Potted prickly pear in bloom hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Potted prickly pear in bloom: preview of the stitched design

A prickly pear grows in a patterned pot, its left half a mirror of its right. The lower pad is large and narrows to the rim of the pot; three upper pads sit on it, one upright on its top and one leaning out from each shoulder, and each carries a pink satin stitch flower of five pointed petals with a gold satin stitch center. The lower pad outline and the outlines of the upper pads are green stem stitch, with gold French knots in rows across the pads. The pot outline is rust stem stitch, its rim and saucer rust satin stitch, and its band holds three gold stem stitch scallops with a gold French knot in each.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: stem stitch and French knots, with some short satin stitches; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

4 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)	1.3 × 1.8 in	3.3 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.7 in	5.1 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.6 × 3.6 in	6.6 × 9.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.3 × 4.4 in	8.4 × 11.2 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.6 × 6.2 in	11.7 × 15.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

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 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseFlowers
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawCenters of the flowers, knots on the pads, scallops on the pot and knots on the pot
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenOutlines of the upper pads and lower pad outline
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaPot outline, lines of the band, saucer and rim of the pot

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 strandsFlowers, centers of the flowers, saucer, rim of the pot
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutlines of the upper pads, lower pad outline, pot outline, lines of the band, scallops on the pot
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots on the pads, knots on the pot

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.