Theres a womans silhouette facing left, her profile clean and composed, and the real action is up in her hair. The afro is enormous, filling the top half of the design, and inside that shape run three horizontal stripes: red at the top, yellow through the middle, green at the base. Small black butterfly silhouettes scatter off the edges of the hair like theyre rising. Below the figure the words break into two lines, cursive script at the top reading I am Black and then HISTORY in solid white block capitals underneath.
Four colours, three of them being the Pan-African flag palette plus white for the text. The butterfly cutouts are black-on-black against the dark fabric which is why this one really wants a dark base cloth. Im digitising the hair section with directional tatami to get the stripe layers crisp without the fills bleeding into each other at the border rows. Wilcom held 44k stitches on the 7.5-inch size clean, and the density at 806 is on the heavier side so give it a proper cutaway stabiliser underneath.
I made this originally for a youth leadership programme run by a community centre in march. They wanted something that wasnt generic, something that felt like it was speaking to the young women in the group specifically. Since then its been picked up by a lil lot of natural hair care brands doing event merch and by a few teachers who wanted an end-of-term gift tee for their students. The butterflies were the detail people kept mentioning, thats the bit that makes it feel specific rather than just decorative.
Run this on black, charcoal or deep navy cotton or jersey for full effect. The butterfly outlines rely on contrast between the black cutout shapes and the background so pale fabric wont give you the same read. Stitch on a medium-weight linen tote for a softer more artisan feel. Use cutaway stabiliser on all fabric types at this stitch count, skip tearaway here because the 44k density will pull the stabiliser edges on stretch fabrics.
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.
- Youth leadership programme event shirtsStitch the 6-inch size on a black crew neck for a youth leadership programme event and the butterfly detail photographs well at any distance.
- Natural hair care brand event merchPop the largest 7.35-inch on a charcoal hoodie back panel for a natural hair brand doing event merch at a trade fair.
- Black history month classroom gift teesEmbroider a 4-inch version on dark navy tees as end-of-term gifts from a teacher to her female students in february.
- Community centre women's group hoodiesUse the medium size on a women's group hoodie for a community centre programme running cultural history workshops.
- Afro-centric boutique tote bagsSew the design onto a black cotton canvas tote for an afro-centric boutique carry bag that doubles as a statement piece.
- February cultural celebration sweatshirtsStitch on a deep indigo sweatshirt for a february cultural celebration so the Pan-African colours hold strong on the dark base.
- Hair salon client appreciation apparelRun the smaller 3.43-inch on a salon apron chest panel as a year-round pride marker for natural hair professionals.
- Canvas back panels for custom jean jacketsEmbroider the full 7.5-inch tall version centred on the back of a denim jacket as a custom panel for a cultural event gift.
Dimensions
5 sizes included. Stitch counts shown for the largest colorway.
| Size (in) | Stitches |
|---|---|
| 3.43 × 3.50 in | 15,072 |
| 4.41 × 4.50 in | 20,588 |
| 5.39 × 5.50 in | 27,802 |
| 6.37 × 6.50 in | 35,402 |
| 7.35 × 7.50 in | 44,453 |
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.
