Floral Rainbow with Daisies & Heart Embroidery Design, Machine Embroidery Pattern, Instant Download

Painted up a floral rainbow with daisies and heart, proper happy. The rainbow uses three stacked bands instead of the usual seven colours, yellow gold on the outside, cream in the middle and warm orange on the inside. Two big white daisies perch on the outer arches like decorations on a cake, one on the upper left, one on the upper right. A small red heart sits centred below the inner arch like a hidden tiny detail. Tiny leaves and small flower buds creep up the inside curves.

Each arch sits as a raised satin band with a slight rolled edge, giving it that applique-look depth even though its full embroidery. Daisy petals are individual satin shapes radiating round a yellow filled centre, around 8 petals each flower with the orange brown centre dot. Heart is a simple filled satin in deep red, around half-inch tall on the larger sizes. Leaves are slim directional fills running up the rainbow flanks in a dusty leaf green. Fifteen colour stops total which sounds heaps but most are quick swaps under 1k stitches each.

I drew this one with kids room decor and nursery gear in mind, plus its been popular for primary school teacher gifts. The 2.42 by 3.51 inch version fits a onesie chest panel and the 5.19 by 7.51 sizes up to a wall hoop or pillow front. One customer ordered the 5-inch last spring for her nieces second birthday rainbow party and stitched it on tote bags she filled with party favours for each guest. She told me her sister was suprised at how proper finished they looked.

Pick a smooth medium-weight cotton, cream linen, dusty pink jersey or oatmeal canvas. White, cream and pale dusty pink backgrounds let the gold and orange arches stay punchy. Skip dark navy or black, the cream centre arch loses against dark cloth and the daisies turn into floating petals. Avoid heavy fleece or terry, the heart and bud sprigs sink into pile and lose their definition.

Density is medium with 698 stitches per square inch and 27k stitches max so its a manageable run for the colour count. Run a medium cutaway stabiliser, hoop firmly with no slack and lay a thin water-soluble film if youre stitching on jersey or knit so the satin arches dont pucker. Once the arches are down the rest goes on quick, takes loads less time then youd guess for a 15-colour piece.