Christmas Holly Swirl Embroidery Design, Instant Download

Cooked this up because too many folks wanted a simpler holiday design that still had some movement to it. Its two holly leaves sitting opposite each other with a looping gold swirl that comes off the stem and curves wide before it tails off. The berries are in a tight cluster, three of them, rendered in satin stitch so they have that little dome shape when theyre hooped up properly. Nothing fussy about it, just clean and seasonal.

Runs across 5 sizes from 3.52 inches up to 7.54 inches wide. Stitch counts go from 16,836 at the smallest all the way to 39,213 at the largest, so youre looking at alot of thread coverage at the top end. Thats partly because of the swirl detail, the directional fill underneath it needs proper underlay or it pulls on lighter fabrics. my main software took the leaf sequencing at a density of 692, which keeps them from going stiff on a red tea towel. And honestly thats the fabric I keep seeing this on, the contrast between the sage green and a deep red base is really good.

Last december a customer grabbed the 7-inch size and ran it on a natural linen tea towel. She sent me a photo and the gold swirl caught the light in a way I wasnt expecting, it reads almost like a metallic thread even though its just a warm gold polyester. Pop it on a kitchen towel or a table runner, the effect is the same. Stitch it on a cream base if youre unsure about fabric, that always works with this colour palette.

Use cutaway stabiliser underneath for the larger hoops, the swirl element has some long satin segments and distortion sets in without it. Skip the water-soluble topping unless youre on a textured surface. The 3.52-inch size is small enough for a napkin corner or a gift tag piece of felt.