Honestly what I liked most about digitising this design was the text layout. The way the quote wraps around the donkeys face instead of sitting in a neat block is tricky to pull off cleanly at smaller sizes, and I spent abit of extra time making sure the satin letters dont crowd the animals ear at 3 inch. The donkey itself is done in directional tatami fill with real fur texture built into the grey tones, and those little four-point sparkle stars scattered around it are tiny satin columns that catch the light nicely on fleece or denim.
My niece ordered a hoodie with this stitched on the chest last week and texted me a photo when she wore it to work. Apparently three people stopped her in the hallway and asked where she got it. The quote reads "I seriously need a speed bump between my brain and my mouth" and its the kind of thing that makes someone snort-laugh when they spot it on a tee. Stitch it in black thread on heather grey cotton and the charcoal and teal tones just pop without looking garish.
Use a cutaway stabiliser on knits and stretchy jerseys, there are 18,805 stitches at the smallest 3.06 inch wide size and the underlay does alot of work keeping those block caps stable during stitching. On woven fabrics like canvas bags or twill caps you can get away with a firm tearaway and youll be fine. Center it on the chest or hoop it front-and-left. The teal on the inner ears and chest patch comes out best when you use a pale or white bobbin thread so it doesnt bleed through.
Skip polyester-heavy fabrics if you want crisp satin columns on the letters. Cotton fleece, thick canvas, and sturdy denim terry all take this really well. Iron on a pressing cloth after stitching to flatten the jump stitches between letter segments and youll get a clean professional finish every time.
Drop me a message if your machine has trouble with the small text.
Drop me a message if the letter columns give your machine any grief.
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.
- Graphic tee front chestHonestly my favourite spot for the donkey quote is a heather grey tee, the teal pops against mid-tone cotton without needing any extra colour.
- Canvas tote bagRuns clean across a zipped pouch front or a flat canvas tote, the 4.5 inch wide version fits without crowding the handles.
- Sweatshirt or hoodiePop it on a dark navy or black sweatshirt chest and the charcoal grey donkey reads really well, dont overthink the colour pairing.
- Ball cap or trucker hatThe 3 inch width sits right on a structured twill cap front, hoop it tight and use a firm tearaway for clean letter edges.
- Kitchen apron frontAny farmhouse-style gift shop owner Ive chatted with would stock aprons with the quote on the bib section, its a natural fit.
- Cotton fleece blanket cornerAdd it to the lower corner of a cotton fleece throw and itll get more comments than any plain monogram would.
- Pillow cover for a home officeStitch it onto a linen or canvas pillow cover for a home desk chair, the self-deprecating quote works in any office setting.
Dimensions
5 sizes included. Stitch counts shown for the largest colorway.
| Size (in) | Stitches |
|---|---|
| 3.06 × 3.50 in | 18,805 |
| 3.94 × 4.50 in | 24,567 |
| 4.81 × 5.50 in | 31,233 |
| 5.69 × 6.50 in | 37,890 |
| 6.56 × 7.50 in | 45,231 |
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.
