 strandsDark blades, flower in the middle, center of the flower in the middle
Back stitch 2 strandsSeams
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsMiddle ring

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.