Windmill and tulips hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Windmill and tulips: preview of the stitched design

A windmill is seen from the front, the same left and right, with two tulips growing at each side. The tan tower tapers from the ground to a rust cap in level bands, with a brown round-headed door at the foot and a brown window above it. Four brown sails cross in an X on a hub in front of the cap: each sail is a satin stitch arm carrying a stem stitch frame crossed by back stitch bars. Each red tulip stands on a green stem stitch stem between two green leaves, and a green ground runs under it all. The bands of the tower, the door, window, cap, hub, leaves, tulips and ground are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 4 inch hoop up.

5 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)	1.6 × 1.4 in	4.1 × 3.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.1 in	6.1 × 5.3 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 2.9 in	8.1 × 7.4 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 3.6 in	10.2 × 9.1 cm	11/16 in (17 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.7 × 5 in	14.5 × 12.7 cm	15/16 in (24 mm)

In a 5, 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.

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

What you need

DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownBands of the tower
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownDoor, window, frames of the sails, bars of the sails, arms of the sails and hub
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaCap
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLeaves, stems and ground
DMC 304 Medium RedTulips

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 strandsBands of the tower, door, window, cap, arms of the sails, hub, leaves, tulips, ground
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsFrames of the sails, stems
Back stitch 2 strandsBars of the sails

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.