Stay spooky hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 6 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Stay spooky: preview of the stitched design

The words STAY SPOOKY stand in two lines of sturdy purple block capitals between two garlands of oak leaves, with a small heart at each side of STAY. Each garland has an orange pumpkin standing upright at its middle and a branch to each side with a pair of oak leaves, two acorns on stalks and a leaf at its tip. The letters, the hearts, the pumpkins and the acorns are satin stitch, the oak leaves are satin stitch in gold and rust, and the branches and acorn stalks are stem 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.

6 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)	1.6 × 1.7 in	4.1 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.6 in	6.1 × 6.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 3.4 in	8.1 × 8.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 4.3 in	10.2 × 10.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.6 × 6 in	14.2 × 15.2 cm	3/8 in (10 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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownBranches, stalks, acorn cups and pumpkin stalks
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold half of each oak leaf
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRust half of each oak leaf and hearts
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownAcorns
DMC 922 Light CopperPumpkin ribs
DMC 208 Very Dark LavenderLettering

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 strandsBranches, stalks
Satin stitch 2 strandsOak leaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), acorns, acorn cups, pumpkin ribs, pumpkin stalks, hearts, lettering

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.