Stitch up a mini forest of breathtaking botanical designs with this stunning embroidery pattern from Sophie Tarrant. With this beginner friendly embroidery design, you’ll sew detailed mushrooms, dainty greenery, and delicate floral patterns. Including some quick embroidery tips from the designer, this six-inch embroidery pattern would make enchanting wall art when displayed in a simple yet elegant wooden hoop.
Skill Level: Beginner
Finished Size: 6” diameter
Designer Notes:
- How to Transfer Your Design
- There are several ways to transfer an embroidery pattern onto fabric. You could trace the motif, by placing the pattern under the fabric and tracing over it using a lightbox or a bright window for visibility. Dressmaker’s carbon paper is another popular option – to do this, place a sheet of carbon paper between your fabric and the pattern, then trace the design with a stylus or a pen to transfer it. Alternatively, you can use an iron-on transfer pen or pencil to trace the design onto regular paper, then press it onto your fabric with a warm iron, transferring the lines directly.
- Why Not Sweep?
- When attaching fusible interfacing to your fabric, it’s important to press the iron down onto the material rather than sweeping it across. Pressing ensures even heat and pressure, which activates the adhesive on the interfacing and bonds it securely to the fabric. Sweeping the iron can shift the interfacing, creating wrinkles or bubbles that are difficult to remove and may affect the finish of your project. By lifting and pressing the iron in sections, you achieve a smooth, professional result without distortion or misalignment.
Materials:
- Fabric: Undyed muslin, 9” x 9”; felt, 6” x 6”
- Medium-weight fusible interfacing: 9” x 9”
- Embroidery floss: Red, dark amber, butter yellow, coral, dusky pink, mid-green, mint green, pale olive green, dark olive green, white
- Embroidery hoop: 6”
- PDF Template – This is located at the bottom of this page. Please see printing instructions below.
PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS:
Note: To download the template, click on the pattern download button at the bottom of the page. We recommend opening your pattern download using Adobe Acrobat.
Tools:
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Iron
- Embroidery needle
- Hot glue gun
Sewing Instructions:
- Before you begin, use the inner part of your hoop to draw a circle onto your felt – place this aside for now, as you’ll use it at the end of the project. Use an iron to attach the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the muslin fabric, making sure to press the material rather than sweeping the hot plate across it. Next, download and print the embroidery template, and transfer it onto the fabric using your preferred method (see Designer Notes above). Hoop the fabric, making sure the design is positioned in the center and the material is taut, like a drum.
- Thread your embroidery needle with one strand of red floss. Work a backstitch along the outline of the central mushroom’s cap, taking care to neatly tie the thread off at the back of the work at the start and end of each new strand of thread. To work a backstitch, bring your needle up through the fabric at the point you want to start sewing, then move it a little way along the line you’re working on and bring it back down, to make your first stitch. Bring the needle back up a little further along the line, then pass it back down through the same spot you just went into. Bring it back up through the fabric once more, again moving along the line by the same amount. Repeat, working up and down through the fabric in this way, to create a neat, solid line.
- Once the central mushroom’s cap has been stitched, repeat the same steps to work a line of backstitch along the left-hand mushroom’s cap in the same way. Now, thread one strand of dark amber floss onto your needle and work along the stems and gills of each mushroom, still using backstitch. Finally, work over the entirety of the third mushroom in the same way, using our pictures as a guide.
- Now, it’s time to add the spots to your mushroom caps. Thread your needle with two strands of red floss, and work a French knot over each of the dots that decorate them. To work a French knot, bring your needle up through the fabric where you want the knot to be, and hold the thread taut with your non-dominant hand. Wrap the thread around the needle three times, then gently insert the needle back into the fabric very close to where it came out (but not in the exact same hole – this will prevent the knot from pulling through). While doing this, keep the thread taut but not too tight to avoid tangling. Pull the needle and thread through to the back of the fabric, and a small, neat knot will form on the surface. Repeat until each dot is covered with a neat French knot.
- With your mushrooms complete, it’s time to add the mini flowers that are scattered across the design, using a lazy daisy stitch. Begin by threading your needle with one strand of butter yellow floss. Pick which flower you want to start with and bring your needle up through the fabric at the base of one of its petals. Insert the needle back into the same hole (or very close to it), without pulling the thread all the way through – this should create a small loop on the surface. Bring the needle back up through the fabric at the tip of the same petal, catching the loop as you go. Secure the loop by inserting the needle back through the fabric again just outside the tip of the petal, then pull it taut. Repeat this process to add the rest of the flower’s petals in the same way. Once your first flower is complete, tie the thread off at the back of the work and move onto the next. Repeat these steps using butter yellow and coral floss to add the rest of the mini flowers in the same way.
- Next, thread your needle with one strand of dusky pink floss and backstitch over the small flower stem to the left of the mushrooms. Then, thread your needle with two strands of mid-green floss and backstitch along the stem of the left-hand branch. Once the stem is complete, outline each of the leaves in one strand of the same green floss, then work a line down the middle of each one. Finally, fill in the veins of each leaf using single, straight stitches.
- Work over the leaves and stems on the right-hand side of the hoop in the same way, using a variety of colors – we used a mint green and a pale olive green, alongside the mid-green and coral from earlier.
- Finally, it’s time to add the stem that sits above the mushrooms, in the middle of the hoop. Backstitch over the stem using two strands of dark olive green floss, then add a scattering of French knots using two strands of white floss, positioning them towards the end of each stem.
- You have completed your embroidery! Now all that’s left is to finish the back of the work and prepare it for hanging.
- Turn the finished work over and trim away the excess fabric from around the hoop, leaving a 1” border all around. Snip into the border at 1” intervals, to create tabs. Carefully fold each tab inwards so it curls around the inner edge of the hoop, and hot glue it into place. Be careful not to get any glue on the rest of the work – you want to stick the tabs to the inside edge of the hoop, not the fabric that features the embroidered design.
- Take the felt circle you drew in Step 1 and neatly cut it out. Place the circle over the back of the hoop, so it covers the embroidery and the tabbed edges. Use small dabs of hot glue to secure it in place around the edge. Your hoop is now complete!
