She wrote me after stitching this on a sweatshirt last boxing day saying she'd had three people ask where to buy one before she even left the house. Merry Christmas afro girl portrait, bust view, Black woman with a big voluminous natural afro filling the whole upper portion. The afro uses dense black satin with directional changes to suggest depth and curl, it doesnt look flat at all.
Shes wearing a red santa hat tilted to the left, a gold hoop earring, red lips, and shes glancing slightly off to one side which gives it attitude. Below, 'Merry Christmas' curves in a flowing red script with long looping tails. Five colours only: brown, white, red, black and yellow. Stitch range is 13,697 at the smallest size up to just under 37,000 at the largest, so its not a heavy stitch count to work through.
Tape [X] behind the hoop area before you start, the afro section's the densest part and the black fill needs a firm base on lighter fabrics. Use a cutaway stabiliser on sweatshirts or fleece, the knit stretch will distort that fill without it. Pop your needle speed down about 20 percent on the afro section, long dense satin at speed can skip on thick knit. The script at the bottom stitches clean even at the small sizes, dont worry about those fine curves.
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.
- Christmas sweatshirts and hoodiesThe portrait scales beautifully to a sweatshirt chest, the afro silhouette reads from a distance.
- Holiday tote bags and shopping bagsOn a black canvas tote the red and gold thread pops dramatically, no background noise.
- Festive t-shirts and tank topsWorks on stretchy tee fabric with cutaway stabiliser, the dense afro fill stays put.
- Christmas cushion covers and pillow panelsCentred on a cushion cover this makes a statement piece, particularly on jewel-toned velvet.
- Gift wrap pouches and drawstring bagsSmall drawstring gift bags at 3.5 inches look complete, the script still reads clearly.
- Kids christmas dresses and skirtsOn a little girls christmas dress the portrait sits nicely at chest height without overwhelming.
- Hoop wall art for afrocentric holiday decorFramed in a 6-inch natural wood hoop this reads as decorative art, not just a craft project.
Dimensions
5 sizes included. Stitch counts shown for the largest colorway.
| Size (in) | Stitches |
|---|---|
| 3.51 × 2.65 in | 13,697 |
| 4.51 × 3.40 in | 18,699 |
| 5.51 × 4.16 in | 24,105 |
| 6.51 × 4.91 in | 30,168 |
| 7.51 × 5.67 in | 36,999 |
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.
