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Freestanding Fabric Designs (In-the-Hoop)

Completed Freestanding Fabric Monarch Butterfly design

Craft an elegant and natural look with freestanding fabric designs! This specially digitized embroidery is created to stitch out onto a piece of non-fraying felt, with the cut edge of the fabric adding soft and realistic flair. Stitching these designs is quick and simple -- we'll show you how!

Supplies & Materials:

Project Needs & Notes:


  • 1/2 yard of acrylic, polyester or wool felt (for petals)
  • Embroidery thread
  • Scissors

The design featured in this tutorial is:


Freestanding Fabric Monarch Butterfly (In-the-Hoop)

Gather Materials:

Freestanding fabric designs have been specially digitized to sew on only a hooped piece of felt, so there is no stabilizer used of any kind.


After the pieces are embroidered and cut out, only the embroidery and felt remains, allowing for the pieces to look pretty on both sides.

Orange and black embroidered monarch butterfly applique with white spots on wing edges, placed on a wooden surface background.

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

Four large spools of thread in white, bright orange, golden orange, and black colors on a dark wooden surface, each paired with a matching small spool.

Start Embroidering:

Hoop the piece of felt firmly. Make sure it is nice and tight with no wrinkles.

Embroidery hoop with black fabric stretched tightly, resting on a wooden surface with a small piece of cream-colored fabric underneath.

Attach the hoop to the machine and load file. Embroider the design.


The first thing to embroider will be the "cut line". This marks the area on the felt where the piece will be cut out later.

Close-up of a butterfly outline embroidered in white thread on black fabric inside an embroidery hoop attached to a sewing machine.

Follow the color change sheet and embroider the rest of the design, changing out the bobbins to match every thread color.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a detailed orange and black butterfly design on black fabric within a white embroidery hoop.

After the embroidery has finished, unhoop the felt. Then using a scissor, carefully cut along the inner edge of the "cut line".


Cutting right along the inner edge will remove the cut line from the edge of the felt piece, leaving a clean felt edge after the piece is cut out.

Orange and black embroidered monarch butterfly cutout resting on a pair of gray scissors on a black fabric background.