Free Embroidery Designs
Celebrate National Embroidery Month with Baby Lock by creating these cute cross-stitch pillow and pincushions. Use the designs however you like on your next embroidery project! These pillows and pin cushions will be a fun addition to you Baby Lock sewing studio!
Created With:
- Baby Lock Radiance or other Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery Machine
- Most designs will fit into an 8” X 12” hoop.
- Pincushion designs will fit in 4” X 4” or 5” X 7” hoops
- W Embroidery Foot
- Standard J Foot
- Baby Lock Adjustable Zipper Foot – BL-AZF (optional) if including piping
- Baby Lock ¼ “Piecing Foot with guide BLSO-QGF
- Free Embroidery Designs from National Embroidery Month 2026 can be found at https://babylock.com/national-embroidery-month-designs
*NOTE: These designs were specifically designed to replicate 14 count cross-stitch. For best results, do not resize these designs.
Details
- Pillow front: 18” X 24” piece of cotton fabric or other fabric of choice
- Fused with Baby Lock Fabric Fuse BLC3076 or Pellon Shapeflex 101
- Border Fabric – Pillows- 3” strips & Pincushion – 1 ½” strips
- Piping – 3/8” Cording – Approximately 2-3 yards and 2” strips of fabric.
- Purchased piping can also be used for the pillow.
- Pillow back: approximately 14” X 18” cotton fabric – based on the finished front size.
Supplies
- Poly-Fil Stuffing or polyester stuffing
- BLT103 Tear-Away Firm Stabilizer for Embroidery
- Coordinating Embroidery and sewing thread.
- Marking pen
- Cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler
- Iron and ironing mat.
- Wonder Clips or Pins
- Hand-sewing needle
- Other basic sewing supplies
Preparing the Pillow Front
1. Iron Fabric Fuse Interfacing to pillow front fabric placing the fusible side of the stabilizer to the wrong side of the pillow front fabric.
2. Hoop the pillow front into the hoop of choice along with Tear-Away Firm Stabilizer. Place on the machine.
3. Stitch out the design of choice.
NOTE: These designs were specifically designed to replicate 14 count cross-stitch. For best results, do not resize these designs.
Once the designs are stitched out, remove from the hoop. Tear away any excess stabilizer and press. Trim down the embroidery to your desired size. For most of these they were trimmed about a 1.5” away from the outer edge of the stitching.
Creating the Piping (Optional)
1. Attach adjustable zipper foot to the Radiance.
2. Wrap the fabric strip (wrong sides together) around the cording, making sure to position the cording along the fold and the fabric edges together.
3. Take a few stitches to catch the cording and the stitch the entire length of the fabric strip.
4. Set the strip aside for pillow construction.
Attaching Sashing and Piping (Optional) to Pillow Front
1. For the pillow front sashing, stitch the fabric strip to each of the sides. Press and trim.
2. Then attach to the top and the bottom of the embroidered center. Press and trim.
3. Use this as a template for cutting the backing fabric.
4. To attach the piping use the adjustable zipper foot and attach the piping to the pillow front
5. Stitch the piping, raw edges facing out, all the way around pillow front overlapping ends.
6. Be sure to cut a 45-degree notch in the piping at the corners to assist with being able to turn those sections. The pivot feature helps with turning corners.
Stitching Pillow Front & Back Together
1. Place the pillow front and back right sides together.
2. Use Wonder Clips to assist with securing the pillow front and back in place.
3. Stitch the pillow front and back together leaving about a 4” opening at the bottom of the pillow.
4. Trim the corners, turn the pillow right side out and press.
5. Insert the Poly-Fil batting into the pillow.
6. Hand stitch the seam closed.
Pincushion
For the pincushion, stitch out the smaller designs. Once completed, trim about 1” or ¾” away from the edge of the designs. Use a smaller sashing to trim around the edges. Piping could be added to these as well or left with no trim. Sew the top and back together, turn, press and then fill with batting or walnut shells to create a fun pincushion!
These designs could be used any way you like. One of the samples, the saying was appliqued onto fabric and framed. This was done using IQ Designer in the radiance to create an oval shape and add candle wicking stitching to add a fun framing around the saying. The possibilities are endless. We can’t see what you create with these free designs from your friends at Baby Lock!
For other exciting projects like this one, visit our website at www.babylock.com.
©2026 Baby Lock USA. This project may be freely used by individuals for non-commercial purposes. Project instructions may not be sold or distributed without approval from Baby Lock. Baby Lock must be acknowledged as the source of the project instructions through copyright or online link.
