Stitched out this one as a round badge-style composition and honestly it nails the whole exhausted-parent energy in one shot. The text wraps in a circle around the outside, the words starting with 'I used to be cool' arching over the top and 'of myself' across the bottom in chunky varsity satin fill. Centre of the design is a lil skeleton wearing a bandana and sunglasses, throwing a peace sign, looking way too unbothered for someone in the middle of a household argument.
Gonna look the part on a black tee or hoodie for any mum or dad whos given up explaining why the couch cushions belong on the couch. The design runs 22,138 stitches at the 5 inch version with 139 trims, going up to 36,709 at the largest, all in a single black thread. The text uses a mix of satin columns and tatami fill in the big letter sections so they dont look empty or flat. Digitising is done in embroidery software so the skeleton detail, especially the hand bones on the peace sign, is sharp even at smaller sizes.
Use a cutaway stabiliser here. Im gonna keep saying this for any design with dense text fills because the pull from all those satin columns is real. Tearaway lets the letters shift and youll end up with wavy words. Not a good look. Run the machine around 700 stitches per minute through the heavy badge border. Stitch the smaller 5 inch on a chest-left placement, the 6 inch goes full front-centre on a hoodie.
One customer wrote me earlier this month saying she stitched this on a hoodie for her sister who has 3 kids under 5, and it caused a mini emotional breakdown of recognition followed by laughter. Thats the goal honestly. Send me the finished photo if you make it, Im collecting these.
What people are using this design for
A starting point. The design works for plenty more than just this list, this is what folks have stitched it onto most.
- Mum birthday gifts on sweatshirts or hoodiesThe circular badge format centres perfectly on the front of an oversized sweatshirt for a mum birthday gift.
- Dad joke tees for fathers dayDad who works from home with kids will immediately relate, great fathers day tee.
- School pickup era custom tote bagsCanvas tote bag for the school run with this design is the kind of thing other parents stop and read.
- Funny co-working from home team shirtsRemote teams with kids order matching hoodies with this design for group photos.
- Exhausted parent gift sets with personalised pouchesZip pouches with this embroidered make a funny base for a tired parent gift box with coffee sachets.
- Halloween costume base for skeleton-themed parent looksPair with all black for a halloween look where the skeleton on the design extends the costume theme.
- Social media creator merch for parenting content accountsParenting content creators use this on merch drops that sell out fast.
Dimensions
4 sizes included. Stitch counts shown for the largest colorway.
| Size (in) | Stitches |
|---|---|
| 4.98 in × 5.01 in | |
| 5.97 in × 6.01 in | |
| 6.97 in × 7.01 in | |
| 7.96 in × 8.01 in | |
Files & Formats
Eight machine formats included in one zip. Whichever your machine reads, its in the pack.
Plus a color chart for thread matching. See full format guide.
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About the artist
Reyazul Masud Riham, hand-drawing every design on this site
Every design on Re Embroidery is hand-digitized by one person. Each file gets sketched, color-matched, and stitch-tested on real fabric before it earns a place in the shop. No team. No auto-conversion from images. Just slow, deliberate work, sometimes three or four days per design.
That's the joy I work for.
The hard part is finding my designs re-uploaded and resold elsewhere. So when you buy from Re Embroidery, you're paying one real person for the file you're about to download. That matters.
