Colorful Smiley Faces Embroidery Design, Fashion Machine Embroidery Pattern, Instant Download

Retro smiley faces went huge last year in streetwear and I started getting requests for an embroidery version from customers making custom patches and capsule collections. Ive been making this one since last january and it hasnt slowed down. Eleven colours in eleven separate face circles, five sizes from 3.51 to 7.5 wide max, stitch count 13,455 to 37,465. Light, quick and colourful.

Density at 743 per square inch is deliberately low for this one, the smiley face circles use simple fill stitch and keeping the density moderate means the design stays soft and doesnt stiffen denim or cotton canvas. The outlines on each circle are satin stitch so hooping flat and consistent matters for keeping all eleven outlines crisp. Lay light tearaway woven fabrics and a cutaway on any stretch. Avoid topping on this one unless youre on heavy pile, theres so little fill depth that topping just adds unnecessary thickness between the faces. Occured to me to test this on stretch velvet last week and the result was actually great at the 5 inch size.

Eleven colours means eleven stops but each one is short, the faces are simple shapes and the colour changes go fast. Best on white or light grey base fabric where all eleven face colours read at full saturation. The 4 inch on a denim cap panel is the most popular placement I see, but the 7.5 inch as an all-over shirt front on cotton poplin is something customers arent shy about trying this season. Bold.