Topiary tree in a pot hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Topiary tree in a pot: preview of the stitched design

A topiary tree, a clipped ball of leaves on a slim trunk in a flower pot, has a bow tied round the trunk: the ball is a rosette of sixteen leaves in two rings round a berry, with eight more berries between the tips of the leaves, inside a scalloped edge. The leaves are fishbone stitch, the berries, the trunk, the bow and the rim of the pot are satin stitch, the edge of the ball and the pot are stem stitch, and the collar on the pot is back stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Stem stitch, fishbone stitch and back stitch, with some short satin stitches.

5 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	0.9 × 1.8 in	2.3 × 4.6 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.4 × 2.6 in	3.6 × 6.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	1.8 × 3.5 in	4.6 × 8.9 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.3 × 4.4 in	5.8 × 11.2 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.2 × 6.2 in	8.1 × 15.7 cm	1/4 in (6 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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownTrunk
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenEdge of the ball and inner leaves
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenOuter leaves
DMC 304 Medium RedBerries, tails of the bow, loops of the bow and knot of the bow
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaPot outline, collar of the pot and rim of the pot

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

Satin stitch 2 strandsTrunk, berries, rim of the pot, tails of the bow, loops of the bow, knot of the bow
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsEdge of the ball, pot outline
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
Back stitch 2 strandsCollar of the pot

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.