Worked on this one last november after noticing how many people search for christmas designs that also carry a love or warmth message without being sappy about it. I get messages every year from customers asking for exactly this kind of thing. Two hands are positioned with fingertips touching at the top and wrists angled out, so the gap between them reads as a clean heart shape. The hands themselves are solid satin in plain black, no skin detail, which keeps the silhouette reading fast at any size. Draped across the fingers and looping down around the wrists is a string of christmas light bulbs, each one a small satin oval with a little black cap, in six colours: blue, red, green, yellow, orange and purple.
Seven colours in total and the layout is portrait so the design is taller than it is wide. Smallest size is 1.76 by 3.51 inches at about 7,900 stitches, largest is 3.76 by 7.51 inches just over 16,000 stitches. Density is 568 stitches per square inch, solid but not crushing. The portrait orientation makes this one really useful for vertical placement, think a towel border, a stocking panel, a sleeve stripe or a tote bag front. Five sizes in the file so theres no need to manually resize, youre covered from pocket to full panel.
The hand-heart silhouette is what makes this different from a regular christmas lights design. its a gesture people actually do in real life and the christmas lights wrapping around it makes it feel seasonal without just being another wreath or tree. Works on white, cream, pale grey, soft red or forest green backgrounds, and Im pretty sure navy looks great too if youre going for a darker base. Woven cotton, canvas, fleece, felt and sweatshirt fabric all stitch up fine. Avoid very stretchy knits without a stabilising topping layer because the column satin on the hand outline can wander on unstable fabric.
Use medium cutaway, hoop firm. With 7 colour stops lay out your thread spools in sequence before you start so you dont fumble the order mid-run. Any colour on the wrong bulb is going to look odd, and if that happens on your first run just message me and I can talk through re-sequencing the file for your machine.
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.
- Christmas stocking front panel with a name belowRun the tall 7-inch on the front panel of a cream christmas stocking and add a small name below in a coordinating font for a personalised gift
- Holiday tote bag portrait placementA customer stitched the medium size on the front of a natural canvas tote and used it as a christmas gift bag instead of wrapping paper, said it was the most commented-on thing at the gift exchange
- Festive tea towel border stripePlace the 5-inch along the bottom border of a red linen tea towel so the hands and lights peek out when the towel hangs on the oven rail
- Christmas sweatshirt sleeve or cuff accentRun the smaller size on the sleeve of a white sweatshirt near the cuff for a detail that shows when the sleeves are pushed up
- Couple's matching christmas jumper designMake matching christmas tops for a couple by stitching this on two sweatshirts and gifting them together in a box
- Classroom teacher gift on a hand towelPop the medium build on a good quality hand towel and gift it to a teacher along with a christmas card for a practical and personal present
- Holiday gift bag fabric panelEmbroider the small size on the front of a drawstring fabric bag and use it to wrap a small christmas gift instead of a paper bag
- Christmas table napkin corner motifPlace the smallest size on the corner of a cream cotton napkin and make a set of 4 for a christmas dinner table gift
Dimensions
5 sizes included. Stitch counts shown for the largest colorway.
| Size (in) | Stitches |
|---|---|
| 1.76 × 3.51 in | 7,893 |
| 2.26 × 4.51 in | 9,890 |
| 2.76 × 5.51 in | 11,833 |
| 3.26 × 6.51 in | 13,929 |
| 3.76 × 7.51 in | 16,029 |
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.
Reviews
No reviews yet for this design. Be the first to share your make once you have stitched it. Tag us on Instagram and we will feature your work.
You may also like
Other designs from this collection you might love
Blue Flower Fairy Embroidery Design, Instant Do...
Cherry Blossom Branch Embroidery Design, Spring...
Frog Love Embroidery Design, Cute Valentine Fro...
Your Opinion Is Not Part of the Recipe Embroide...
Fustergluck Kitchen Rooster Embroidery Design, ...
Spring Floral Gnome Embroidery Design, Machine ...
Bee Farm Raw Honey Embroidery Design, Machine E...
Coastal Lighthouse Embroidery Design, Machine E...
Red Tulip Embroidery Design, Machine Embroidery...
Raven on Tree Embroidery Design, Machine Embroi...
Celestial Alpaca Embroidery Design, Machine Emb...
Dog High Five Embroidery Design, Machine Embroi...
Browse by category
Pick a theme, find the perfect design for your next project
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.
