Teacher’s apple hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Teacher’s apple: preview of the stitched design

An apple with a stalk and a leaf sits on two closed books, stacked and seen a little from above so the top cover, the banded spines and the page edges all show. The books and the apple are stem stitch outlines, the bands and page edges are back stitch, the stalk is satin stitch and the leaf is outlined with a back stitch vein.

Size and details

Easy. Stem stitch and back stitch, with a little satin stitch.

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)	1.4 × 1.3 in	3.6 × 3.3 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 1.9 in	5.6 × 4.8 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.9 × 2.5 in	7.4 × 6.4 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.6 × 3.1 in	9.1 × 7.9 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.1 × 4.4 in	13 × 11.2 cm	1/8 in (3 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 336 Navy BlueCover of the bottom book, bands on the bottom spine, pages of the bottom book, cover of the top book, bands on the top spine and pages of the top book
DMC 304 Medium RedApple and shine mark
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenStalk, leaf and leaf vein

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 strandsCover of the bottom book, cover of the top book, apple, leaf
Back stitch 2 strandsBands on the bottom spine, pages of the bottom book, bands on the top spine, pages of the top book, shine mark, leaf vein
Satin stitch 2 strandsStalk

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.