Our Top 30 Free Embroidery Designs

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. 

Floral Bloom Pattern from The Spruce

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. 

Script Alphabet Pattern from The Spruce

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

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. 

Cute Miniature Patterns from The Spruce

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. 

Winter Wishes Pattern from The Spruce

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. 

Seashell Applique and Embroidery Pattern from The Spruce

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. 

Tiny Flowers Design from The Spruce

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. 

Bullion Knot Rose Tutorial from The Spruce

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.

Playful Cats Pattern from The Spruce

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.  

Bold Flower Design from The Spruce

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. 

Bead and Sequin Embellished Design from The Spruce

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). 

Large Stitch Embroidery Design from The Spruce

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). 

Scandinavian-Inspired Patterns from The Spruce

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. 

Alphabet Sampler from The Spruce

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. 

Evergreen Trees Pattern from A Lively Hope

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. 

I Love You Pattern from Make and Do Crew

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. 

Maidenhair Fern Pattern from Lolli and Grace

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. 

You Stitched Up My Heart from Wild Olive

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. 

Desert Sun and Moon from Crewel Ghoul

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.

Raining Rainbows Pattern from Shiny Happy World

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. 

Stitch On Pattern from Flamingo Toes

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. 

Singing in the Rain Pattern from Flamingo Toes

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.

Picnic Blanket Design from Lovely Indeed

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. 

Cactus Love Pattern from A Beautiful Mess

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. 

Embroidery and Print Pattern from Sarah Hearts

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. 

Hanging Sloth Pattern from Cutesy Crafts

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.

Decorative Tile Pattern from Lolli and Grace

Meadow Pattern

Flowers and plants are naturally good subjects for embroidery—their organic shapes lend themselves well to needlework and diverse, textured stitches. 

Meadow Pattern from Hodge Podge Craft

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. 

Sewing Machine Pattern from Crewel Ghoul

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. 

Sunflowers in Vase Pattern from A Lively Hope