Three stacked gifts hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Three stacked gifts: preview of the stitched design

Three wrapped gifts sit in a stack, the largest below, tied with one ribbon and a bow on top: the boxes and their lids are outlined in stem stitch, the ribbon that runs down the middle of all three is satin stitch, the large lower box has six stripes of satin stitch, the middle box a satin stitch heart to each side of the ribbon and the small upper box a satin stitch diamond to each side. The bow is satin stitch laid across the ribbon, with a round red knot at its middle, and its two tails fall over the small box.

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)	1.1 × 1.6 in	2.8 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.6 × 2.4 in	4.1 × 6.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.1 × 3.2 in	5.3 × 8.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.7 × 3.9 in	6.9 × 9.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.7 × 5.5 in	9.4 × 14 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenLower box
DMC 304 Medium RedMiddle box, hearts on the middle box and knot of the bow
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseUpper box
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenStripes on the large box and diamonds on the small box
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawRibbon, tails of the bow and loops of the bow

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

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBoxes
Satin stitch 2 strandsStripes on the large box, hearts on the middle box, diamonds on the small box, ribbon, tails of the bow, loops of the bow, knot of the bow

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.