Wild rose hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Wild rose: preview of the stitched design

A wild rose seen face on has five notched petals round a ring of stamens, with a bud and two matching leaves of three leaflets on one curving stem. Each petal is two halves of satin stitch slanting in to its crease, each leaflet is satin stitch with one half in a darker green, the bud, the flower center and the main stem are satin stitch, the stamens are French knots and the stalks are stem stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

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 × 1.9 in	2.5 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.6 × 2.8 in	4.1 × 7.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.1 × 3.8 in	5.3 × 9.7 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.6 × 4.7 in	6.6 × 11.9 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.6 × 6.6 in	9.1 × 16.8 cm	3/4 in (19 mm)

In a 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 GreenLeft leaf stalk, darker half of the upper leaflet of the left leaf, darker half of the lower leaflet of the left leaf, darker half of the end leaflet of the left leaf, right leaf stalk, darker half of the upper leaflet of the right leaf, darker half of the lower leaflet of the right leaf, darker half of the end leaflet of the right leaf, bud stalk, outer bud sepals and stem
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of the upper leaflet of the left leaf, lighter half of the lower leaflet of the left leaf, lighter half of the end leaflet of the left leaf, lighter half of the upper leaflet of the right leaf, lighter half of the lower leaflet of the right leaf, lighter half of the end leaflet of the right leaf and inner bud sepal
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseBud and petal
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawFlower center and stamens

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 strandsLeft leaf stalk, right leaf stalk, bud stalk
Satin stitch 2 strandsUpper leaflet of the left leaf (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), lower leaflet of the left leaf (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), end leaflet of the left leaf (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), upper leaflet of the right leaf (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), lower leaflet of the right leaf (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), end leaflet of the right leaf (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), bud, bud sepals, stem, petal, flower center
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsStamens

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.