Christmas Holly Border Embroidery Design, Instant Download

Classic split-border holly design at 3.11 inches wide minimum, the kind you put a monogram letter or a family name between. Theres a cluster of green holly leaves at top centre with three red berries tucked into the leaf base, scrollwork curls flowing out either side, then two parallel solid red ribbon bands cut horizontally across the middle leaving a clean blank gap for lettering. The bottom half mirrors the top so the whole frame closes around the empty middle. Very traditional, very christmas table linen energy.

Just two colours, bright Christmas green and bright red, which keeps the colour-change sequence simple, only 1 colour change per stitch run. The green carries almost the whole design, running 6,905 stitches on the smallest 3.11-inch wide version and stacking up to 20,811 on the 7.50-inch wide one. Red ribbon plus berries does 1,502 stitches at the small size and 3,290 at the largest. Density runs around 480 which is on the higher side, the leaves use a dense satin column fill with a tatami underlay so the vein lines hold definition. Ive digitised it in embroidery software with the satin direction running along the leaf spine which is what gives the holly that glossy real-leaf shine on poly thread.

One customer wrote me last november, she runs a small linen monogram shop and ordered the 5.5-inch version for a stack of dinner napkins. She added a single monogram letter in script between the parallel ribbons and stitched the lot on natural linen with cutaway behind. Said the orders sold out before christmas eve.

Best on linen, smooth cotton, or polyester satin where the green vein detail reads sharp. Stitch the 3.11-inch on a cocktail napkin corner. Pop the 4.5-inch on a hand towel border. Use the 5.5-inch above and below a monogram on a pillow sham. Pick the 6.5-inch or 7.5-inch wide ones for table runner borders. Skip soft brushed flannel, the dense fill flattens out the pile and the leaf veins disappear. Youll wanna add a medium cut-away stabiliser even on stable cotton, the high stitch count will draw the fabric otherwise, and youre after a straight border line.