Wheel of four shamrocks hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Wheel of four shamrocks: preview of the stitched design

Four shamrocks stand on one ring and point up, down, left and right, so the whole makes a wheel. Each shamrock has three heart-shaped leaves in slanting satin stitch, the leaf at the tip light green and the two at its sides dark green, on a short stem stitch stalk. A smaller satin stitch leaf, half light green and half dark green, sits outside the ring between each two shamrocks. The ring is dark green stem stitch and holds a flower of four light green satin stitch petals. Gold French knots mark the center of the flower and the place where the three leaves of each shamrock meet.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

3 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)	1.7 × 1.7 in	4.3 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.5 in	6.4 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.3 in	8.4 × 8.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.2 in	10.7 × 10.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 5.8 in	14.7 × 14.7 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenRing, stalks, side leaves of each shamrock and darker half of each leaf between the shamrocks
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenTip leaf of each shamrock, lighter half of each leaf between the shamrocks and flower in the ring
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawKnots

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 strandsRing, stalks
Satin stitch 2 strandsShamrock leaves, leaves between the shamrocks (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), flower in the ring
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots

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.