Suzani medallion hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 6 kinds of stitch

Suzani medallion: preview of the stitched design

A large round flower of eight petals sits inside a scalloped ring, circled by a vine that carries four small pomegranates and four pairs of curling leaves with a bud between each pair. The rings of the flower, the vine and the pomegranates are chain stitch, as on a suzani, the embroidered cloth of Central Asia. The petals, the scallops and the leaves are stem stitch; the veins of the petals and the leaves and the stalks of the pomegranates are back stitch; the crowns and the flower center are satin stitch; the buds are lazy daisy stitches and the seeds and dots are French knots.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: line stitches and loops and French knots, with some short satin stitches; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

3 colors of floss and 6 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)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.8 in	12.2 × 12.2 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.7 × 6.7 in	17 × 17 cm	7/16 in (11 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 StrawFlower center, dots between the petals and pomegranate seeds
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaFlower rings, petals, petal veins, scalloped edge, pomegranates, pomegranate crowns and buds
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseVine, stalks, curling leaves and leaf veins

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 strandsFlower center, pomegranate crowns
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsFlower rings, vine, pomegranates
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsPetals, scalloped edge, curling leaves
Back stitch 2 strandsPetal veins, stalks, leaf veins
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsDots between the petals, pomegranate seeds
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsBuds

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.