Monstera & Botanical Fern in DMC - PAT0008 - Downloadable PDF

Monstera & Botanical Fern Embroidery Pattern by Joanna Saunders for DMC – PAT0008

This free downloadable PDF embroidery pattern is a collaboration between Sew & Saunders and DMC, designed by Joanna Saunders. It presents two beautiful botanical designs — a Monstera (Philodendron) and a Botanical Fern (Fougère) — rendered in a lush, nature-inspired colour palette. The finished design measures 16cm x 12cm, making it an ideal project for framing, decorating fabric items, or adding a handcrafted botanical touch to home décor. Rated as intermediate difficulty, this pattern is well suited to embroiderers who are comfortable with basic stitches and ready to explore more structured filling and outline techniques.

What You Will Make

The pattern features two distinct botanical motifs worked together as a cohesive composition:

• Monstera (Philodendron): The iconic split-leaf tropical plant, rendered with bold, graphic leaf shapes that lend themselves beautifully to satin stitch filling and laid stitch texture.
• Botanical Fern (Fougère): Delicate, feathery fronds worked with careful attention to the fine, branching structure of fern foliage, with stems and fine details outlined in back stitch.

Together, the two designs create a cohesive botanical illustration that reflects the elegant, nature-inspired aesthetic that Joanna Saunders and the Sew & Saunders brand are known for.

Stitches Used

The pattern uses three core embroidery stitches, each assigned a code letter in the technical chart to guide placement precisely:

• Back Stitch (Point arrière) – Code A: Used for all stems throughout both designs. Back stitch creates a clean, continuous line by working individual stitches that connect end to end, producing a solid, neat outline. It is one of the most fundamental stitches in hand embroidery and is ideal for capturing the fine, linear quality of plant stems.
• Satin Stitch (Passé plat) – Code B: Used to fill leaf and frond areas with smooth, closely packed parallel stitches that lie flat against the fabric, creating a lustrous, solid coverage. Satin stitch requires careful tension and consistent stitch direction to achieve a polished, professional finish — a key reason this pattern is rated intermediate.
• Laid Stitch (Point de Boulogne) – Code C: A technique in which long threads are laid across a shape and then anchored with smaller couching or crossing stitches. Laid stitch is an efficient and visually interesting way to fill larger areas, adding subtle texture and dimension that distinguishes it from the flat coverage of satin stitch. It appears extensively across the leaf shapes in both designs.

Materials Required

The pattern is designed to be stitched using DMC Mouliné Spécial ART 117 stranded cotton embroidery thread, worked with 3 strands throughout. The specific thread colours required are:

• DMC 319 (a deep, rich forest green) — 3 skeins
• DMC 937 (a medium, natural moss green) — 2 skeins

The two-tone green palette gives the finished embroidery a realistic botanical depth, with darker and lighter greens working together to suggest shadow, dimension, and the natural variation of foliage.

Additional materials needed include:

• A No. 12 embroidery needle
• A base fabric of your choice
• A Magic Sheet, transfer pen, or transfer paper to transfer the design onto your fabric before stitching
• An embroidery hoop to keep fabric taut while working

How to Use This Pattern

The PDF includes a full colour guide, a technical chart with coded stitch placement, and step-by-step instructions in both English and French. The transfer process is straightforward