Satellite with solar panels hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Satellite with solar panels: preview of the stitched design

A satellite is seen from the front, the same left and right and top and bottom. The body of the satellite is an upright navy outline with a gold band at each end. The dish in its middle is a navy circle around a gold ring and a coral dot. A navy arm on each side holds a solar panel of nine square blue cells. A navy aerial with a coral knob stands above the body and another below, and a four-pointed yellow star sits at each corner. The outline of the body and the circle of the dish are stem stitch, the ring of the dish is chain stitch, and all the other parts are satin stitch.

Size and details

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

5 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)	1.8 × 1.5 in	4.6 × 3.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.2 in	6.9 × 5.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 2.9 in	9.4 × 7.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 3.6 in	11.7 × 9.1 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 5.1 in	16.3 × 13 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 336 Navy BlueArms of the panels, aerials, outline of the body of the satellite and circle of the dish
DMC 3755 Baby BlueCells of the solar panels
DMC 351 CoralKnobs of the aerials and dot in the dish
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawBands of the body and ring of the dish
DMC 726 Light TopazStars

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 strandsArms of the panels, cells of the solar panels, aerials, knobs of the aerials, bands of the body, dot in the dish, stars
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutline of the body of the satellite, circle of the dish
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing of the dish

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.