Christmas Rooster Embroidery Design, Instant Download

Its a rooster wearing a santa hat, which is already entertaining, but what makes this design interesting is how its drawn. The chest isnt just a simple fill, its a big teardrop-shaped mound of directional feather lines radiating outward from the centre, almost like the petals of a chrysanthemum. The face markings are sharp and angular with those intense rooster eyes. The santa hat sits at a slight tilt with a white pompom and trim, and four delicate snowflakes float around him like hes just strutted outside into the winter morning. I'd say it reads as more portrait than cartoon which is kind of rare for a farm animal christmas design.

Four thread colours: white does most of the heavy lifting on the chest, red covers the hat and the wattle area, orange handles the beak, black pulls together the outline and feather detail lines. 617 stitches in each square inch keeps it where all that feather texture comes from. Use a firm woven fabric, the directional feathering needs a stable ground to read cleanly. On cotton canvas or denim it looks great, on a loose knit the lines can drift a bit.

Folks order this one each holiday season for the farm christmas decor crowd mainly, kitchen towels, aprons, tote bags with a country house feel. I get orders from backyard chicken keepers wanting something personal on their sweatshirts too. The 4 sizes only go to 7.5 inches so its well suited to garments and mid-size home items. Hoop your fabric well, pop a cutaway on anything stretchy, the dense chest fill will pull if the cloth has any give. Skip loose weaves entirely, the snowflake outlines are fine running stitch and they need a tight ground.