Teacher Apple Heart Embroidery Design, Instant Download

Worked on this one for a while because getting an apple and a heart to share the same silhouette without looking like a mess is harder than it sounds. The outer frame is a thick black arc that traces the classic apple-heart bump at the top and comes down into a point at the base. Inside that frame sit three nested arcs: hot pink on the outside, then teal, then a warm yellow-gold closest to the centre. A proper pencil sits at the very bottom, tip pointing right, eraser end left, so the apple stem reads as the pencil clip. Green leaf pops off the top.

The word Teacher fills the centre in a chunky black brush-script with a slight shadow behind it. Scattered around the inside of the arcs are four tiny red heart shapes and a few four-point sparkle dots. The perimeter carries eight curved descriptor words in hairline chain-stitch script: Compassionate, Motivator, Warm, Dedicated, Loving, Kind, Believer, Passionate. They arc around the outside edge of the design and stitch in a lighter thread so they read as texture rather than competing with the main lettering.

Seven colours total, which sounds like a lot but the sequence is smooth and my standard software's sorted the thread order so youre not jumping back and forth. Density's 454 stitches per square inch with up to 17,771 stitches on the 7-inch version. Four sizes from 3.19 by 3.99 inches up to 5.59 by 7 inches. A customer who teaches year 3 sent a photo last week of the 5-inch on a canvas tote and the whole class had signed the bag, it looked genuinely special.

Best on medium-weight cotton canvas, felt or a quilting cotton in a neutral like cream, soft grey or pale blue. And float a stabiliser layer if youre stitching on a bag with any give in it, the arcs need a firm base or they'll bow out at the sides. Black or navy backgrounds work too, the pink and teal pop hard against dark fabric. this piece that doesnt need a lot of prep thought, it works on most things.

Keep thread tension consistent, the nested arcs sit right next to each other and any gap shows. Slow the machine down on the perimeter if your machine runs fast, those hairline chain letters need clean movement to stay legible at the smaller sizes. And dont skip a press cloth finish after stitching, the arcs flatten nicely with a bit of steam.