Pomegranate half hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Pomegranate half: preview of the stitched design

A pomegranate is cut in half and seen face on. The rind is one round band of brick red satin stitch, and the crown, three points of the same satin stitch, stands on top of it. Inside the rind forty-eight red seeds are set in three rings, twenty-four in the outer ring, sixteen in the middle one and eight in the inner one; each seed is a teardrop of satin stitch with its narrow end toward the middle. One gold French knot marks the heart of the fruit.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a fifth of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop; from a 6 inch hoop up some of the satin stitches are long.

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)	1.4 × 1.8 in	3.6 × 4.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 2.8 in	5.6 × 7.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.9 × 3.7 in	7.4 × 9.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.6 × 4.6 in	9.1 × 11.7 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.1 × 6.4 in	13 × 16.3 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 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 inch hoop the French knot is drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for it 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 355 Dark Terra CottaCrown and rind
DMC 304 Medium RedSeeds
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawHeart

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 strandsCrown, rind, seeds
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsHeart

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.