Try our winter embroidery patterns and soothe your soul with some slow stitching
Is there anything more cosy than settling in with some sweet winter embroidery? We think not!
You can't really rush embroidery, so it's great for slow crafting, providing you with some calming and mindful creativity. Winter is an ideal time to get stuck into a new project, as the darker evenings and cold weather mean we're naturally spending more time indoors anyway.
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We've selected our favourite winter embroidery patterns to help you get in the mood for making, with projects for your first stitches right through to show-stoppers!
1. Start simple with a pin cushion
Looking to try your first ever bit of embroidery? A simple pin cushion is the perfect project to start with. The small scale of these projects means you can try out a few different stitches but it won't take too long to get that satisfying feeling of finishing.
Our free Easy embroidered pin cushion pattern is a fab minimal design that includes learning pistil stitch with the help of step-by-step pictures.
If you fancy learning a range of stitches and creating a fantastic folk-art style pincushion, our free pretty pincushion embroidery project is still suitable for beginners but will give you the chance to really get stuck into your stitches.
2. Stitch a starry starry night
If the first sight of winter has you dreaming of hunkering down in a cosy cabin and looking up at the celestial night sky, then this wonderful embroidery hoop design is definitely the one for you! This pattern does use quite a few different stitches so is best suited for advanced beginners, but the use of blue fabric for the background will help speed up the making.
Shooting stars, a crescent moon and of course that super-cute cabin in the wood, complete with woodsmoke coming out the chimney – take us there right now!
You can find the Starry Night Celestial Hoop Embroidery Pattern on the Gathered shop
3. Create a winter tote bag
For a project that's both practical and pretty, try making our embroidered tote bag. The bag itself is incredibly simple to sew together and even features a quilted lining, and is decorated with some lovely laid stitch stars.
The cool blue colours used on the geometric embroidered snowflake design help to give it that winter style without being too overtly Christmassy. Lovely stuff!
Find out how to make a DIY tote bag with easy embroidered details
4. Enjoy some alpine embroidery
Embroidery projects are ideal for taking with you while you're on holiday, so if you're hitting the slopes this winter we have a fabulous collection for you to craft during your down-time!
The collection features 26 easy-to-trace motifs depicting ski and snowboarding people, a charming alpine village scene, stylish ski slogans, winter accessories and steaming mugs of hot chocolate. You also get in-depth instructions on how to transfer the motifs onto fabric plus three projects to sew using designs from the set.
Download the Alpine Scenes Collection Embroidery Motifs PDF (with 26 designs included) from the Gathered shop.
5. Embellish your winter outfit
Adding a subtle bit of embroidery to plain clothing is a great way to personalise your winter wardrobe. Our free step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add a beautiful winter foliage motif to a cosy jumper, and while we've added ours around the neck you can of course place yours wherever you wish.
You'll get to practice a range of small stitches as well as using different colours to create this pretty and professional-looking motif. Head on over to our free tutorial and Stitch your own pine needle embroidered jumper this winter.
6. Get thrifty with embroidered winter flowers
Not everyone's a fan of winter, but some colourful stitches and crafty upcycling can be just the thing to add some joy into those colder days.
Our floral winter wall hanging features fabulous folk-art style flowers embroidered using vibrant tapestry wool and just four simple embroidery stitches, meaning your wall hanging will work up quicker than usual. Plus, an old pre-loved jumper is used as the backing fabric, helping to create a warming feel as well as reusing.
Find the Floral Winter Wall Hanging Embroidery Pattern on the Gathered shop.
7. Celebrate the great outdoors
While some people see winter as a time to stay indoors, others embrace the cold and love getting out into nature at this time of year.
This wonderful embroidered mountain banner is just the motivating message you need to turn off the tv and head outside this winter... trust us, that hot cocoa will feel even more indulgent after a brisk winter walk.
Explore your creativity with our free mountain embroidery pattern on Gathered.
8. Wear a robin for winter
Here's another fabulous piece of embroidery for embellishing your winter outfits, without being too Christmassy. Here in the UK our native robin is one of our winter regulars, staying put and appearing in our gardens and feeders during the winter months (as well as being a Christmas card standard).
Pay homage to our little red-breasted friend with our Festive Robin Motif Embroidery Pattern. It's perfect for adding onto winter hats and accessories, or even stitching onto jumpers or coats.
9. Stitch your way to positivity
If you struggle with the winter blues, stitching some positive messages and affirmations can be a great way to get through tough times, even if it just acts as a distraction during the darker days.
Our embroidered banner tutorial is not only super-stylish but also super-simple, and we think every project should be finished off with a pretty pompom!
10. Relax with a good book
For us, the early nights of winter means more time for reading, and every good book deserves a good bookmark!
Embrace the dark nights by settling in with our free owl bookmark embroidery pattern. Made from a selection of simple stitches, it's ideal for embroidery newbies and would also make a lovely gift. Try switching the background colour for a darker tone like deep purple or burgundy to give it a more wintery feel.
Get cosy with cross stitch
For even more fun projects to keep you busy during the winter months, check out our list of 30+ winter cross stitch patterns.
