A bowl of fresh fruit is like a promise Spring and Summer are on their way, full of sweetness and bursting with color. Our Fancy Fruits machine embroidery designs can add that splash of freshness to linens, pillows, garments, and more. Pick a Grapefruit, Papaya, Pineapple, Watermelon or Grapes. Use one or collect them all as a coordinated set.

Our samples are stitched in rich rayon pastels, from a dusty peach to a pretty pistachio. The slight sheen of the rayon thread allowed the designs to pop off the warm polyester blend linen we used for our background fabric.

Perhaps you’ll choose to execute your designs in fruity brights against a crisp white throw pillow or maybe elegant neutrals in all cotton thread for a matte, tone-on-tone accent across the bodice of a dress or along the hem of a skirt. As always, the choice is yours and the variety unlimited.

All five designs are ready to stitch out in the eight major embroidery file formats: ART, EXP, JEF, JEF+, JPX, PES, VIP, and VP3. In addition, you’ll find PDF templates to perfectly position each design and full color charts.

Of course we realize not everyone has access to an embroidery machine, but we hope this delightful design collection will inspire you to find out more about how interesting and affordable it can be add machine embroidery to your sewing space. We recommend taking a look at the full selection of Janome machines at your local Janome dealer, from the top-of-the-line Janome Horizon Quilt Maker Memory Craft 15000 to one of our studio favorites: the Skyline S9 and the embroidery-only Memory Craft 550E.

S4H Seamstress Team Member, Michele Mishler is the digitizing master behind these designs. It’s always a fun group effort as we work together to refine the original drawings and select initial thread colors. Michele’s expertise and creativity really shines in the selection of fills and French knot details that bring each Fancy Fruit to life; adding texture, depth, and in this case, highlighting the whimsical nature of the art.

As a dedicated Janome Exclusive Studio, for our samples, we used the Janome Horizon Quilt Maker Memory Craft 15000 and the 5.5” x 5.5” SQ14 embroidery hoop, one of the four hoops that come standard on this fabulous sewing and embroidery powerhouse.

These designs range in size as follows: 1⅞” x 2” for the Grapefruit, 1¾” x 3” for the Papaya, 2¼” x 2¾” for the Pineapple, 2⅝” x 2” for the Watermelon, and 1¼” x 2⅞” for the Grapes. Even with the dense stitch patterns, the average stitch-out time is just 10 -12 minutes.

For our application, we chose to hoop our stabilizer (two layers of tear away) and “float” the fabric over the hoop, using the machine’s “Baste” function to hold together the layers. This eliminates the possibility of “hoop burn,” where the hoop leaves permanent marks on the fabric – an issue that can occur especially with a lighter weight fabric like our linen blend. Sticky stabilizer is another alternative.

We chose to embroider our sample designs on a simple set of kitchen towels. For construction ideas and instructions, take a look through all the options in our S4H Kitchen + Dining category.

Our thanks to Janome America for sponsoring these designs and providing the machines to make the stitch-outs look perfect every time.

Gorgeous machine embroidery is the perfect finishing touch for such a wide variety of projects!

Thread Chart

Click button below to download the full color PDF thread chart showing sizing, stitch count, and thread color changes for each of the five designs. The thread shown in the chart is what we used: Sulky 40wt Rayon.

IMPORTANT: This download consists of FIVE 8½” x 11″ sheets that have been bundled together to make the download easier. 

Templates

Click button below to download the full-color placement templates for each design.

IMPORTANT: This download consists of FIVE 8½” x 11″ sheets that have been bundled together to make the download easier.

Download Instructions (for .zip files)

All elements are provided in your choice of EIGHT file formats: ART, EXP, JEF, JEF+, JPX, PES, VIP, and VP3.

Each file is provided as a .zip file to download. Choose your format and download as you normally would any .zip file. If you have trouble, try the steps below.

First, click on the Blue Icon from the list below that is the appropriate file format for your embroidery machine. This is the .zip file you want to download.

A) For Windows users: Select “Save As” to save the .zip folder where you’d like it on your computer. Navigate to that folder. To unzip the file, you will have to right-click on the folder and select “extract.”

B) For Mac users: The .zip file should automatically download to your “downloads” folder or a location you have previously defined. If not, then right-click (or control-click) on the link and select “Download Linked File”. Save the .zip file to your computer. To unzip the file, double-click the file. Your files will be unzipped into the same folder as the original .zip file.

NOTE: Our thanks again to Sew4Home Seamstress Team Member, Michele Mishler for her digitizing expertise to bring these designs to life! As always, these designs are copyrighted, and may be used for personal use and gifts only.