If you own an embroidery machine, you may find yourself wondering where you can go to find designs. Of course, you can buy expensive software to run your embroidery machine. But you probably want to know where to find free machine embroidery designs to download!
Most online embroidery design stores provide free samples in a variety of file formats. Many embroidery artists feature subscriptions to receive free designs, like CreativeKiwi. Companies like Brother and Janome offer free designs besides paid software.
In this article, you will learn how to download free embroidery designs. You will discover 14 excellent online sources for free embroidery designs. Finally, you will get tips on how to add those free designs to your machine.
How Can I Download Embroidery Designs for Free?
You can find free embroidery designs from individual artists, online stores offering promotions, and big-name brands providing free incentives to try the company software.
You can often find the cutest and quirkiest designs by signing up for subscriptions with individual artists, but you can browse a wider range of free items if you check out online stores offering promotions. Sometimes getting a free trial or checking out the free design available from brands such as Brother or Janome may offer the easiest solution, as this allows you to get exactly the file type you need.
This leads to a key point you should know before looking for free embroidery designs. Different embroidery machines need different file types. For example, Brother machines only read pes files, while Janome machines need jef files. Many artists or online stores will offer a design in various file formats, but you always need to make sure you select the format that is compatible with your machine!
Another thing to consider is that free designs offer a fun and cheap way to explore the world of embroidery machines, but you may not find everything you need. You certainly won’t get the comprehensive kind of design options you would find with embroidery design software.
Plus, hunting down free designs will take some time and you will not always have exactly what you want at your fingertips. For this reason, if you plan to embroider a lot, you may want to consider purchasing software that is compatible with your embroidery machine.
On the other hand, you should get a free sample from the software company before committing to an expensive purchase! Whenever possible, it’s a good idea to try out a free sample from an artist, online store, or brand before you buy any designs from them. This lets you make sure you like the style and how the design interacts with your embroidery machine.
Finally, do you plan to use your embroidery machine to make gifts for your family or launch a small business? Many artists and online stores only allow their free designs for personal use, not for mass production. If you want to embroider designs to sell, such as embroidering logos on T-shirts to sell on Etsy, you probably need to look into purchasing true embroidery design software.
If you want to make Christmas napkins for your holiday tablescape, though, you can find festive and free designs to get you started!
14 Free Machine Embroidery Designs to Download
You can find a wide range of types and styles of free embroidery designs to download online. The fourteen websites listed here offer a good overview of the best free selection you can find online.
Almost all artists and online stores will offer a design in many file formats, so you can make it work for pretty much any type of embroidery machine. Sometimes specific brands such as Janome, Brother, or Singer will only offer free materials in the file format that works with the brand’s embroidery machines, though.
As you read through the pros and cons of each website, remember that some designers set limitations on how many free designs you can access. Other stores may ask you to submit your email and sign up for a monthly newsletter to access free designs. But each of these websites does provide excellent free designs if you’re willing to jump through a few hoops!
Embroidery Designs Images Free Download
The most popular online embroidery designs stores offer a wide selection of designs. They also provide a good range of free materials!
Many online stores compile the work of multiple designers. This allows you to look through a broad range of styles. Plus, you often get more freebies than you would from an individual artist, who can only afford to give away so much at a time.
1. Embroiderers.com
One of the most popular online embroidery design stores is Embroiderers.com. This site offers hundreds of free designs at a time, all easily browsable under the “free embroidery designs” tab at the top menu. The free designs cover different styles and themes, from weddings to Baby’s First Halloween to kitchen mixers!
If you like the designs you download for free; you can find thousands of more designs for low prices. You can do this by browsing the themed headings in the lefthand menu or by searching for a specific type of design. Plus, you can look into getting designs digitized to turn a photo or picture into an embroidery file!
Most importantly of all, Embroiderers.com lets you download as many free designs as you want at one time!
2. Embroiderydesigns.com
EmbroideryDesigns.com is another big-name online store selling designs made by many different artists. At this online store, you will find thousands of designs to choose from. These range from super intricate to more simple designs.
You can choose any file type you need and search or browse in multiple different ways. For instance, you can browse all holiday designs or search for “reindeer design.”
Partly because of its vast library of designs, this website may well be the most popular online embroidery design store out there. It even has a cool ranking system that lets you see whether or not other embroiderers liked a design!
The only real downside here is that this website only allows you to download three free designs per week. The number of free designs you can access does go up if you make some purchases, though.
3. SWAKembroidery.com
SWAK Embroidery works a bit differently. This online store has a slightly more limited selection than a giant online store like EmbroideryDesigns.com. What it does have is a great selection of stylized or more “grown-up” looking designs.
These designs include lots of blackwork designs that don’t need a high stitch density. The online store offers a great library of paid designs, too, many of them for just one dollar!
Another cool thing about the freebies available through SWAK is that you can use them for commercial use in some cases. Though you will want to read the fine print of the terms of use in that regard!
4. Dailyembroidery.com
Daily Embroidery does exactly what the name says: it emails you a chance to download a free design every day! Of course, this does not allow you to browse or select a specific design you may need. But sometimes cute, random designs will spark your creativity!
The online store also operates on a subscription basis, with a monthly fee you pay to get access to more designs.
The regularity of the emails makes this a nice, different type of freebie. You will get some cute and unique designs here. That said, you may prefer to browse the thousands of options available in a bigger store if you need a certain design.
Janome Embroidery Designs Free Software
Janome embroidery machines are often the best-selling models in the world. Janome has a great reputation in the sewing world in general! Of course, like most brands, Janome prefers that you buy the brand’s dedicated software. That said, the brand does offer some freebies as well!
Janome embroidery machines use the jef file type. While many online stores do offer designs in this format, sometimes it’s easier to just go to the source and see what Janome has to offer for its machines!
5. JanomeSewingCentre
Janome wants its customers to buy its Artistic Digitizer software. This comprehensive design package offers everything from couching to decorative buttonholes. That said, the company does share two new designs every month for free, which you can find on this website!
If you have a Janome embroidery machine, you may also want to consider signing up for a free trial of the real Janome software. This will allow you to explore and decide if you need that level of design tools or not.
6. FreeEmbroiderydesign.net
Free Embroidery Design has a selection of hundreds of free designs as well as a premium membership that gives you access to even more. The main focus of this fun online store is exploring creative designs and sharing them for free. You can also choose to share your own designs if you know how to make digital embroidery designs!
Artists make these designs using Wilcom. Wilcom is a super-famous embroidery design company that also sells its own highly regarded design software. If you’re looking into taking the plunge and buying WIlcom software, you may want to start here with these freebies to decide if you like the designs.
Free Embroidery Designs PES
Both Brother and Babylock embroidery machines use PES files. Of course, you can select a PES file option from many of the online stores listed in this article. Or you can find some great, especially creative options at Creative Fabrica and Kreative Kiwi.
7. CreativeFabrica
Creative Fabrica offers one of the most navigable free libraries of embroidery designs you will find anywhere. You can select from a menu offering free fonts, free graphics, and even free classes! The designs offered at this store have a whimsical and adorable charm to them as well.
You can browse several hundred free options at a time. These designs do time out and disappear from the free list after a while, so you have to snatch up the ones you like!
If you prefer, you can create an account to get notifications about the free designs or buy some of the tools and designs sold through the store.
8. KreativeKiwi
Kreative Kiwi offers a selection of free downloadable designs in PES format. It also provides a rich variety of project ideas, complete with free instructions. That said, most of these designs and project ideas focus on in-the-hoop embroidery, so keep that in mind as you browse.
Kiwi uses the work of several artists, so you can find some variety in the style of design. Despite that, this is not as comprehensive a library of paid or free designs as you could find elsewhere. The cool feature of this website is the project ideas.
Free Brother Embroidery Designs
Brother embroidery machines use a PES file format, which you can find for sale or for free on many online stores. You can also browse free selections from Brother or get a trial version of design software.
9. BrotherUSA.com
Once you sign up to create an account, you can access a library of free designs made by Brother and for Brother machines. Of course, this is not a substitute for actual design software.
But if you’re just starting, you may find this easier to navigate than seeking out free designs from other brands. This way, you know the designs are compatible with your Brother machine!
10. Hatch/Wilcom
Wilcom’s Hatch software remains one of the most popular design programs for creating, editing, and using embroidery designs. Hatch does not necessarily offer a library of free designs, but it does provide the option for a free 30 day trial of the software.
Many sewers who own a Brother embroidery machine use the Hatch software, especially if they like to create their own unique designs.
If you’re thinking about going pro or even getting serious about your embroidery, you may want to consider trying out the free period. This will allow you to see what you can learn and whether you think the software is worth the cost.
Latest Embroidery Designs Free Download
Some online stores do a great job providing the hottest new designs. Many online embroidery design stores regularly post new content, of course! But you can find a few online stores that specialize in trendy designs and keep things fresh regularly.
11. EmDesignTube
EmDesignTube has a huge library of designs, many of them available at a low cost. The library of free designs has handy little identifiers to let you know which designs get the most downloads, too!!
The store also offers great design tools such as limiting a search by stitches, point range, or file type. Most importantly, this site offers trendy and global designs that will work in thousands of different types of projects.
12. RoyalPresent
Royal Present has a limited selection of trendy, constantly updated free designs to go along with its extensive design store. In the actual store, you can buy designs created for use in bedding and towels or search by themes such as for animals or weddings. You can also opt just to see the “new arrivals” to make sure you aren’t missing any of the latest designs!
The free items are limited, but you get a good selection of more complex or simple designs, as well as some stylish or trendy options.
100 Free Embroidery Designs
Some bigger sites, like embroidery design.com, will have more than 100 free designs at a time. Most stores or artists only offer a few freebies at a time, though, as an incentive to lure you in and get you to buy the paid designs.
You have already read about several large-scale online stores such as EmbroideryDesign.com, but you can also check out Smartneedle and FalconEmbroidery to see two more nice free collections!
13. SmartNeedle
SmartNeedle has a large library of free and 99-cent designs you can browse through. The website allows you to select from various types of embroidery, such as in-the-hoop or filled stitching.
The design style doesn’t have a huge range of variety but is very quaint and fun. (Ok…in all honesty, the designs have a bit of a “cute grandma” vibe to them. But if you like holidays and cutesy decorations, this is the store for you!)
Another nice fact about these free designs is that your downloads will not expire, and there is no limit to how many you can download at one time.
14. FalconEmbroidery
Falcon Embroidery specializes in blackwork and silhouette embroidery designs, and the website offers a solid selection of free, quirky, and fun designs. You can download these in all the major file formats for easy compatibility with your machine.
One catch is that you can’t sell anything made with these designs. For that, you would need to explore Falcon’s extensive online store. You can also check out the blog to give you artistic and creative ideas for using the designs!
How Do I Add Designs to My Embroidery Machine?
Most embroidery machines allow you to add designs by uploading the digital file from a computer or a flash drive. Some new machines can connect wirelessly to your in-the-cloud library of designs, making the process even easier!
Of course, you still need to remember that different file types work with different embroidery machines. So make sure you only download the right file format!
If you feel like you’re operating a spaceship every time you sit down at your embroidery machine, you may want to go a step further. You may find it helpful to watch some free tutorials on how to set up and use your machine.
All of the big-name embroidery machine companies offer free instructional videos as well. You can find these either on the company website or through an account if you had to register your machine when you bought it. These videos will give you a visual guide to how to add designs to your machine!
You can also search Youtube to find other sewers who have posted helpful tips and techniques to get you started!
How Do I Download Embroidery Designs?
Downloading an embroidery design is as easy as clicking a button, followed by saving the digital file so you can find it later.
First, you will want to select the “download” option for the design you like. Then you will have to unzip the file in the little download box as it pops up on your computer.
At this point, you have technically downloaded the file! That said, you will also want to save the file to a folder on your computer or flash drive so you can access it easily next time you want it. Some sewers have a neatly arranged library of designs saved in subfolders, organized by theme or type of design.
You can find helpful tips on downloading embroidery designs:
- On the manufacturer’s website. The company that made your embroidery machine will almost always provide detailed instructions for how to use it! This option often provides video tutorials as well.
- In the “help” section offered by most online stores. For example, Kreative Kiwi has a page on its website providing instructions for downloading its designs.
- By reading your manual, if you bought your embroidery machine new.
- On Youtube, if you prefer a visual guide.
- Or by joining an online sewing forum, where fellow sewers can offer you helpful tips and tricks!
How Do You Make a Design for a Brother Embroidery Machine?
To make your own designs for a Brother embroidery machine, you will need either design software or pay to have an image translated into a digital embroidery file.
Many online embroidery stores offer a conversion service. This means that you upload an image or photo, send it to the shop, and they translate the image into a file type that your embroidery machine can read. This easy option can get a bit pricey, though!
The other option is to create your own digital designs from scratch. Making your own embroidery designs is a whole nother ball of wax from downloading a free, pre-made design from the internet. You will need some graphic design ability and some manner of design software to create a digital embroidery design of your own.
One of the most extensive free graphic design tools you can find is Inkscape and its sewing extension Inkstitch. This free software provides a huge variety of design features you may find useful as you get started.
Conclusion
Embroidery machines cost a lot, so you may want to explore free machine embroidery designs to download rather than buying pricey software. You can find free designs provided by big-name brands such as Janome and Brother. You can also browse a wide selection of free designs provided by individual artists or online design stores.
A key thing to remember when downloading free designs is that you need to download a file in a format compatible with your machine. Every brand of embroidery machine needs a specialized file format for digital designs, such as PES or JEF.
What kind of designs do you like to make on your embroidery machine? Have you used a free design before? Leave a comment below to let us know!