Free Redwork Patterns
Download it, Print it, Trace it, Embroider it!
Click the pattern image to download PDF. After downloading the PDF, you will need a printer to print the pattern onto paper before tracing it onto your fabric.
For the best results, print the pattern at 100% / Actual Size and do not select "Fit to Page" or "Shrink to Fit".
Les Bébés
Sarah and her brother Matthew are suitable for embroidery or crayon blocks. They work up nicely as pillows, quilt blocks, bumper pads, clothing, curtains, and even look nice framed in wood or fabric.
A Year of Redwork
This set includes 14 Redwork patterns - 12 designs for a complete “Year of Redwork,” plus 2 extra designs for January and February. The two extras give you the option to choose which design you prefer for those months, allowing you to swap them out and create a year that is uniquely your own.
Begger Cat
Sleepy
New Year
Santa
Turkey,
I Love You
Carving
the Pumpkin
Feeding
the Squirrels
August
Batter Up
UhOh
Summersplash
Flowers
Swept Away
Saint Paddy
Valentines
Snowman
Directions for Embroidery
Study your design carefully, noting what lines belong to what items. Trace your design onto your fabric. Tape the design to the fabric from UNDERNEATH the fabric with the painters' tape so you can move it around on your light table. Use a washable transfer pen or a sharp pencil. If you don't have a light table, use a sunny window or a glass top table with a lamp underneath it.
Trace carefully and completely, make sure you have traced all of the design. Do not allow your fabric to become wet or damp.
Use your favorite brand of 6 strand embroidery floss; all patterns use 2 strands except the features which use 1 strand. I recommend a 4-inch spring hoop, the sort with the plastic ring, it doesn't rust or snag and is easy to move the fabric around on. When your embroidery is complete, wash it in soapy lukewarm water and rinse it well. Roll it in a dry towel, let it dry and press with a warm iron, face down on a terry towel.
Common Stitches Used in Redwork Embroidery
Simple Outline Stitch;
is made from left to right, putting the needle forward a short distance along the line of your tracing and bringing it up at the end of the last stitch. Always keep the thread on the same side of the line.
Lazy Daisy Stitch;
long loop stitches, beginning and ending at the same place, are caught down with a short stitch in the end of the loop. Sometimes it has a French knot in the center.
French Knots;
bring the thread out on the right side, then holding it with the left hand, wrap once or twice around the needle; insert the needle near where it was brought up and hold the thread taut while the needle is carried through to the wrong side of fabric.
Unpadded Satin Stitch;
is a regular, even, smooth stitch taken close together side by side across a space to fill in, and can be at any angle. Wrap the thread around closely from point to point. Don't pull tightly.
Couching Stitch;
is done when you have made a circle or almond shape like and eye or flower petal that you want to keep apart. You can do this right away on the eye or circle, or come back and do it later. Come up from underneath go over the top of the thread you want to tack down and go back down, either in the same hole or leave a thread between.
Happy Stitching,
Barbara Parrish