Snake plant in a patterned pot hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Snake plant in a patterned pot: preview of the stitched design

A snake plant stands in a patterned pot. Seven upright blades rise from the rim of the pot, the tallest in the middle and the others shorter and leaning further out toward each side. The blades are filled with long and short stitch, light green and dark green by turns with a dark green one in the middle, and each is edged in gold stem stitch. The rust pot is outlined in stem stitch, with a satin stitch rim at the top and a satin stitch saucer at the foot. Across it runs a band of four gold satin stitch lozenges with a rust French knot between each one and the next, set between stem stitch lines.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch.

4 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.1 × 1.7 in	2.8 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.7 × 2.5 in	4.3 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.3 × 3.4 in	5.8 × 8.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.8 × 4.2 in	7.1 × 10.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4 × 5.9 in	10.2 × 15 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

In a 3 or 4 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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter green blades
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawEdges of the blades and lozenges on the pot
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker green blades
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaPot outline, lines of the band, knots on the pot, saucer and rim of the pot

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

Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsBlades
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsEdges of the blades, pot outline, lines of the band
Satin stitch 2 strandsLozenges on the pot, saucer, rim of the pot
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots on the pot

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.