Sun wearing sunglasses hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Sun wearing sunglasses: preview of the stitched design

A sun wears sunglasses. The face is a ring of chain stitch with twelve pointed rays round it, long and short by turns, each a full shape worked across in satin stitch. The two shaped lenses of the sunglasses are satin stitch, joined by a small arched bridge in stem stitch, and the broad smile is a curve of stem stitch with a small round of satin stitch for the cheek at each end.

Size and details

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

4 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)	1.6 × 1.8 in	4.1 × 4.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.8 in	6.1 × 7.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 3.7 in	8.1 × 9.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 4.6 in	10.2 × 11.7 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.6 × 6.5 in	14.2 × 16.5 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 StrawFace and short rays
DMC 922 Light CopperLong rays
DMC 336 Navy BlueSunglasses, bridge of the sunglasses and smile
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseCheeks

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 strandsFace
Satin stitch 2 strandsLong rays, short rays, sunglasses, cheeks
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBridge of the sunglasses, smile

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.