Three herb pots on a shelf hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Three herb pots on a shelf: preview of the stitched design

Three flower pots of herbs stand on a shelf. Each pot is rust, a rim over two bands, and holds one sprig: the middle sprig is upright and the tallest, and the two outer sprigs lean outward. The herb leaves run up both sides of each stem to one leaf at the tip, each leaf in two halves, one dark green and one light green. The shelf is tan, and its gold edging hangs below in nine scallops. The stems of the herbs are stem stitch; the herb leaves, the rims of the pots, the flower pots, the shelf and the edging of the shelf are satin stitch, each leaf half slanted to the center vein.

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.

5 colors of floss and 2 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 × 2.9 in	7.6 × 7.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.8 × 3.6 in	9.7 × 9.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.3 × 5 in	13.5 × 12.7 cm	3/8 in (10 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStems of the herbs and darker half of each herb leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each herb leaf
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRims of the pots and flower pots
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownShelf
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawEdging of the shelf

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 of the herbs
Satin stitch 2 strandsHerb leaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), rims of the pots, flower pots, shelf, edging of the shelf

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.