Berries in DMC - PAT0503 - Downloadable PDF

Berries Embroidery Pattern by Jodie Ruffle x DMC (PAT0503) – Free Downloadable PDF

This free downloadable embroidery pattern is a collaboration between designer Jodie Ruffle and DMC, one of the world's most recognised thread brands. Titled Berries (also presented in French as Baies), the design is a charming botanical embroidery piece featuring a detailed berry motif rendered in a rich, multi-tonal colour palette. It is rated as intermediate difficulty, making it an ideal project for embroiderers who are comfortable with basic stitches and ready to develop more nuanced colour blending and shading skills.

What Is Being Made

The finished piece is a hand-embroidered berry and foliage composition, designed in the style of classic botanical illustration. The colour guide included in the PDF reveals a broad spectrum of shades — spanning warm reds, deep purples, soft greens, and neutral tones — suggesting a lush, layered depiction of berries at various stages of ripeness, accompanied by leaves and stems. The pattern is presented with both a colour diagram and a technical chart, giving stitchers a clear visual reference for placement and thread selection.

Techniques and Approach

As an intermediate-level embroidery pattern, Berries by Jodie Ruffle x DMC calls upon a range of hand embroidery techniques. The multi-colour nature of the design means stitchers will practise:

• Colour shading and blending — working across a wide palette of DMC thread colours to build depth and dimension in the berry clusters and foliage
• Thread strand management — the pattern includes instructions specifying the number of strands to use, which is essential for achieving the correct texture and coverage on different elements of the design
• Reading a colour guide and technical chart — stitchers follow a coded diagram (with references such as A1, A2, A3, B9, B10, C4, C5, C13, C14, C15, C16, C17, D8, and others) to place each colour accurately across the composition
• Botanical embroidery composition — working with organic, curved shapes typical of nature-inspired needlework, requiring careful attention to stitch direction to follow the natural form of berries and leaves

Stitches Used

While the truncated PDF content does not enumerate every stitch by name, the style of the design and its intermediate rating are consistent with a range of classic hand embroidery stitches commonly employed in botanical DMC patterns of this type. These typically include:

• Satin stitch — for filling berry shapes smoothly and evenly with solid colour
• Split stitch or stem stitch — for outlining and defining stems and leaf edges
• French knots — often used in berry and botanical designs for textural detail and small accent points
• Long and short stitch — for blending multiple thread colours across larger filled areas such as leaves and berry surfaces

Stitchers should refer to the full PDF instructions for the precise stitch list as specified by Jodie Ruffle and DMC.

Materials – Threads and Fabric

This pattern is designed to be worked with DMC stranded cotton embroidery floss, the brand's signature six-strand thread available in hundreds of colours worldwide. The colour guide references a substantial number of individual DMC thread shades across four colour groups (A, B, C, and D), indicating that a varied selection of skeins is required to complete the full design. The PDF includes guidance on the number of strands and skeins needed, calculated specifically for this project.

• Thread: DMC stranded cotton embroidery floss, multiple colours as specified in the colour guide
• Fabric: An embroidery-suitable ground fabric such as evenweave or plain-weave cotton (refer to the full PDF for specific recommendations)
• Needle: A standard embroidery or crewel needle appropriate for the number of strands being used
• Hoop or frame: Recommended to keep fabric taut and stitches even throughout the project

Pattern Format and Availability