Ring of feathers hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Ring of feathers: preview of the stitched design

Ten feathers point outward in a ring from a medallion: a round jewel, a ring of ten pearls and a rim on which every quill ends. Each feather is one flowing outline parted by curved barbs into four bands of satin stitch, laid along the barbs to either side of a shaft of satin stitch, with a small cap of satin stitch on its tip; the rim is a line of satin stitch, the jewel is satin stitch and the pearls are French knots.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a quarter of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop.

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)	1.8 × 1.9 in	4.6 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.9 in	7.1 × 7.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.9 in	9.4 × 9.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.8 in	11.7 × 12.2 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 6.8 in	16.3 × 17.3 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

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 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTeal feather barbs and feather tip
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold feather barbs and jewel in the middle
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RosePink feather barbs and pearls
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownFeather shaft and rim of the medallion

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 strandsFeather barbs, feather shaft, feather tip, rim of the medallion, jewel in the middle
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsPearls

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.