Redwork hot air balloon hand embroidery pattern

Beginner · 1 color · 2 kinds of stitch

Redwork hot air balloon: preview of the stitched design

This is a redwork hot air balloon, the same on both sides. The balloon is broad at the top and narrows to its mouth, with a crown at the very top. Five seams run from the crown down to the mouth, and a row of six swags crosses the balloon above its middle. Four ropes run from the mouth down to the basket, which has a rim and a weave of three courses laid like bricks. The crown, the balloon, the mouth of the balloon and the basket are stem stitch; the seams, the swags, the ropes and the weave of the basket are back stitch. It is all one red thread, with no filled shapes.

Size and details

Beginner. Line stitches only, fewer than 450 stitches in all.

1 color of floss and 2 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.3 × 1.8 in	3.3 × 4.6 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.7 in	5.1 × 6.9 cm
5 in (13 cm)	2.6 × 3.6 in	6.6 × 9.1 cm
6 in (15 cm)	3.3 × 4.6 in	8.4 × 11.7 cm
8 in (20 cm)	4.6 × 6.4 in	11.7 × 16.3 cm

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

What you need

DMC 304 Medium RedCrown, balloon, mouth of the balloon, basket, seams, swags, weave of the basket and ropes

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 strandsCrown, balloon, mouth of the balloon, basket
Back stitch 2 strandsSeams, swags, weave of the basket, ropes

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.