Starry pine forest hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Starry pine forest: preview of the stitched design

This is a pine forest for a round hoop: five pine trees in three sizes, the tallest in the middle, stand under an arch of five stars, inside a ring. Every pine is tiers of satin stitch on a short trunk, the stars and the bands of the ground are satin stitch, and the ring is a line of stem stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

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)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.8 in	12.2 × 12.2 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.7 × 6.7 in	17 × 17 cm	11/16 in (17 mm)

In a 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 3852 Very Dark StrawStars
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownTrunks of the pines
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker green pines and ring
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter green pines and darker half of the ground
DMC 989 Forest GreenLighter half of the ground

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 strandsStars, trunks of the pines, pines, ground
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing

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.