Sun among four moons hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Sun among four moons: preview of the stitched design

The sun stands in a ring of four crescent moons and four stars. The sun is two rings of chain stitch, a gold one with a smaller orange one inside it, and sixteen satin stitch rays, long orange ones and short gold ones by turns. The four navy moons, their hollows turned to the sun, and the four gold four-pointed stars are satin stitch, and a French knot sits on each side of every star, between it and the moons.

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.

3 colors of floss and 3 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	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.8 in	7.1 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 4.7 in	11.9 × 11.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.6 × 6.6 in	16.8 × 16.8 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

In a 3 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 3852 Very Dark StrawSun, short rays, stars and small stars
DMC 922 Light CopperInner ring and long rays
DMC 336 Navy BlueCrescent moons

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

Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsSun, inner ring
Satin stitch 2 strandsLong rays, short rays, crescent moons, stars
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsSmall stars

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.