Rainbow flower of life hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Rainbow flower of life: preview of the stitched design

The flower of life is a net of 90 whole petals in a double hexagon: each petal is two curved lines of back stitch from one point of the figure to the next, colored in four rings from purple in the middle through blue and green to gold at the edge. A red French knot sits on each of the 37 points where the petals meet, and the frame is two lines of red stem stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Dozens of French knots.

5 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches and knots:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.6 in	4.8 × 4.1 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.5 in	7.1 × 6.4 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.3 in	9.7 × 8.4 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 4.1 in	11.9 × 10.4 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.6 × 5.7 in	16.8 × 14.5 cm

In a 3 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 208 Very Dark LavenderInner petals
DMC 336 Navy BluePetals third from the outside
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenPetals second from the outside
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawOuter petals
DMC 304 Medium RedFrame and knots

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

Back stitch 2 strandsPetals
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsFrame
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots

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.