Three balloons tied with a bow hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Three balloons tied with a bow: preview of the stitched design

Three balloons are held on strings by one bow. The middle balloon stands upright and is outlined in pink; a balloon outlined in teal leans out to each side. Each balloon has a small neck in its own color and carries a daisy of eight petals: pink petals around a gold center on the middle balloon, teal petals around a gold center on each side balloon. Three straight gray strings run from the necks down to the knot of a pink bow with two tails. The balloons are stem stitch and the strings are back stitch; the necks, the daisies and the bow with its loops, knot and tails are satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

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)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.7 in	6.9 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.6 × 3.6 in	9.1 × 9.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.6 in	11.7 × 11.7 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 6.4 in	16.3 × 16.3 cm	7/16 in (11 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 414 Dark Steel GrayStrings
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseSide balloons, necks of the side balloons and petals of the side daisies
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawCenters of the side daisies and center of the middle daisy
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseMiddle balloon, neck of the middle balloon, petals of the middle daisy, bow tails, bow loops and bow knot

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

Back stitch 2 strandsStrings
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsSide balloons, middle balloon
Satin stitch 2 strandsNecks of the side balloons, petals of the side daisies, centers of the side daisies, neck of the middle balloon, petals of the middle daisy, center of the middle daisy, bow tails, bow loops, bow knot

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.