Free dog embroidery patterns: three printable sample dogs

The three free patterns

These are the course's three sample dogs. Our pattern maker drew them from sample photos (AI-made images we use for testing), and each one is the real print file it made: the same layout a buyer gets for their own dog. Each download link opens the PDF.

The times are our estimate at a beginner's 2.5 to 4 stitches a minute, best spread over a few evenings. They're the Detailed patterns, with every fur line. If a pattern feels like a lot, skip some of the shortest fur lines: the outline and the face carry the likeness.

Which one first? Bruno. His smooth coat has the fewest fur lines, so his is the shortest of the three, and the outline does most of the work.

What's on each sheet

• A dot at every needle hole, about 1/8 inch apart, joined by grey lines so you can see which dot comes next. Each gap between two dots is one back stitch.
• Striped shapes for the pupils and the nose. They get satin stitch. The small bare spots inside are the highlights: leave them bare.
• A dashed cut line around the dog, and four small marks to line up with the creases at the center of your fabric.
• A practice piece: a straight line, a wave, a circle and a filled dot. Stitch and rinse it on a scrap first.
• Five short steps for printing, sticking, stitching and rinsing, and a 1-inch bar to check the print size.

New to reading a pattern like this? How to read an embroidery pattern walks through every mark.

How to print and stitch one

1. Print a test on plain paper. Open the PDF and print it at 100% ("Actual size"), with "Fit to page" off. Measure the 1-inch bar with a ruler. If it's off, fix the settings before you use a sheet.
2. Print on the soft side. Load a printable stick and stitch sheet so the printer prints on its soft side, not the shiny backing. Use the lightest or draft ink setting, and let it dry for 5 minutes. Printing on stick and stitch covers the settings. No sheets? Trace the plain-paper copy instead, with the tracing guide.
3. Cut it out and practice. Cut on the dashed lines. Stitch the practice piece on a scrap of fabric and rinse it, so you know your floss and your ink both behave.
4. Stick it on and hoop it. Fold your pre-washed linen in quarters and crease it. Peel the backing, line the four marks up with the creases, smooth it down from the middle, and hoop it drum-tight in a 6-inch hoop.
5. Stitch dot to dot. Two strands of black floss, a loop start, and back stitch from dot to dot for every line. Fill the striped shapes with satin stitch from the middle out.
6. Rinse it away. Trim the extra sheet, soak the piece in lukewarm water for 5 to 10 minutes, and finish under the running tap. Then dry it flat. Removing stick and stitch has every detail.

Free · 3D Stitch Simulator

Try back stitch on a 3D hoop

Watch the first stitches, then tap where your needle goes. Turn the hoop, zoom in, and flip it over to check the back.

Every line on these sheets is back stitch, dot to dot. Try a few on the 3D hoop first, then flip it to see the back.

Start the simulatorOpen the full simulator

Other places to find free dog patterns

• Designers' own sites. Many embroidery designers share a free pattern or two, often to welcome you to a newsletter.
• Your library. Embroidery books are full of small motifs, and borrowing them costs nothing.
• Your own photo. Tracing a photo of your dog is free and gives you a pattern of your dog, not a stand-in. Turn a photo into a pattern.

Two cautions. First, many "free embroidery designs" online are machine embroidery files or cross-stitch charts, not hand-embroidery line art; check before you download. Second, read the designer's terms before you sell anything you stitch from a free pattern. Some are for personal use only.

The honest catch: a sample dog isn't your dog

A sample dog is perfect for learning the stitches, and lovely in its own right. But the hoop most people want to hang is their own dog: the ear that never stood up, the grey on the chin, the blaze down the nose. A breed pattern can't know those things.

That's what the course is for. You upload a photo, our pattern maker draws your dog on exactly this kind of sheet, and the lessons take you from the first practice stitch to the finished hoop. Custom dog embroidery patterns explains how it works, and what it can't do.

Questions people ask

Keep going

• How-to guideCustom dog embroidery patterns: what to look for, and where to get oneReady-made, commissioned, traced or made from your photo: the ways to get a dog embroidery pattern, what to check, and three real ones side by side.
• How-to guideHow to print an embroidery pattern on stick and stitchPrinter settings, the soft side, the plain-paper test and the ink setting that rinses clean: printing a pattern on stick and stitch at home.
• How-to guideHow to use stick and stitch, step by stepPrint, stick, hoop, stitch through and rinse: a pet portrait from sheet to finished hoop, plus how the other transfer methods compare.
• How-to guideHow to read an embroidery pattern: dots, lines and fillsEvery mark on a hand embroidery pattern explained: dots, lines, fills and highlights on a real dog pattern, then keys, color numbers and strands.
• Dog breedGolden retriever embroidery pattern: stitch your own golden from a photoA real golden retriever pattern from our pattern maker, and how to stitch the feathering, eyes and coat in black thread.
• Dog breedFrench bulldog embroidery pattern: stitch your own Frenchie from a photoA real Frenchie pattern from our pattern maker, and how to stitch bat ears, wrinkles and a flat face in black thread.
• Dog breedDachshund embroidery pattern: stitch your own doxie from a photoA real dachshund pattern from our pattern maker, and how to stitch a doxie's long ears, muzzle and coat in black thread.
• Free toolThe free 3D Stitch SimulatorPractice back stitch and satin stitch on a 3D hoop you can turn, zoom and flip.