200+ FREE Applique Embroidery Designs To Download
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For my fellow budget-minded embroidery enthusiasts, I scoured my favorite embroidery websites to compile this list of free applique designs for machine embroidery.
Now, there aren’t as many free applique embroidery designs out there as there are embroidery designs, but you can add 200+ designs to your stash if you download all these applique freebies.
Also, if you like the free designs you download, consider purchasing designs in the future from these digitizers to support their work.
Anytime I can buy the perfect design for less than $5-$10 that would typically take me an hour or more to digitize myself…I’m sold!
13 Sites with Free Applique Designs for Machine Embroidery
I’ve linked to each of the sites below with a brief description of what you’ll find. Click on the blue, underlined site name, and you’ll be taken to their free machine applique patterns.
Make sure you know the file format for your embroidery machine so you can download the correct version. For example, I’ve downloaded these free applique embroidery designs in .pes format since I have a Brother embroidery machine.
And, if you’re looking for inspiration or need help, check out these 30+ fun applique fabric options I put together for some new ideas! And, make sure you know how to applique with an embroidery machine.
1. Planet Applique
There are many free embroidery applique designs on Planet Applique that are cute, fun, and easy to stitch under their Free Designs section.
If you like to embroider onesies, the baby tuxedo applique is precious! The princess hat applique would also look cute paired with a girl’s name for extra personalization.
Make sure to sign up for emails to receive coupons and notifications of sales, as they’re well known for their in-the-hoop dolls and stuffed animals–you can often grab them for an incredible price.
For example, the above project is their In The Hoop Doll Maggie that I purchased and recently stitched to gift.
2. Creative Appliques
Creative Appliques has around 10 free applique patterns for your embroidery machine.
My favorite is the rounded raggy bean stitch cross applique. Finding applique designs that veer from the traditional satin stitch outline is always fun.
There are also lovely applique monogram frames if you like to monogram.
Sign up for their email, too, as they regularly have sales discounting designs to as low as $1. SO worth it for super cute applique designs.
3. Applique Alley
Applique Alley also has an excellent selection of over 50 freebies.
There are a few holiday freebies and then many frames and borders, which are always nice when monogramming!
The newer designs are cuter than some of the very first freebies, which look to be over 5 years old.
4. Applique Corner
The above link takes you to their free applique downloads page. There are 23 adorable designs. A few of these are not applique designs but embroidery designs, but hey, a free design’s a free design, right?
My favorite of these is the LOVE script applique. I think it would look so cute on a fun Valentine’s hand towel.
5. Embroideres.com
Here, you’ll find close to 25 free machine embroidery applique designs. Most of them are applique animals. No account or personal information is required to download the designs!
Don’t be deterred by the awkward applique fabric the digitizer used in the designs. They won’t stitch out plaid, as this is where you’ll place your own applique fabric.
6. AccuQuilt Embroidery
I love my AccuQuilt for cutting quilt pieces!
I also recently discovered they have many embroidery designs to go with their applique dies.
Now, you don’t actually have to have an AccuQuilt or any dies to use the embroidery designs. Instead, you just have to trim fabric the old-fashioned way rather than letting your AccuQuilt trim the fabric when you start stitching
My favorite designs here are the owl design (I have that applique die) and the Overall Sam. I have the coffee and tea die and the ribbon awareness die, which also have free applique embroidery designs that go with them!
If you want more information, check out my tutorial about how to use AccuQuilt machine embroidery designs.
7. Free Embroidery Design
This is one of the best sites for embroidery applique, but sometimes I have difficulty logging in.
I’m unsure if it’s my password saver on my end or something with their site.
However, this is the perfect place to find free Disney appliques, Paw Patrol appliques, Batman appliques, and many more cute character and animal appliques!
If you see a red ribbon on the top left of a design, that means it’s a premium (paid) design, so you have to join their club to download those.
8. Designs by JuJu
Designs by Juju has 9 free applique patterns right now.
While some, like the flower bunch and Easter belle, are definitely for girls, I like how many of these appliques will also work for boys!
To download, you do have to create an account and supply personal information.
9. EmbroideryDesigns.com
The one caveat of downloading from this website is you can only download 3 images per week unless you make a purchase.
When you get to this page, click “Appliques” under categories, and you’ll see the 20+ designs available.
There are lots of cute animal appliques and Christmas appliques, especially.
10. Happy Applique
There are 8 free simple appliques available on this page.
There are two suns, a smiley face, flower, and anchor applique among the set.
No personal information is needed to download!
11. SWAK Embroidery
While not the most extensive selection of free applique designs, there are several cute ones to download!
I’m looking forward to making my daughters “Hooray! It’s the LAST day of school!” shirts when the school year is over.
Their “Jesus is the reason for the season” applique design would also be perfect for embroidering on tea towels and gifting to Christian neighbors and friends for Christmas this year!
12. Appliques With Character
There are two free applique designs here: A Mickey mouse head and a Minnie Mouse bow.
These are great for personalizing embroidery gifts for babies! If you browse through the website, you’ll also find tons of cute applique and fill-stitch embroidery designs you can purchase.
13. Bunnycup Embroidery
You have to browse through all their designs, but there are several free applique design sets.
A few of them have crooked or awkward satin stitch lines, so make sure you’ve examined the design in your software or test stitched before appliqueing an expensive embroidery blank!
Any Other Great Freebies I Missed?
I’m always looking to add great designs to my embroidery library, and I’d love to hear if you know of any other sites that offer quality downloads.
And if you’re a freebie lover like me, check out these other post compilations for more freebie embroidery deals to get you started on your next embroidery journey!
What an awesome site for beginners and up. A great way to learn where to find and purchase embroidery designs and get a few freebies to try out. Thank you
Wow! You are awesome! To take your time out of your busy schedule, to help us learn where there are awesome applique and embroidery sites for freebies, is very selfless and it shows what kind of person you are.You are very appreciated! Thank you so very much. You are such a blessing to me. I have a very limited income, as I am disabled, and can’t afford to buy very many myself. May you have many blessings in your life! Again, thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Karen
Thank you so much! I know this was quite a bit of work to compile. I appreciate what you have done.
Gina