There are so many beautiful ways to stitch these iconic day bloomers, I just couldn’t resist creating a wall decoration featuring them. Bring nature inside your home with this easy daisies embroidery tutorial!
This pattern is ideal for beginners and is a great start if you’re looking to explore the needle painting technique. Take your time, enjoy the process, and let your individual identity shine!
If you’d like to learn everything you need to know about the needle painting technique, check out my complete guide on how to paint with thread.
Disclaimer: This post might contain some affiliate links, you can find my full Disclosure Policy here.
Project Overview
PROJECT SIZE: 10cm x 9cm (4 x 3.5in)
STITCHES USED: Split Stitch, Long and Short Stitch, French Knot
With this pattern you’ll learn how to embroider a daisy using the needle painting technique, a surface embroidery technique also known as silk shading, thread painting, or long-and-short shading.
As with any other hand embroidery project, there are many ways of stitching daisies. I drew this pattern with the needlepainting technique in mind and left the flower petals big enough so I’ll be able to fill them with long and short stitch.
However, if you’re stitching a pattern where the daisies are much smaller, you can then use the lazy daisy stitch or the detached chain stitch for the petals.
The daisies wreath pattern is the perfect example of small lazy daisy petals.
Now let’s see what tools and materials you will need in order to create these beautiful daisies.
Tools and materials
MATERIALS YOU’LL NEED
- Daisies Pattern – free download from the Free Pattern Library
- 100% cotton, linen blend or linen fabric
- Embroidery hoop – this pattern fits a 6in/15cm hoop, but you can use any other bigger size for stitching
- HB Pencil, FriXion Erasable Pen or Water Soluble Tracing Pen
- Led Light Pad – for tracing the pattern onto fabrics
- Embroidery needle – size 9-11
- Embroidery thread – DMC or Anchor
- Sharp scissors
- Dressmaking Zig Zag Scissors – prevents the fabric from fraying
- Magnifying lamp – most important tool for needlepainting technique, the magnifying lamp will make stitching and color blending much easier
This is a project that will require either very good lighting or a magnifying lamp. While I mentioned it as optional in the tools and materials list, I highly recommend you use one for this particular project.
Check out my article on best magnifying lamps for hand embroidery to learn the different types of lamps and find out which one is the best for your needs.
Download the free embroidery pattern
Download the Daisies pattern from my Free Pattern Library. To get access to the Free Pattern Library fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password. You can read more about my Free Pattern Library here.
Once you have downloaded the pattern, print the Cut and Trace file on A4 paper.
The pattern you have downloaded is full size, so when printed on the A4 paper will have the exact size to fit into a 6inch hoop. You just need to have the Fill Entire Paper option selected.
Note: If you do not own a printer, you can just trace the pattern on A4 paper, then trace it onto your fabric using one of the methods explained below.
Transferring the pattern onto the fabric
My favorite method for tracing patterns onto fabric is by hand, using a Lightbox under the fabric and the pattern design. I find this as the fastest manual tracing method.
To transfer the Daisies pattern manually using a lightbox, you can use this simple method:
- Print your pattern. If you don’t own a printer, you can trace the pattern onto a piece of tracing paper
- Plugin and turn on the Led Light Pad
- Place the printed pattern on top of the lightbox, then place your fabric on top of the pattern
- If you feel the need to, you can secure your fabric with masking tape
- Trace over the pattern’s lines with an erasable or washable tracing pen. I prefer using the Staedtler Pigment Liner 003 because it has an incredible fine tip. Although is not washable, the tip is so fine that you won’t see it anyway after you stitch on top of it.
1. Trace the pattern using an erasable or washable tracing pen. The finer the tip, the better! This way your traced lines will be thin enough and completely covered by the stitches later on.
2. Continue tracing until you copied the entire daisies pattern onto your fabric.
Color palette and thread list
When we’re talking about needle painting, color is one of the most important aspects to consider. This nature-inspired pattern is more on the abstract side rather than realistic. However, the botanical elements are still there and the color palette has to match more or less the real-life daisies.
For the daisy embroidery I used different shades of green and yellow to mimic the light and shadow.
The key for a nice blended long-and-short stitch is to use similar tones, even if you decide to change the contrast (for example to make the transition from light green to dark green I used a medium green from the same tonal family).
For the entire work, I used DMC stranded cotton. It’s your choice if you prefer one brand over another, both DMC and Anchor manufacturers offer good-quality stranded cotton in a wide variety of colors. If your brand of choice is DMC, please use the thread colors below. I also included a conversion chart DMC to Anchor and DMC to HEX RGB (in case you decide to use the pattern for digital display works).
NOTE: Please bear in mind that a perfect color match between brands is not really possible.
DMC STRANDED COTTON
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 164 | 988 | 986 | White | 445 | 444 |
ANCHOR STRANDED COTTON
| | | | | |
| 264 | 243 | 246 | White | 288 | 291 |
RGB HEX VALUES
If you plan to use this color palette for digital display works (TV, computer, tablet or smartphone) use the RGB HEX values from the chart below.
| | | | | |
| #C8D8B8 | #738B5B | #405230 | #ffffff | #FFFB8B | #FFD600 |
The Daisies pattern was stitched with one strand of thread. For the French Knot details I used two strands of thread. Use this simple method to separate the thread:
The stranded cotton embroidery thread is made up of 6 strands. For a finer delicate outcome, you need to split the thread and use just one strand for the entire work. Stitch the French Knots using two strands.
In order to separate your thread, pull out and cut about 30-40cm length of thread from the skein, more or less the distance between your fingers and your elbow. Separate one strand and thread your needle. Use a sharp needle size 9.
1. Cut about 30-40cm of thread
2. Separate one strand
3. Pull the separated strand while holding firmly the rest
4. Thread your needle (sharp size 9)
MORE COLOR PALETTES YOU’LL LOVE
- Botanical Butterfly Stitch Color Palette
- Red Fox Stitch Color Palette
- Papilio Ulysses Stitch Color Palette
- Yellow Butterfly Stitch Color Palette
Stitching the stems and leaves
Before stitching, I always think about the order of work. In real life, the petals sit on top of the stems, so in order to create this overlapping effect, it makes sense to start by stitching the steams and leaves first, and leave the petals and buds the last.
STEMS: Fill the stems with Split Stitch (see video tutorial here)
LEAVES: Fill the leaves with Long and Short Stitch. To create a realistic three-dimensional effect we have to play with light and shadows. In order to do that we will use three shades of green: DMC 164 (Forest Green Light) – this is the lightest shade, DMC 988 (Forest Green Medium) – a medium shade to smooth the transition from light to dark, and DMC 986 (Forest Green Very Dark) – the darkest shade of green, the shadows.
1. Fill the stems with adjacent columns of Split Stitch. Start from left to right (from the lightest green to the darkest dark) and stitch 1-2 columns with DMC 164, then another column with DMC 988, and another one with DMC 986.
2. Fill the leaves with Long and Short Stitch starting from outside of your shape (from the lightest green to the darkest) – DMC 164, DMC 988, DMC 986. When filling the leaves, keep in mind to stick to a 2/3 light and medium green and 1/3 darkest green. When done filling the shape, outline with Split Stitch using the darkest green DMC 986.
3. Continue stitching with Long and Short Stitch until you filled all the leaves. You might notice, some of the leaves above have irregular outlines. That is totally fine and will create a more natural final result.
Stitching the daisies
PETALS: Fill the petals with Long and Short Stitch. To create a realistic three-dimensional effect we have to play with light and shadows. In order to do that we will use three shades: DMC White – this is the lightest shade, DMC 445 (Lemon Light) – a medium shade to smoothen the transition from the lightest shade to the darkest, and DMC 444 (Lemon Dark) – the darkest shade of yellow.
BUDS: Fill the buds with Padded Satin Stitch.
1. Start by outlining the petal with Split Stitch using DMC White.
2. Fill the first row with Long and Short Stitch using DMC White. Always start from the outside towards the middle of the shape you’re trying to fill.
3. Fill the next row with Long and Short Stitch using DMC 445. Then another row using the darkest shade of yellow – DMC 444.
4. Continue stitching with Long and Short Stitch until you fill all petals.
6. Before filling the buds, first outline with Split Stitch using DMC 445. This will create better-defined edges.
7. Fill the buds with Padded Satin Stitch using DMC 445. Start by creating the first layer of satin stitch right in the middle of the shape.
8. Start adding another perpendicular layer of satin stitch on the top of the first layer you just created.
9. Continue with the satin stitch until you covered the first layer.
11. Add another perpendicular layer of satin stitch on top of the previous layer.
12. Keep adding perpendicular satin stitch layers until you fill the entire bud. This technique will create a raised shape.
13. Lastly add the final layer of satin stitch on top of all previous layers.
14. Keep filling the bud with satin stitch until you fully cover it.
15. For this last layer of satin stitch keep in mind to stitch on top and hug the initial outline you created.
17. Continue filling until the bud is fully covered.
18. You can alternate with the shades of yellow when creating the rest of the buds. I used both lighter and darker shades – DMC 445 for some buds, and DMC 444 for others.
17. Time to stitch the last details. Create a few Straight Stitches using the darkest shade of green – DMC 986.
18. Then add French Knots alternating between the darkest shade of green DMC 986 and the lightest DMC 164.
Yayyyyy!! Stitching is done and we have just a wee step before the daisies are ready for display!
I’d love to see your progress! Tag @makenstitch on Instagram and hashtag it #makenstitch so I can see your magic!
Finishing your embroidery
For this project I decided to leave my final embroidery in the same hoop I stitched it. The Elbesee wooden hoops are not great just for stitching, but they look great up on the wall too.
You could take out your embroidery and frame it using any photo frame or a display hoop, but in both cases, you will have to finish the back of your embroidery.
The easiest method to finish the back of your hoop is to use a Running Stitch and if needed cut out the excess fabric. If you want to cover the back of your hoop, you could do so by cutting a piece of white felt and then stitch or glue it to the back of your embroidery hoop.
Congratulations! You have successfully completed this tutorial!
If you’re looking for more floral inspiration, don’t miss out on the flower coloring pages article. Even though they’re not exactly embroidery patterns, you can totally tweak them for a cool hand embroidery project. There are a few adorable floral outlines suitable for the same technique we covered in this tutorial.
I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial and please let me know in the comments below if you have any questions or suggestions about stitching the daisies pattern.
I would love to see your progress and end result too. Don’t forget to tag @makenstitch on Instagram and hashtag it #makenstitch so I can see your work!
You can download the daisies pattern from my Free Pattern Library. To get access to the Free Pattern Library fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password.
The downloaded pattern can only be used for personal projects. You can read more about my Free Pattern Library here. Happy stitching!
SIMILAR EMBROIDERY PROJECTS
- How to Embroider Letters
- Cherry Blossom Tutorial Free Embroidery Pattern
- Floral Alphabet: Stitching the Flower
- How to Paint with Thread: The Complete Guide
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SAVE THIS FOR LATER? ADD THE DAISIES EMBROIDERY TUTORIAL TO YOUR FAVOURITE PINTEREST BOARD
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