Maple Leaf Embroidery Design, Instant Download

Spent a bit of time on this maple leaf trying to get the silhouette right before touching any of the fill settings. Its got that proper multi-lobe maple shape with the pointed serrated edges, sitting at a slight angle rather than dead straight -- which honestly makes it look more natural, like it just fell off the tree. Two colours: a solid bright red for the entire body filled with dense tatami, and a dark near-maroon thread for the veins.

The vein work is whats worth mentioning here. A centre spine runs from the stem up through the middle, then branches split off left and right in a Y-pattern. Theyre stitched as narrow satin columns so they stay raised against the tatami fill underneath -- you actually feel them if you run your finger across a finished piece. Density is high at 703 stitches per square inch, and the large size gets up to nearly 15,000 stitches.

Im digitising this in Wilcom so the direction shifts in the fill follow the lobe angles rather than going straight horizontal across the whole leaf. That means each lobe catches light a little differently depending on how the fabric moves, which gives it that 3-D quality on the finished piece. Ive had a customer who runs a market stall for fall decor order this repeatedly every September -- she does it on cream linen tote bags and says it sells faster than anything else she stocks.

Use a medium to heavy cutaway stabiliser because the density at 703 needs something solid underneath. Woven cotton, denim or felt all work well. Skip light silks or anything flimsy -- at this stitch density youll get puckering on soft unstabilised fabric.

Stitch it at normal speed, just make sure you hoop firmly. Sizes run from 1.67 by 2 inches up to 4.2 by 5 inches, so the smallest fits a jacket pocket while the biggest works as a cushion centrepiece. Send me a message through the order page if your vein lines are sinking into the fill and Ill look at the thread weight options with you.