DMC Trailing Pansy - PAT0929 - Downloadable PDF

DMC Trailing Pansy – Secret Garden Embroidery Pattern (PAT0929)

The DMC Trailing Pansy pattern, part of the DMC Secret Garden collection, is a free downloadable PDF embroidery design featuring a beautifully detailed trailing pansy motif. Published by DMC and drawn from the DMC Library, this intermediate-level surface embroidery project captures the delicate, layered petals and flowing stems characteristic of the pansy flower in a naturalistic, trailing arrangement. The finished design measures approximately 9.5 cm x 18.5 cm, making it an elegant piece suitable for framing, hoop art, or embellishing fabric items such as cushions, tote bags, or clothing.

What Is Being Made

This pattern guides the embroiderer in creating a trailing pansy floral design rendered in full colour using surface embroidery techniques. The trailing format means the pansies and their foliage extend in a flowing, organic line rather than a single centred bloom, giving the finished piece a lush, botanical illustration quality. The colour guide and technical chart included in the PDF provide a detailed map of every colour placement across the design, ensuring accurate and vibrant results.

Techniques Used

• Backstitch (Point arrière): A foundational embroidery technique used to create clean, precise outlines and fine linear details such as stems, veins, and petal edges. Backstitch produces a solid, continuous line by bringing the needle back to meet the previous stitch, resulting in a smooth and controlled outline.
• Long and Short Stitch (Passé empiétant): The primary filling technique used throughout this design. Long and short stitch involves alternating longer and shorter straight stitches that interlock across rows, allowing colours to blend seamlessly into one another. This technique is particularly well suited to rendering the subtle gradients and shading found in pansy petals, giving the embroidery a painterly, dimensional quality.

Stitches Used

• Backstitch – for outlines and fine detail work
• Long and Short Stitch – for filled areas, colour blending, and petal shading

The pattern organises its stitch placement using a lettered code system (Code Letter A, Code Letter B, and Code Letter C), which corresponds to specific areas of the design as shown in the technical chart. This system helps intermediate embroiderers navigate the colour and stitch placement with clarity.

Colours and Thread

The design uses 18 colours of DMC Mouliné Spécial Art 117 embroidery floss, with one skein of each colour required for the stated design size. The palette is rich and botanically inspired, encompassing deep greens, warm pinks, soft mauves, golden yellows, and cool blues to capture the full tonal range of pansy flowers and their foliage. The specific DMC thread codes used include:

• 936, 3011, 904, 905 – deep and mid greens for leaves and stems
• 3777, 3830, 921 – warm russet and terracotta tones
• 760, 224 – soft pinks for petal highlights
• 3865 – near-white for light petal areas
• 3078, 727, 726 – pale to mid yellows for pansy centres
• 823, 831 – deep navy and antique gold for contrast and depth
• 3839, 809, 827 – a range of soft to medium blues for cooler petal tones

Materials Required

• Thread: DMC Mouliné Spécial Art 117 embroidery floss in 18 colours (one skein each)
• Needle: No. 12 embroidery needle
• Fabric: Embroidery fabric of the stitcher's choice (the pattern references a suitable base fabric)
• Transfer tools: DMC Magic Sheet or a transfer pen for transferring the design onto fabric

Pattern Format and Difficulty