DIY Hand Embroidery Motif – Penelope the Peacock

Hi everyone!

It’s time for another embroidery tutorial!

This time we’ll be making a cute, little peacock named Penelope!! Supplies:

• Doodle Stitching Embroidery & Beyond by Aimee Ray (Get it here!)
• Embroidery hoop
• Needle
• Embroidery floss
• Fabric (I used muslin)

DMC Floss Colors:

• 964
• 958
• 991
• 3840
• 3839
• 3838
• 791

Doodle Stitching has two different patterns for the peacock.

I took inspiration from both designs and created something all my own!

You can follow the original designs, or you can get creative and try something new!

We’ll start by using the Back Stitch to create Penelope’s body.

I chose to make her body dark blue like the book did.

Continue using the Back Stitch to make the little arch that forms her eye.

Now, we start stitching the feathers!

I used dark teal floss for the first three feathers.

I chose to make my first few feathers as close to the book as possible.

Continuing with the Back Stitch, add another, larger feather in any color you’d like!

Once the larger feather is completed, we can start adding a few accents!

Start by adding a light mint circle.

Then, add a few Lazy Daisy stitches.

Begin stitching another larger feather.

This feather ended up more square than I would’ve liked, but I decided to roll with it.

Now, we’re going to add some medium mint stripes.

Finish off the stripes and add another feather down below.

Add feathers all over until you are satisfied with Penelope’s plumage!

Try to mix up your thread colors and keep Penelope balanced.

Add some fun feather details!

Double wrap your needle for these French Knots!

More feathers!

I’m not sure why I stitched two of the same colored feathers right next to each other, but I did!  It all ends up working out in the end though!

Another feather!

There’s a learning curve to stitching the feather shapes.  If you’re having trouble, don’t worry!  It gets easier as you go along!

I decided to add a swirly thing!

Now, we add a circle to it!

And another circle!

My swirly thing somehow evolved into a leaf/feather combo!

Finish the leaf/feather and add another circle (down below) as an accent.

Now, we try and succeed in stitching a swirly!

Add a ball for fun!

I couldn’t decide what kind of accent to add to the big feather, so I went with an oval shape.

The easiest way to make an oval is to stitch two parallel lines, and then, create the rounded edge by connecting the lines.

More double wrapped French Knots!

Add a diamond-like shape and another French Knot to the bottom feather.

Stitch a smaller version of the top left feather inside of itself.

Then, stitch around the inside of the feather next to it with a different floss color.

Here’s a close-up!  Sorry it’s a little blurry!

Add a third color to that feather!

You can keep going until you fill the feather completely if you’d like!  It could be really cute!

Now, it’s time for the head foffies!

I used two Back Stitches to create them.  If you want the foffies shorter or longer, you can adjust the number of stitches or the stitch length.

Accent the foffies with double wrapped French Knots.

I wasn’t quite satisfied with Penelope’s left side, so I decided to add one last feather.

Finish it off with a few more French Knots.  Single wrapped this time!

Penelope the Peacock is complete!

Isn’t she pretty?!

I absolutely love her!

What do you think?  Are you a fan of peacocks?!

Happy Crafting!!