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Freestanding Daffodil in 3D (In-the-Hoop)

Freestanding Daffodil in 3D (In-the-Hoop)

Bright yellow daffodils make springtime bloom with colorful cheer! This specially digitized design is created to hold together all on its own, like freestanding lace -- but with the full color and detail of a regular embroidery design. Follow the steps below to let your own embroidered flower blossom. If you like this design, you'll love the freestanding tulip and rose too!

Supplies & Materials:

Project Materials or Supplies
- Water-soluble stabilizer (such as Vilene or Sulky Ultra Solvy)
- Hand sewing needle
- Hot glue gun
- 12 gauge floral wire
- Floral tape
- Wire cutter
- Needle nose pliers

The designs used in this tutorial include:

-  X13997, Freestanding Daffodil in 3D (In-the-Hoop)


Finished flower size (without stem):
3 3/4" tall x 3 3/4" wide x 1 1/2" deep

Special notes:
To make a full daffodil embroider 2 of the file "a", and just 1 of both file "b" and file "c".

You can use your fingers to shape the embroidered petals. Simply bend and shape the petals while they are damp, and they will hold their shape when they dry. Once the flower is finished you can spray it with a water spray bottle to make it damp.

Gather Materials:

Freestanding embroidery designs have been specially digitized for water-soluble stabilizer. After the stabilizer is removed, beautiful embroidery remains.

When you download the design, you will find a total of 3 files. The file "a" is the petal piece, file "b" is the flower center, and file "c" is the lace leaf.

Three separate embroidered pieces on a wooden surface: an orange zigzag petal, a yellow three-petal flower center, and a green long leaf.

There are a couple of different kinds of water-soluble stabilizer. One is clear and plastic, and that brand is Sulky Ultra Solvy. The other is soft and fibrous, called Vilene. Both will work very well. Vilene is used in this demonstration.

Use a size 11 or 75/11 sharp sewing needle. A sharp sewing needle has a smaller, finer point than an embroidery needle. That means it will make smaller holes in the stabilizer.

Two square sheets, one of white nonwoven fabric and one of transparent plastic, placed side by side on a wooden surface.

As the embroidered daffodil pieces will be seen from both sides, wind a bobbin to match every thread color used in the design.

Three large cones and three small spools of embroidery thread in varying shades of yellow and golden yellow on a wooden surface.

Start Embroidering:

Hoop the stabilizer firmly. Make sure it is nice and tight with no wrinkles.

Embroidery hoop with white stabilizer fabric hooped inside, placed on a dark wooden surface; hoop is rectangular with rounded corners.

Attach the hoop to the machine and load file "a". Follow the color change sheet, and embroider the first color of the design.

Embroidery machine stitching yellow felt fabric shaped like daffodil petals on white fabric in an embroidery hoop, forming a flower outline.

After the first color is finished embroidering, change the bobbin out to match the next thread color.

Close-up of a hand holding a spool of yellow thread near the needle and bobbin area of a white sewing machine. The machine’s feed dogs and metal plate are visible.

Continue to embroider the design. Watch the color change sheet carefully, and make sure to match the bobbin color to every thread color used in the embroidery.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a yellow daffodil petal design on white fabric held in a hoop. The petals have orange detailing.

After embroidering, trim away the excess stabilizer.

Orange-handled scissors lie on a dark wooden surface next to a yellow embroidered fabric piece shaped like a three-petal flower with a gray border and a small bead in the center.

The stabilizer's packaging should give instructions for removing the excess. For Vilene, soak the embroidered pieces for a few moments.

Hand holding a fabric embroidery piece shaped like three yellow daffodil petals with detailed stitching over a large round metal tray with concentric ridges.

Allow the piece to air dry, and then press it with a pressing cloth on top.

Blue and black iron pressing white fabric over a small embroidered yellow daffodil leaf on a turquoise ironing board.

Repeat the steps above to embroider the rest of the pieces. To make a complete daffodil, make sure to embroider two copies of the petal piece (labeled with an "a").


Four colorful embroidered fabric pieces on a wooden surface: two yellow three-petal shapes, one orange ruffled petal piece, and one long green leaf-shaped piece.

Take the center piece (piece "b"), and fold it along one of the two triangle darts with the wrong sides of the embroidery together. Using a hand sewing needle and the same thread as used in the embroidery, stitch the dart closed. Repeat to sew the second dart.

Hand holding orange embroidered fabric shaped like a small ruffled flower petal, with a needle and orange thread sewn through the fabric over a dark wooden surface.

Once the darts are completed, line up the two side edges of the center piece, and hand sew it together to make a cone. Leave a small hole at the bottom for a wire, and also make sure the right side of the embroidery is on the outside.

Close-up of a hand holding a small orange 3D fabric daffodil petal piece being stitched with yellow thread and a needle against a dark wooden background.

Cut the wire to 10" long, and curl the end with a needle nose pliers.

Needle-nose pliers with orange handles gripping a piece of thin silver wire twisted at one end, placed on a dark wooden surface.

Slide the center piece onto the wire, so that the curled end of the wire ends up inside the cone. Hot glue the wire in place inside against the bottom.

Hand holding a small, bright orange 3D embroidered flower with a textured surface against a blurred dark wooden background.

Then slide the first petal piece (piece "a") onto the wire so that the right side of the embroidery is facing the center piece. Line up the long seam of the center piece with the center of one petal. This will be the bottom of the daffodil. Then use a hand sewing needle and matching thread to sew the petals onto the center piece. This will prevent the petals from falling off the wire or spinning.

Hand holding a needle and thread stitching a 3D embroidered daffodil with three yellow petals and an orange trumpet-shaped center against a wooden surface.

Add the 2nd petal piece ("a") onto the wire with the right side of the embroidery facing the center piece. Off set the petals between the petals of the first petal piece, and sew them together with a hand sewing needle to keep them from spinning.

Close-up of a hand holding a 3D embroidered yellow daffodil flower with an orange trumpet-shaped center on a thin wire stem, against a brown blurred background.

Once the flower is completed, position the lace leaf on the wire as desired. Use a hot glue gun to glue the end of it in place, and allow the glue to dry completely before continuing.

Freestanding 3D embroidered daffodil with yellow petals and orange trumpet, attached to a thin wire stem with a green embroidered leaf, on a wooden surface.

Finally, wrap the wire in floral tape to finish off the stem. Wrap over glued end of the leaf as well to reinforce it onto the wire.

Freestanding embroidered daffodil with six yellow petals and orange center, attached green stem and two leaves, next to a roll of green floral tape on wood surface.