Ornamental Lotus Embroidery Design, Instant Download

She told me last year this was for a yoga retreat centre, going on the back of the staff uniform shirts. I wasnt sure how the combination of red and cobalt blue would read on a light fabric but the stitched version came out striking, the black outline pulls the whole ornamental structure together so it looks like a hand-drawn mehndi or tattoo flash design rather than just a floral. The lotus petals fan out in two layers, outer blush pink then inner crimson, with the pointed blue centre petals rising between them. Above the flower a tall decorative spike runs up in red with tiny paisley detail near the top, below it blue scroll arms curl outward like a henna base motif.

4 sizes, 2.83 inches wide up to 4.7 inches, heights go 4.5 to 7.5 inches. Its a tall design, taller than wide, suits vertical placement. Stitch range from 16,582 to 28,733 stitches, density is 815. Tape a piece of medium cutaway behind your fabric before hooping, the red and blue satin sections are wide fills and need that anchor so they dont shift between colour stops. 4 colour changes, 5 stops, and 60 trims at the larger sizes so a good sharp needle helps you skip between the smaller detail sections cleanly.

Works well on light cotton and linen, the contrast colours show their best on white or cream. Also done on a charcoal grey sweatshirt where the crimson and blue both go richer and the pale pink reads almost peach. Keep your machine speed moderate on the first pass of the outer petal fills, the wide satin sections on these petals can drag the fabric sideways if you run them at full speed. Press the finished piece from the back with a press cloth, the density of the blue inner section holds a lot of heat.