Poppy coaster hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Poppy coaster: preview of the stitched design

A round coaster has one red poppy in the middle, eight leaves spread round it like a star with a French knot between each pair, and a ring with sixteen scallops at the edge. The poppy petals are long and short stitch in rust and a brighter red round a satin stitch center with French knot stamens, the leaves are satin stitch in a dark and a light green, and the ring and scallops are stem stitch. It is one of a set of flower coasters.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch; from a 6 inch hoop up the widest satin stitches are long.

5 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.6 × 1.6 in	4.1 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.5 in	6.4 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.3 in	8.4 × 8.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.1 × 4.1 in	10.4 × 10.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 5.8 in	14.7 × 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.
In a 3 or 4 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 989 Forest GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker half of each leaf, poppy center, ring and scallops
DMC 304 Medium RedRed poppy petals
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRust poppy petals and knots between the leaves
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawPoppy stamens

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 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), poppy center
Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsPoppy petals
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsPoppy stamens, knots between the leaves
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing, scallops

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.