Twin cherries with leaves hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Twin cherries with leaves: preview of the stitched design

Two cherries hang side by side, each the mirror of the other. Their two brown stalks bow out from one short spur at the top, where a pair of leaves arches out to left and right. The cherries are red long and short stitch, each with one small pink shine in satin stitch near its top. The stalks and the spur are satin stitch, and so are the leaves, each leaf half light green and half dark green.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch.

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)	1.2 × 1.5 in	3 × 3.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.9 × 2.3 in	4.8 × 5.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.5 × 3 in	6.4 × 7.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.1 × 3.8 in	7.9 × 9.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.4 × 5.3 in	11.2 × 13.5 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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker half of each leaf
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownStalks and spur
DMC 304 Medium RedCherries
DMC 152 Medium Light Shell PinkShine on the cherries

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 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), stalks, shine on the cherries, spur
Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsCherries

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.