Wreath of buttons and leaves hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Wreath of buttons and leaves: preview of the stitched design

Six buttons sit at equal steps round a wreath. The stem of the wreath is dark green stem stitch, and between each two buttons it carries four satin stitch leaves, a pair that opens outward and a pair that opens inward, each leaf half dark green and half light green. Four-hole and two-hole buttons come by turns: pink at the top, then gold, teal, pink, teal and gold going round. Every button is a rim of satin stitch round dark green French knots for its holes, and each two-hole button has a sunk face outlined in stem stitch. The open middle takes a name or a date.

Size and details

Easy. Short satin stitches, no shading.

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)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.7 in	6.6 × 6.9 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 3.6 in	8.9 × 9.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.4 × 4.4 in	11.2 × 11.2 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.2 × 6.2 in	15.7 × 15.7 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)

In a 3 or 4 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 GreenStem of the wreath, darker half of each leaf, holes of the four-hole buttons and holes of the two-hole buttons
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseButton at the top, button at the foot and sunk face of the button at the foot
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawTwo upper side buttons and sunk faces of the two upper side buttons
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTwo lower side buttons

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 strandsStem of the wreath, sunk faces of the two-hole buttons
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), rims of the four-hole buttons, rims of the two-hole buttons
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsHoles of the four-hole buttons, holes of the two-hole buttons

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.