This year, the month of May doesn’t just bring flowers… it brings Flower Power! We’re excited to debut our newest machine embroidery design set. Thanks to a sponsorship from our friends at Janome America, it’s FREE to you in six major embroidery formats. 

There are four bold florals along with a companion single element for each. Use the full flower as a focal design, adding the detail as an accent. Of course, the finished application is up to you, but it’s always nice to have a variety of options when creating your embroidery plan.

Choose from a Thistle, Coneflower, Daffodil, and Pansy. Each flower is designed in a strong graphic style, echoing the mod, Flower Power look of 60s and 70s art and décor. 

Our samples were stitched in eight shades of Aurifil 50wt cotton thread. We provide a full color chart that details the exact colors we used for each, a stitch count, and a final size. In general, the designs are sized to fit a standard medium hoop. The three rectangular florals finish at approximately 4¾” x 7”, the square Pansy finishes at approximately 5” x 4⅞”. 

As you can see in our photos, the designs are gorgeous when stitched on a neutral background as well as on rich colors. We used a classic 70s Harvest Gold as one option along with True Black – a nod to the popular black velvet paintings of the era. Our color scheme is very vintage, but the crisp simplicity of the stitching allows the embroidery to pop from whichever color palette you choose. 

Our thanks again to Janome America for sponsoring these designs and for providing the machines to make our stitch outs look perfect every time. While we understand not everyone has access to an embroidery machine, we still love to release beautiful design collections on a regular basis. It’s our way of inspiring you to find out more about machine embroidery. We recommend taking a look at the full selection of Janome machines at your local Janome dealer, from the top-of-the-line, sewing + embroidery Janome Continental M17 to one of our studio favorites: the Skyline S9 to the embroidery-only Memory Craft 550E. There are a number of affordable options to best fit your sewing space, and the addition will open up a whole new world of embellishment possibilities – whatever your sewing, quilting or crafting focus may be.

All eight designs are ready to stitch out in six major embroidery file formats: ART, EXP, JEF, PES, VIP, and VP3. As mentioned, there is also a color chart as well as placement templates. If you are new to working with printed placement templates, take a look at our notes below.

Our thanks to S4H Seamstress Team Member, Michele Mishler for her digitizing expertise to bring these designs to life. It’s a collaborative effort to refine the drawings, select thread colors, and brainstorm on the look of the stitching. But it is Michele’s expertise and creativity that give the designs the professional end result embroidery enthusiasts demand.

Inspiration in Action

If you aren’t currently using an embroidery machine, the images below are further inspiration to give it a try. One thing we hear again and again it how mesmerizing it is to watch a design stitching.

Some Tips for Working with Placement Templates

1. Scroll down to find the Download Link for our Placement Templates PDF. These printable color templates are full size and each design is overlaid with crosshairs. These crosshairs allow you to position the designs, then embroider them exactly where you want them.
2. The steps to perfect placement are easy to accomplish. First, print the template that matches your chosen embroidery design. As with any pattern, it is crucial to print the template at 100%; do not shrink or scale to fit the page. Also make sure you are printing horizontally (landscape).
3. Trim around the template and place the trimmed template on the item you plan to embroider, adjusting the position as needed until it looks just right to you. Pin in place.
   
4. Hoop two layers of tear away stabilizer in the appropriate size hoop.
   
5. Place the item over the stabilizer, making sure the crosshairs of the template are parallel to the sides of the hoop. Pin the item in place.
   
6. Place the hoop on the machine. Use the four way jog keys on the machine’s touchscreen to move the needle to the center of the crosshairs.
   
7. Drop down the point of the needle to confirm it hits exactly at the center point of the crosshairs.
   
8. Raise the needle and remove the template.
   Use the Baste function to secure the layers of fabric and stabilizer.
   NOTE: As a Janome Exclusive Studio, we are referring to the specific features we always use on our Janome embroidery models. Your machine may vary, but should be somewhat similar.
   
9. Stitch out the embroidery design.
   
10. Remove the basting frame and the excess stabilizer.
    
11. This is not the only option for this technique. Instead of two layers of tear away stabilizer, you could use a “sticky” stabilizer. Hoop a single layer of sticky stabilizer, then remove the paper to expose the sticky surface.
    
12. Position the item with its template pinned in place over the sticky surface, positioning it as you did above, with the crosshairs parallel to the sides of the hoop. Multiple layers of stabilizer are recommended for this design collection, so slip an additional layer of tear away stabilizer under the hoop and secure the layers using the Baste function.
    
13. For hard to hoop items such as t-shirts, you may find pinning the template in place is not practical. When this is the case, make small holes at each end of the crosshairs, as well as at the center. Position the template, pin it in place, and using a fabric pen or pencil, make a mark in each hole.
    
14. Connect the dots to recreate the crosshairs, and continue by positioning the item over the hoop.
    
    NOTE: We do always recommend working with a marking tool that can be easily wiped away or that will vanish with exposure to the air or the heat of an iron. This is still a good rule-of-thumb in this situation. With denser designs, like our Flower Power florals, the crosshairs may be totally covered with thread, but better safe than sorry.

Thread Chart

Click the button below to download the full color PDF thread chart showing sizing, stitch count, and thread color changes for each of the FOUR main designs and their FOUR single-detail companion designs. The thread shown in the chart is what we used: Aurifil 50wt cotton thread.

IMPORTANT: This download consists of FOUR 8½” x 11″ sheets that have been bundled together into ONE PDF to make the download easier. 

Templates

Click the button below to download full-color, full-size placement templates for each main design and each companion design. Remember to print horizontally at 100%.

If you are new to using placement templates, you can review our notes above to understand the steps.

Download Instructions (for .zip files)

All elements are provided in your choice of SIX file formats: ART, EXP, JEF, PES, VIP, and VP3.

The FOUR main bold designs and the FOUR companion single-detail designs are included within each format’s folder. They are sized for an approximate 5” x 7” hoop; one of the most common hoops found on machine embroidery machines. Remember to also download the PDF templates to perfectly position each design and the full color charts. The color charts show sizing as well as stitch count.

Each file is provided as a .zip file to download. Choose your format and download as you normally would any .zip file. If you have trouble, try the steps below.

First, click on the Blue Icon from the list below that is the appropriate file format for your embroidery machine. This is the .zip file you want to download.

A) For Windows users: Select “Save As” to save the .zip folder where you’d like it on your computer. Navigate to that folder. To unzip the file, you will have to right-click on the folder and select “extract.”

B) For Mac users: The .zip file should automatically download to your “downloads” folder or a location you have previously defined. If not, then right-click (or control-click) on the link and select “Download Linked File”. Save the .zip file to your computer. To unzip the file, double-click the file. Your files will be unzipped into the same folder as the original .zip file.

NOTE: As always, these designs are copyrighted, and may be used for personal use and gifts only.