Mocked up this owl design as a full cartoon character, its a round little thing with big dark blue eyes staring straight out, wrapped from neck to base in a proper tangle of christmas lights. Not neatly draped, actually tangled, which is what makes it funny. The lights come in six colours, orange, purple, dark red, light blue, green, and white, and the cord is a winding green string that loops around the whole body. Crimson santa hat sits at the top with a grey pom-pom trim and the feathers are stitched in matte black with directional density that gives the body some roundness.
11 colours total, 11 colour changes. That means 12 thread stops in the full sequence. digitising tools took the feather body sequencing, building it as overlapping satin blocks, each one directional so the whole bird reads as three-dimensional rather than flat fill. The density is 1,053 density which means is on the higher side, this is gonna be a firm piece once its down. You'll need a heavy cutaway stabiliser underneath, not a tearaway. The 3-inch minimum size is workable but the feather detail is much better at 4 inches and up.
One customer send me a photo of the 4-in face on a white pique onesie, the colours popped really well against the white ground and the density held through the ribbing of the pique without any puckering. She said she had to use a double layer of cutaway because the pique is spongy, which I actually think is good advice for anyone hooping knit fabric with this design. The santa hat is mostly satin column fill so the red thread is gonna be bright and opaque even on coloured grounds.
Pair it with a lightweight iron-on topping film if youre putting this on anything with pile or texture, fleece, velour, sherpa. Topping peels away cleanly after stitching and keeps those tiny light bulb shapes from sinking. Add it to a navy onesie or a charcoal grey sweatshirt if you want christmas, I like the way the colour palette hits against dark ground fabric better than white personally. Use a double layer of cutaway on spongy fabrics like pique knit, the fill holds through without puckering.
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.
- White or cream baby onesieWhite pique onesies are the go-to for this design, the 4-inch version sits well centred on the chest and the 11-colour palette really reads on white ground.
- Kids christmas sweatshirtKids sweatshirts in navy or charcoal are a great match for this, the owl character has a fun expression that children respond to and the bright lights give it enough festive energy.
- Felt christmas ornamentCutting this out on pre-stabilised felt and adding a loop at the top gives you a detailed christmas tree ornament, customers who do craft fairs use the 3-inch version for this.
- Holiday tote bagA holiday tote bag in natural cotton canvas with the 5-inch version is a solid option, the dark background colours in the design contrast well against cream canvas.
- Toddler pajama topToddler pajama tops in a soft cotton interlock are a common request, use a double-layer cutaway on knit and a sharp needle so the satin columns dont pull the fabric.
- Festive cushion coverA cushion cover in a deep olive or forest green fabric lets all 11 thread colours pop, especially the orange and crimson against the darker ground.
- Christmas stocking front panelChristmas stocking fronts in a plain red or green felt are easy to stabilise and give the owl character enough space at the 6-inch size to really show the feather detail.
Dimensions
5 sizes included. Stitch counts shown for the largest colorway.
| Size (in) | Stitches |
|---|---|
| 3.03 × 3.50 in | 21,667 |
| 3.89 × 4.50 in | 28,476 |
| 4.75 × 5.50 in | 35,473 |
| 5.62 × 6.50 in | 43,016 |
| 6.48 × 7.50 in | 51,161 |
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.
