Until you’re a seasoned embroiderer, utilizing a pattern for your embroidery work is a smart idea. With the incredible range of free patterns available across the internet these days, you’re sure to find a pattern to suit your tastes and skill level. Glance through the collection of free patterns below, then use your favorite method to transfer it to your embroidery material and you're ready to begin your needlework.
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Floral Bloom Pattern
Take a bit of vintage inspiration to your embroidery work—this floral pattern captures the spirit of traditional needlework crafts but is definitely still pretty enough to display with contemporary decor.
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Script Alphabet Pattern
Letter sets are great templates for embroidery practice, and samplers (often including the whole alphabet and single-digit numbers) are useful references for future projects or look cute as vintage-inspired decor. Of course, you can always just stitch a single letter for an easy, personalized gift.
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Kasuti Pattern
Kasuti embroidery captures the beauty of geometric symmetry: traditional designs are careful and utilize thread counting to make sure each piece is balanced. Kasuti embroidery is also completely reversible; when the needlework is done correctly there are no visible knots on either side of the art.
Kasuti Pattern from The Spruce
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Cute Miniature Patterns
For a DIY way to personalize a denim jacket or a backpack, try your hand at any one of these dozen mini patterns. Either embroider directly onto your project or embroider onto gridded fabric, then clip and adhere with iron-on transfer paper.
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Winter Wishes Pattern
For a homemade seasonal greeting, try this straightforward wintertime pattern. This design sets itself apart with its bold filled leaves, but for a quicker project, you can always stick to simple outlines.
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Seashell Applique and Embroidery Pattern
Combine two classic crafts, embroidery and applique, to create these lovely felt seashells. You can definitely choose just one applique for a sweet little accent to a beach bag or sunhat, but these look best as a collection of ocean shells.
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Tiny Flowers Design
For the skilled embroiderer, try your hand at a tiny floral pattern. This one takes precision and focus, but looks quite special framed and displayed.
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Bullion Knot Rose Tutorial
Practice a few bullion knot roses on a scrap piece of fabric first, but once you’ve mastered the skill, go for a full bouquet of roses and finish with simple back-stitched stems and leaves. This technique produces a more textured, three-dimensional effect than other stitches, so show off the finished piece without a glass front.
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Playful Cats Pattern
While this cute pattern features an entire scene, most of the design uses a simple backstitch, so it’s definitely accessible for embroiderers of all skill levels. Create one for your favorite cat person.
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Bold Flower Design
Go for bold with your embroidery, and fill entire thick spaces with eye-catching satin stitch. Florals work especially well with this technique, but if you’re confident in your freehand designing, try it in other motifs too.
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Bead and Sequin Embellished Design
Add a little multimedia to your embroidery with beads and sequins. Keep your embellishments small and in the same color family for a cohesive, well-designed finished product.
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Large Stitch Embroidery Design
Charming and unexpected, large stitch embroidery provides a fresh take on a traditional craft. For large stitch designs, select a chunkier thread (the thicker thread will stand up well to a blown-out motif).
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Scandinavian Patterns
Combining simple shapes and primary colors yields delightfully folksy, Scandinavian-inspired designs. Transfer any of these straightforward patterns to a neutral piece of linen, then sew using your favorite stitches (but chain stitches look especially at home with these modern motifs).
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Alphabet Sampler
This sampler pattern is especially useful for needleworkers looking to practice a variety of stitches—each letter highlights a different stitch or combination of stitches. This sampler definitely turns out pretty enough for display, so don’t hesitate to attempt the entire alphabet in a cohesive color scheme.
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Evergreen Trees Pattern
A perfect accent piece for your weekend cabin or summer retreat, this clever evergreen tree pattern utilizes different stitches to add textural interest. This is also a great pattern to put your scraps of green thread to good use.
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I Love You Pattern
Convey a sense of welcome when you hang this piece of American Sign Language-inspired art in your family room. Use vibrant, bold colors, to ensure this outline design pops against a neutral background fabric.
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Maidenhair Fern Pattern
Don’t have a green thumb? No problem. Instead of attempting to grow an at-home garden, use your needle to create a piece of artwork full of pretty ferns. The ombre details here take this embroidery piece from predictable to pretty.
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You Stitched Up My Heart
You can’t be a needlework crafter without embracing a bit of pun humor every now and then. Stitch a sweet message; this one would look fantastic on a throw pillow in a cozy reading nook.
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Desert Sun and Moon
Landscapes look especially pretty when rendered in embroidery thread, so attempt the desert dunes under a night sky a la this easy pattern.
Pro tip: Stitch this embroidery on a dark fabric for an effective desert sky illusion.
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Raining Rainbows Pattern
Show off the full-color range of your new embroidery thread set with a simple, colorful pattern like this Raining Rainbows one. Opt for pastels for a subtler finished product.
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Stitch On Pattern
Encouraging word art is the perfect wall decor for a home office, studio, or sun room. Forgo the frame and keep this piece in its embroidery hoop—just hot glue coordinating poms to the edge of your hoop and hang it up.
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Singing in the Rain Pattern
For the ambitious needlecrafter, try this lovely set of four embroidery hoops. While the stitches connecting two of the hoops together look intimidating, the effect is actually quite easy to achieve.
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Picnic Blanket Design
When in doubt, go big! Break out the thick yarn (or satin ribbon) in a contrasting color, and stitch your favorite outdoor-ready saying into a cozy blanket. Don’t forget, script is often easier to sew than plain text.
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Cactus Love Pattern
For the succulent-lover, create a repeat patterned piece of heart-shaped cacti. This free pattern also offers a comprehensive step-by-step for each and every stitch, so it’s a great option for beginner embroiderers.
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Embroidery and Print Pattern
Combine your embroidery work with vibrant color-printing for an eye-catching piece of art that takes a lot less time than hand stitching each shape and contour line.
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Hanging Sloth Pattern
Stitching something unexpected, non-traditional, and comical will lend an air of whimsy to your needlework. Try a smiling sloth hanging from a flowering tree branch for a fresh fun piece of embroidery.
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Decorative Tile Pattern
For a fresh take on a mosaic, try embroidering each fabric tile with a unique design first. If you keep the tiles the same size and shape, and work in the same color family, things will look incredibly comprehensive.
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Meadow Pattern
Flowers and plants are naturally good subjects for embroidery—their organic shapes lend themselves well to needlework and diverse, textured stitches.
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Sewing Machine Pattern
Vintage motifs work especially well with embroidery, so this retro sewing machine design is perfect for a quick needlework project. The long stitch from the bobbin to the take-up lever is an especially lovely detail—don’t disclude it.
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Sunflowers in Vase Pattern
Download this fine art-inspired pattern for a simple afternoon embroidery project. It’s rustic and humble, but still pretty enough to hang in your hallway.