Pumpkin tied with a ribbon bow hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Pumpkin tied with a ribbon bow: preview of the stitched design

A pumpkin tied with a ribbon and a bow is seen from the front. The pumpkin is only outlined: its lobes are flowing lines of orange stem stitch. The ribbon round the pumpkin runs straight down the middle, from the knot of the bow to the foot of the pumpkin. The bow sits at the base of the stalk: the two bow loops spread left and right, each round an eye of bare cloth, and the two ribbon tails swing outward below them, one on each side, to notched ends. The stalk is brown satin stitch; the ribbon, the bow loops and the ribbon tails are teal satin stitch and the knot of the bow a darker teal.

Size and details

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

4 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)	1.6 × 1.2 in	4.1 × 3 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 1.9 in	6.1 × 4.8 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 2.5 in	8.1 × 6.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 3.1 in	10.2 × 7.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.7 × 4.3 in	14.5 × 10.9 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.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 922 Light CopperPumpkin
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownStalk
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseRibbon round the pumpkin, ribbon tails and bow loops
DMC 3808 Ultra Very Dark TurquoiseKnot of the bow

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 strandsPumpkin
Satin stitch 2 strandsStalk, ribbon round the pumpkin, ribbon tails, bow loops, knot of the bow

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.