Saturn with its ring hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Saturn with its ring: preview of the stitched design

A ringed planet sits between two arcs of stars. The globe is satin stitch in five curved belts, gold and tan by turns, and its one broad navy ring is a band of satin stitch that passes in front of it. Above the planet and below it stands an arc of three four-pointed stars in satin stitch with two French knots between them.

Size and details

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

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)	1.4 × 1.7 in	3.6 × 4.3 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.1 × 2.5 in	5.3 × 6.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.8 × 3.4 in	7.1 × 8.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.5 × 4.2 in	8.9 × 10.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.9 × 5.9 in	12.4 × 15 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.
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 336 Navy BlueRing
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawLighter belts of the planet
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownDarker belts of the planet
DMC 726 Light TopazStars and small stars

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 strandsRing, lighter belts of the planet, darker belts of the planet, stars
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsSmall stars

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.