Pyramid of six toy blocks hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Pyramid of six toy blocks: preview of the stitched design

Six toy blocks are stacked in a pyramid, three below, two on them and one on top, seen from the front and a little from above. Each block has a teal frame inside its edge and one mark in the middle: a gold star, a red heart and a gold star along the bottom row, two gold crescent moons that mirror each other in the middle row, and a red heart on the top block. The tops of the blocks show in solid teal wherever no block stands on them. The blocks are outlined in navy stem stitch and the frames are back stitch; the tops of the blocks, the hearts, the moons and the stars are satin stitch.

Size and details

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

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)	1.4 × 1.5 in	3.6 × 3.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.1 × 2.3 in	5.3 × 5.8 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.8 × 3 in	7.1 × 7.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.5 × 3.8 in	8.9 × 9.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5 × 5.3 in	12.7 × 13.5 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.

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

What you need

DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTops of the blocks and frames of the blocks
DMC 304 Medium RedHearts
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawMoons and stars
DMC 336 Navy BlueBlocks

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 strandsTops of the blocks, hearts, moons, stars
Back stitch 2 strandsFrames of the blocks
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBlocks

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.