Embroidery Designs

I don’t usually spend too much time looking for free embroidery designs because I get pretty poor results. I either come across awesome designs that are for machine embroidery designs, which I find a cop out way to craft, or I find generous gifts of free designs that are inappropriate for what I am seeking. That is, the freebees you can use as patterns to create your own items are for holiday napkins or baby bibs or something I have no interest in creating.

I like to follow patterns that result in poster-sized images that have something to do with the people I am doing the needlepoint for—great clipper ships for my boat-lover friend, mystical images of goddesses for my sister, endangered species for my brother, romantic or abstract for my other orange- and silver-loving pal. So a wall hanging of a teddy bear just won’t cut it, obviously, especially for friends who have no kids and don’t even like them.

But searching long enough and with ample patience, I can usually come across embroidery designs that are suitable, even if they cost a few bucks. For example, on some sites you can find closeout embroidery designs which are superior in quality and aesthetically pleasing or relevant. On EBay, you can either bid a few dollars on an embroidery design book, can do the same for a needlepoint kit, or, in most cases, can just buy the item outright. I found, for instance, a book of four Winslow Homer photos (or paintings; I’m not absolutely sure which) turned into embroidery designs, or patterns, by Janet Powers. The book was offered for about a dollar and a half, with a few cents more for shipping (mailing, really). So for under three dollars I had the embroidery designs for one friend who is doing her living room in palm tree motif, two ships for a friend who loves sailing, and a fourth design for when I need it later on down the line.

I also would recommend finding Jill Oxton books of cross-stitch embroidery designs, books that are filled with patterns for wall hangings, purses, book marks, farmable gifts, and many more beautiful, absolutely stunning pieces. So it is worth it to forego the freebie embroidery designs, especially when for almost nothing you can increase the quality of a piece and create it to fit the personality, mood, or desires of your closest friends and relatives.