Free Christmas ornament embroidery design in PES, DST and JEF
A free Christmas machine embroidery design for 4 × 4 and 5 × 7 hoops, in PES, DST, JEF, EXP, VP3 and XXX: the Heirloom ornament, and how to stitch it.
Here's a free Christmas embroidery design you can download today in PES for Brother and Baby Lock, DST for commercial machines, and four more machine formats: the Heirloom Glass Ornament. To be clear up front, it's one design, not a pack, though a few more designs from the same line are free too (they're at the end of this post). It's the sample from our Heirloom Christmas line, so you can see how the line stitches on your own machine before you spend anything.
What the free design is
An antique glass ornament with a gold filigree band, hanging from a green ribbon bow, with a sprig of holly. Like the rest of the Heirloom line, it's drawn like a Victorian Christmas-card engraving: fine carved lines in charcoal, with Christmas red, holly green and antique gold, and the light parts left as bare fabric. That's what makes it look embroidered rather than printed. It's also why it's made for light fabric: cream, white, oatmeal or light gray.
- Two sizes: one for a 5 × 7 in hoop and one for a 4 × 4 in hoop, each digitized at its own size, not scaled.
- Six formats: DST, PES, JEF, EXP, VP3 and XXX.
- A production sheet with the Madeira Polyneon thread codes in stitching order, the stitch count and an estimated run time.
- No lettering, so it works anywhere a small Christmas motif fits.
Free 
FreeHeirloom Glass Ornament
Embroidery file · 103×172 mmHeirloom 
$2.99Heirloom Christmas Wreath Monogram Frame
Embroidery file · 148×189 mm
How to download the free Christmas embroidery design
- Open the Heirloom Glass Ornament page. It's in the Christmas collection.
- Enter your email under the picture and click Get it free. That's the whole sign-up: we make your free account and email you a link to set a password. No card, no subscription.
- Back on the design page, click Download free (.zip).
- Unzip the file on your computer. Inside are both sizes in all six formats, with the production sheets as PDFs.
- Copy the format your machine reads to a USB stick, or send it with your machine's own software, and load it as usual.
That free download is yours to keep. If you lose the file, sign in and download it again from the same page.
PES, DST or JEF: which file is for your machine
Each machine brand reads its own format. Use the one that matches yours:
| Your machine | Format |
|---|---|
| Brother, Baby Lock, Bernina Deco | PES |
| Janome, Elna, Kenmore | JEF |
| Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff | VP3 |
| Singer | XXX |
| Melco, older Bernina | EXP |
| Tajima, Barudan, SWF, Happy and most commercial multi-needle machines | DST |
Not sure? Your manual lists the formats your machine reads, or you can put a few formats on a USB stick and see which ones it shows. Embroidery file formats explained covers what each format stores.
DST and EXP don't store thread colors, so your machine shows them in default colors; follow the production sheet instead. PES, JEF, VP3 and XXX do store colors, but your machine names them from its own thread chart, so treat them as a guide. To check a DST before you stitch it, open it in the free DST file viewer, which shows its size, stitch count, color changes and trims.
Threads: what if you don't use Madeira?
The production sheet gives Madeira Polyneon codes because those are the threads the design was made with. The Heirloom line uses four: 1800 charcoal, 1747 Christmas red, 1970 holly green and 1759 antique gold. Any 40 wt polyester or rayon embroidery thread in close colors works. Many thread brands publish conversion charts that include Madeira codes, but charts aren't always exact, so hold your spools next to the preview picture in daylight before you commit. The charcoal matters most: it carries all the fine lines, so pick a deep charcoal or a soft black rather than a mid gray.
Stitch it as a 4 × 4 ornament
The 4 × 4 file makes a flat hanging ornament:
- Fabric: cream or white linen, cotton canvas or another firm woven fabric, big enough to hoop with some to spare.
- Stabilizer: a firm tear-away underneath.
- Stitch the 4 × 4 file, changing threads in the order on the production sheet.
- Tear away the stabilizer, holding the stitches down with your thumb so they don't pull.
- Trim the fabric around the design, leaving a margin of about 1/4 in.
- Back it: glue it to a slightly larger piece of felt, running the glue right to the edge so the linen doesn't fray, then trim the felt to a narrow border.
- Add a loop of ribbon or cord at the top with a few hand stitches.
For a padded ornament instead, sew the stitched piece to a backing fabric with right sides together, leave a gap, turn it right side out, stuff it lightly and close the gap by hand.
Or use it as a napkin or small motif
The same file fits anywhere a small Christmas motif belongs:
- Napkins: in one corner, turned on the diagonal. A corner rarely leaves enough fabric to hoop, so float it on a hooped sticky tear-away.
- Tea towels and gift bags: linen or canvas, with a firm tear-away.
- Kids' clothes: on a light T-shirt or sweatshirt, with cut-away, since knits need it.
- Stocking cuffs: float the cuff on a hooped sticky stabilizer.
The 5 × 7 size is the bigger version, for a pillow cover, a tote bag or the middle of a tea towel.
Try the gold in metallic thread
The gold filigree band is a small, low-risk place to try metallic thread. Swap the antique gold (1759) for a gold metallic, change to a metallic or topstitch needle for that color, and slow the machine down. Metallic thread tips covers the rest. If the metallic frays, stitch the band in 1759; the design reads the same.
What else is free
More designs from the Christmas line are free, the same way: the holly sprig, with "Deck the Halls" in script, the snowflake, with "Hello Winter", the Christmas dachshund in a Santa hat, and the candy cane sleeve design that runs down a sweatshirt sleeve. Every free design is in free machine embroidery designs. The other Heirloom designs come with the All Access pass, along with the rest of the library: $4.90 for 30 days, with up to 5 design downloads a day.
One more free thing, if you have a logo or artwork: your first custom design. Send it to us and we'll digitize it free, in all six formats with a production sheet. Claim it on the free trial page.
Free 
FreeDeck the Halls: Holly Sprig
Embroidery file · 122×149 mmFree 
FreeHello Winter: Snowflake with Holly
Embroidery file · 122×161 mmHeirloom 
$2.99Joy: Cardinal on Snowy Holly
Embroidery file · 190×275 mm
Questions
Is the ornament really free?
Yes. All it takes is your email: no card and nothing that renews.
Is it a 4x4 design?
It comes in two sizes, one for a 4 × 4 in hoop and one for a 5 × 7 in hoop, each digitized at its own size. Embroidery hoop sizes shows what each hoop fits.
Can I sell ornaments I make with it?
Yes. You can stitch it on items for yourself or for sale. Just don't share or resell the files.
Can I stitch it on red or green felt?
It's made for light fabric, because the light parts of the drawing are the fabric itself. On red or green, the highlights would turn red or green and the glass would lose its shine. Cream, white, oatmeal or light gray work best.
Download the ornament, stitch it on a scrap of cream linen this week, and see how the Heirloom line runs on your machine. If you like the result, the rest of the line is in the Christmas collection, with sizes for stockings, pillows and sweatshirts.