Teacher’s apple and pencils hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Teacher’s apple and pencils: preview of the stitched design

An apple with a leaf to each side of its stalk stands in front of two pencils crossed behind it, over a cradle of laurel tied with a ribbon bow. The apple is outlined in stem stitch with a row of chain stitch inside it and a small heart of satin stitch in the middle, its leaves are fishbone stitch, and the pencils are satin stitch from point to eraser; the laurel leaves are fishbone stitch on stems of stem stitch, and the ribbon bow is satin stitch with a padded knot.

Size and details

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

6 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.5 × 1.4 in	3.8 × 3.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.1 in	5.8 × 5.3 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 2.8 in	7.9 × 7.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 3.6 in	9.9 × 9.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.4 × 5 in	13.7 × 12.7 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.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStems and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf and apple leaves
DMC 304 Medium RedBow, bow tails, bow knot, erasers, outer apple outline, inner apple outline and heart of the apple
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayPencil points and ferrules
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownPencil wood and stalk
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawPencils

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 strandsStems, outer apple outline
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), bow, bow tails, pencil points, pencil wood, pencils, ferrules, erasers, stalk, heart of the apple
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsBow knot
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsApple leaves
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsInner apple outline

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.