December FREE Holiday Embroidery Pattern – HO HO HO
Embroider this free holiday embroidery pattern and let out your inner HO HO HO this winter!
The holidays are just around the corner, which means it is time for holiday crafts! While I love all the beautiful winter-y decorations, you know I can’t help but have a bit of fun. What better way to get into the holiday spirit than celebrating your inner HO HO HO? And if you are looking for a handmade gift, this is sure to get a huge reaction!
If you are in the Tacoma, Washington area, be sure to check out my events page to see when the next embroidery class will be. As always, they are held at Mattice Beauty Supply. This is an amazing place to shop for any hair needs. Without Mattice, these fun embroidery patterns wouldn’t exist, so be sure to tell her, “thank you,” when you visit her store!
What You’ll Need
- A 6 inch embroidery hoop to hold your fabric
- A 9×9 inch square of cream woven fabric
- Embroidery needles
- Scissors
- Marking tool to draw your design
- at least four colors of embroidery floss
- Optional: A bit of thread
- Optional: A 6 inch circle of felt
What Colors to Use
I always encourage people to use whatever colors you have or like in their embroidery. But, if you want to use the same colors as me, here are my suggestions:
- DMC BLANC – White
- DMC 321 – Red
- DMC 895 – Dark Green
- DMC 814 – Dark Red
Embroidery Stitches in This Pattern
Back Stitch
The first stitch in this pattern is the back stitch. This is a basic stitch for embroidery, and for hand sewing in general.
To start, anchor your thread with a small knot. Starting from the back of the fabric, bring the needle up, one stitch length from the start of your stitch line. Then, bring the needle back down at the start of the stitch line. This creates the first stitch.
Keep bringing the needle up one stitch length away from the previous stitch, and back down so it meets the stitch before. When you’ve reached the end of your stitch line, secure your thread on the back of the work and trim away excess thread.
Whipped Back Stitch
A fast and easy way to make a cute candy cane effect is to use a whipped back stitch. This might look complicated, but is actually quite easy.
First, stitch your design using a back stitch, as described above. Then, with a contrast color, thread the new color through each back stitch in the same direction to create a spiral effect with the two colors.
French Knot
The next stitch used in this pattern is the French knot. This fun little stitch adds a nice texture to any embroidery piece.
Bring your knotted thread up from behind the fabric, where you want your French knot to be, and pull the thread through.
Place your needle near where the thread comes through the fabric, and wrap the thread coming out of the fabric around the needle two or three times. The more times you wrap the thread, the bigger your French knot will be.
Gently pull on the thread, so the wraps are close to the needle, but not so tight the needle can’t move through the loops.
Push the needle through to the back of the fabric at the same point the needle came up, while keeping gentle tension on the thread. This creates one knot.
Secure your thread on the back of the fabric when you’ve completed all of your French knots.
Fly Stitch
The fly stitch is a fun way to quickly stitch a V or a Y shape, and perfect for making snowflakes!
With an anchored thread, come up at the tip of one of the arms. Then bring the thread back down at the tip on the opposite side. Before you pull the thread tight, bring your needle back up at the base of the V of the shape and catch the thread between the arms to create a sharp angle.
All that is left is to bring the thread back through to the back of the fabric. If you make this stitch short, you will get a V shape, a longer stitch makes a Y shape.
Stem Stitch
The stem stitch is a very useful stitch for creating solid outlines.
It starts with anchoring your thread. This time, you’ll bring the needle up at the start of your line. Then, bring the needle through to the back of the fabric, one stitch length away. But, while you pull the thread through, stop before it is tight against the fabric and bring the needle back up through the fabric, along the stitch line, between where the stitch started and ended.
At this point, you should have one stitch on the front of the fabric, with the thread coming through from the bottom, next to the first stitch.
Then, you’ll bring the needle through to the back, about half a stitch length away from the end of the first stitch, and back up at the same spot as the end of the previous stitch.
Be sure to bring the thread up on the same side of the previous stitch to keep the twisting appearing of the stem stitch.
This stitch sounds may seem more confusing than the back stitch, but they are actually different sides of the same stitch.
At the end of your stitches, secure the thread on the back and trim away any excess thread.
Seed Stitch
The seed stitch is a simple way to fill in a shape, without having to worry too much.
In the area you want to fill, make a lot of small stitches, going in all directions. You can make these as close together or spread out as you wish. It’s like embroidery confetti!
Straight Stitch
The straight stitch is arguably the easiest embroidery stitch.
Starting from the back of the fabric, you simply go up at one end of the line you want to create, and back down at the other end of the line. That’s it!
Secure your thread to the back of your work when you have finished your stitches.
Stitching the Pattern
Get Your Fabric Ready
Start by tracing the pattern onto the 9 inch by 9 inch fabric with whatever marking tool you want to use.
If you don’t want your drawing to show at all in the final project, you can use heat erasable or water soluble ink pens. I like to use water soluble ink. When I’m done stitching, I just get the fabric wet and all the markings instantly disappear. If you use a pen or pencil, be sure to cover all the markings with your stitches.
Having a light behind the paper and fabric makes it much easier to work with. You can use a window on a bright day, or a light on your phone or tablet. There are even backlight apps available.
Once your pattern is ready to go, place the fabric into the embroidery hoop.
Start by laying the fabric over the smaller hoop (the one without the screw). Then, place the outer ring over the fabric, so the fabric is pinched between the two rings of the hoop. To tension the fabric, alternate between gently pulling on the fabric edges, and tightening the screw of the hoop. You want the fabric to be taught like a drum.
Now you’re ready to get stitching!
HO HO HO Free Holiday Embroidery Pattern PDF
HO HO HO
- Part 1
- Color: 1 (white)
- Strands: 6
- Stitch: Back Stitch
- Part 2
- Color: 2 (red)
- Strands: 6
- Stitch: Whipped Back Stitch
Snow Balls
- Color: 1 (white)
- Strands: 6
- Stitch: French Knot
Snow Flakes
- Color: 1 (white)
- Strands: 4
- Stitch: Fly Stitch
Panties
- Outline
- Color: 3 (dark green)
- Strands: 3
- Stitch: Stem Stitch
- Polka Dots
- Color: 3 (dark green)
- Strands: 3
- Stitch: Seed Stitch
Boxers
- Outline
- Color: 3 (dark green)
- Strands: 3
- Stitch: Stem Stitch
- Stripes
- Color: 3 (dark green)
- Strands: 3
- Stitch: Straight Stitch
Bra
- Color: 4 (dark red)
- Strands: 3
- Stitch: Stem Stitch
G-String
- Color: 4 (dark red)
- Strands: 3
- Stitch: Stem Stitch
Finishing Your Hoop
Now that you’re done stitching, it’s time to get your masterpiece ready to display or gift.
If you’ve used a removable ink to mark your pattern, now is the time to take it out of the hoop and either iron or wet the fabric to erase your markings, depending on what kind of ink you used.
To display your embroidery in the hoop, here are a couple of options for finishing the back of your work.
Back Finishing Option 1
The easiest way to finish your embroidery is to put it back into the hoop and just trim away excess fabric, as close to the frame as possible. The stitches will still show on the back, but if it’s hanging on a wall, no one will see it anyway.
Back Finishing Option 2
If you don’t want any stitches to show on the back of your hoop, you can cover the back with a circle of felt, the same size as the inner ring of your embroidery hoop.
After placing the fabric back into the hoop, trim away excess fabric, leaving about 1.5 inches of fabric around the edge of the hoop. Then, use a quick running stitch around the edge of the fabric and pull it tight to draw the edges of fabric toward the middle of the hoop.
With the fabric tucked in, you can glue the felt circle to the back, or stitch it down with a whip stitch around the edge.
I hope you have fun stitching this pattern!
If you’re in the Tacoma area, be sure to check out my upcoming events and come say, “Hi!”
For more embroidery patterns and inspiration, click here.
What are you making this holiday season? Let me know in the comments below!