The outer ring is a wide red arc built to look like a ruler. A row of short white tick-mark stitches runs along the top edge. Tiny black push-pin heads sit at intervals around the inside face of the arch, as if the whole thing is pinned up on a board. Inside the ruler ring sit two parallel yellow arcs that are actually pencils, with grey graphite tips at each end where they hit the base. Small red heart shapes sit in the space between those pencil arcs and the outer ruler, and two small green paper clip outlines hang on either side of the composition.
At the very bottom centre, where the yellow arcs meet, sits the focal point: a red heart-shaped apple with a short stem and a single bright green leaf. Its the kind of detail that makes you look twice because it slots so neatly into the arch. Five colours total: red, yellow, grey, green and black, so its a manageable colour stop count despite how visually busy it looks.
Run through Wilcom so density compensation works, at 640 stitches per square inch. Five sizes span 2.11 by 3 inches at 6,765 stitches up to 4.9 by 7 inches at 21,937. Thats what keeps the ruler tick marks and push pin shapes crisp rather than blobby even at the smallest size. A customer placed the 5-inch version on the front of a white canvas tote last August and said it was the most-commented bag at her school open evening.
White, cream and light grey fabrics are where this one lives. The red and yellow are vivid enough that you dont want to compete with a dark background. Use a medium cutaway stabiliser on smooth cotton canvas, cotton drill and cotton poplin. Skip any red fabric or that red arch will blend right into the background and youll lose the silhouette. Float a water-soluble topping on any looser-weave linen so the tick marks dont sink into the threads. Hoop the fabric firmly before you start or those pin heads wont register cleanly.
Text me if the tip registration drifts on your machine and Ill suggest tension settings.
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.
- White canvas tote for a teacher back-to-school giftStitch the 5-inch on a white canvas tote and fill it with a gift card and stationery for a teacher back-to-school gift
- Cotton drawstring bag for a student start-of-term giftPlace the medium size on a cream cotton drawstring bag filled with pencils and erasers for a student first-day gift
- Classroom display hoop for a back-to-school bulletin boardMount the largest version in a wide embroidery hoop and use it as a back-to-school display on the classroom bulletin board
- Teacher appreciation apron for the first week back in SeptemberEmbroider on a natural cotton apron for a teacher to wear on the first day back in September as a fun welcome piece
- Fabric-covered notebook as a teacher gift set pieceStitch the medium size on a cotton canvas notebook cover and add elastic closure for a handmade teacher gift
- Kids sweatshirt for a first-day-of-school photo shootPlace the small size on the chest of a white kids sweatshirt for a first-day-of-school photo and keep as a memento
- Cotton pencil case for a student stationery gift setEmbroider on a cotton zipper pencil case and pair it with a set of coloured pencils for a student stationery gift
- Staff welcome banner on a wide cream canvas panelCentre the 4.9-inch on a wide cream canvas panel and hang it across the staff room notice board for the new term
Dimensions
5 sizes included. Stitch counts shown for the largest colorway.
| Size (in) | Stitches |
|---|---|
| 2.11 × 3.00 in | 6,765 |
| 2.80 × 4.00 in | 9,710 |
| 3.50 × 5.01 in | 13,212 |
| 4.20 × 6.00 in | 17,256 |
| 4.90 × 7.00 in | 21,937 |
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.
