School bus hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

School bus: preview of the stitched design

A school bus seen from straight in front has a sign panel between four lamps under its roof and a mirror each side. The bus is outlined in stem stitch, with a windshield in two panes and a hood between two headlamps; the sign panel, the lamps, the stripe, the five bars of the grille, the mirrors, the bumper and the tires are satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

5 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)	1.3 × 1.5 in	3.3 × 3.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.2 in	5.1 × 5.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.6 × 2.9 in	6.6 × 7.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.3 × 3.7 in	8.4 × 9.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.6 × 5.1 in	11.7 × 13 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

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

What you need

DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayMirror arms, mirrors, grille bars and bumper
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawBody outline, marker lamps, hood outline, headlamps rims and headlamps
DMC 336 Navy BlueSign panel, stripe and tires
DMC 304 Medium RedWarning lamps
DMC 3755 Baby BlueWindshield

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 strandsMirror arms, mirrors, sign panel, marker lamps, warning lamps, stripe, grille bars, headlamps, tires, bumper
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBody outline, windshield, hood outline, headlamps rims

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.