Tied wheat sheaf hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Tied wheat sheaf: preview of the stitched design

A sheaf of wheat is tied at the waist: seven ears fan out above the tie, each of eleven pointed grains of satin stitch, on stalks of stem stitch over a bundle of straw in stem stitch that flares to the ground. The tie, its knot and its two ends are satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Short satin stitches, no shading.

3 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)	1.7 × 1.7 in	4.3 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.6 in	6.4 × 6.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.4 in	8.6 × 8.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.3 in	10.7 × 10.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.9 × 6 in	15 × 15.2 cm	5/16 in (8 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 3828 Hazelnut BrownStalks and straw outline
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGrains of wheat
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaTie, tie tails and tie 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

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsStalks, straw outline
Satin stitch 2 strandsGrains of wheat, tie, tie tails, tie 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.