Volleyball in laurel hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Volleyball in laurel: preview of the stitched design

A volleyball sits in a laurel wreath that rises from a star. The ball and its seams are stem stitch, three faces of three bands each whose seams meet in the middle of the ball; the wreath is two branches of satin stitch leaves, eleven pairs and a single leaf at the tip of each, that rise from a satin stitch star at the foot.

Size and details

Easy. Short satin stitches, no shading.

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)	1.8 × 1.7 in	4.6 × 4.3 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.6 in	6.9 × 6.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.6 × 3.4 in	9.1 × 8.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.5 × 4.3 in	11.4 × 10.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.3 × 6 in	16 × 15.2 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenLaurel branches and darker half of each laurel leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each laurel leaf
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawStar
DMC 336 Navy BlueBall outline
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseSeams

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 strandsLaurel branches, ball outline, seams
Satin stitch 2 strandsLaurel leaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), star

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.