Sunflower with two leaves hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Sunflower with two leaves: preview of the stitched design

The sunflower is seen from the front on its stem. Sixteen petals of satin stitch touch one another round a disc outlined in stem stitch, with nineteen French knots for seeds set in two rings about one in the middle. The petals are gold and yellow by turns down each side, the left side the mirror of the right, so the two at the top are both gold and the two beside the stem both yellow. The stem is satin stitch, and a matched pair of leaves in satin stitch grows from it.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

5 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 × 1.8 in	2.5 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.5 × 2.7 in	3.8 × 6.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2 × 3.5 in	5.1 × 8.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.6 × 4.4 in	6.6 × 11.2 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.6 × 6.2 in	9.1 × 15.7 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) 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.
In a 3 or 4 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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenStem and lighter half of each leaf
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker half of each leaf
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold petals
DMC 726 Light TopazYellow petals
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownOutline of the disc of the flower and seeds

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 strandsStem, leaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), petals
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutline of the disc of the flower
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsSeeds

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.