Wagon wheel with twelve spokes hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Wagon wheel with twelve spokes: preview of the stitched design

A wagon wheel is seen face on. Twelve rust spokes at equal steps run from the hub out to the wooden rim, which is outlined by two rings of brown stem stitch, with six short lines across it where its wooden parts join. A gold French knot rivet sits on the rim at the head of every spoke. Outside the rim the gray iron tire is one band of satin stitch all the way around. The hub is outlined in brown stem stitch and holds a rust hub band around a gold axle cap. The spokes, the iron tire, the hub band and the axle cap are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a fifth of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop; from a 6 inch hoop up some of the satin stitches are long.

4 colors of floss and 3 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 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.8 in	7.1 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.7 in	9.4 × 9.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.6 in	11.7 × 11.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 6.5 in	16.5 × 16.5 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) across. Satin stitches longer than about 12 mm (just under 1/2 in) tend to work loose: divide the shape into sections, or work it in long and short stitch.
In a 3 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaSpokes and hub band
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownWooden rim and hub outline
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayIron tire
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawRivets and axle cap

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 strandsSpokes, iron tire, hub band, axle cap
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsWooden rim, hub outline
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsRivets

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.