12 Days of Christmas Tiny Machine Embroidery Design Bundle - 3 Sizes

By knowing the speed of your embroidery machine, you can find out how long it will take to embroider a design.
To use the embroidery calculator, click on the number of stitches in the product description.

Bring the complete 12 Days of Christmas carol to life in a coordinated collection of tiny machine embroidery designs. The bundle contains 12 baroque-style motifs, one for every verse of the traditional Christmas song, with three professionally digitized sizes of each design. That gives you 36 embroidery files in every included machine format, and every size fits within an 80x80 mm embroidery field.

From A Partridge in a Pear Tree to Twelve Drummers Drumming, the familiar sequence becomes a miniature embroidered story in rich red, green, gold, cream and blue. These tiny Christmas designs are ideal for napkin corners, gift bags, Advent pockets and other spaces where a standard holiday motif would be too large.

The complete 12 Days of Christmas collection

The traditional Christmas carol grows with every verse as a new gift is added. This embroidery bundle follows the original order of the song:

1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree
2. Two Turtle Doves
3. Three French Hens
4. Four Calling Birds
5. Five Gold Rings
6. Six Geese a-Laying
7. Seven Swans a-Swimming
8. Eight Maids a-Milking
9. Nine Ladies Dancing
10. Ten Lords a-Leaping
11. Eleven Pipers Piping
12. Twelve Drummers Drumming

Each tiny design is a decorative emblem of its verse. To keep the motifs clear and practical for small hoops, verses with large numbers are represented by a signature bird, figure or scene rather than by literally repeating every character eight, nine or twelve times.

• 12 separate machine embroidery designs
• 3 ready-to-embroider sizes of every design
• 36 design files in every included machine format
• All 36 sizes fit 80x80 mm hoops or larger embroidery fields
• Coordinated baroque styling and Christmas color palette

Tiny embroidery designs for 80x80 mm hoops

Every file in this bundle fits within an 80x80 mm embroidery field. Design widths range from 32.8 to 71.7 mm, while heights range from 50.3 to 66.8 mm. They also fit standard 4x4 inch (100x100 mm) hoops without resizing.

• Check the usable embroidery area of your machine, not the outside measurement of the plastic hoop.
• The widest file is 71.7 mm, so center it accurately when working in an 80 mm field.
• Use a larger hoop to arrange several motifs in one hooping, leaving 10-15 mm between designs.
• Do not reduce these files further. They have already been digitized specifically as tiny designs.

Design sizes and stitch counts

A Partridge in a Pear Tree — RPE-3797
Size: 44.8x54.2 mm (1.76x2.13"), Stitches: 4500
Size: 49.2x59.6 mm (1.94x2.35"), Stitches: 5000
Size: 54.1x65.5 mm (2.13x2.58"), Stitches: 5600

Two Turtle Doves — RPE-3797-2
Size: 59.2x52.3 mm (2.33x2.06"), Stitches: 6200
Size: 65.2x57.6 mm (2.57x2.27"), Stitches: 6800
Size: 71.7x63.1 mm (2.82x2.48"), Stitches: 7600

Three French Hens — RPE-3797-3
Size: 49.4x52.4 mm (1.94x2.06"), Stitches: 4900
Size: 54.3x57.7 mm (2.14x2.27"), Stitches: 5400
Size: 59.7x63.4 mm (2.35x2.50"), Stitches: 6000

Four Calling Birds — RPE-3797-4
Size: 38.0x52.3 mm (1.50x2.06"), Stitches: 3300
Size: 41.8x57.5 mm (1.65x2.26"), Stitches: 3700
Size: 45.9x63.3 mm (1.81x2.49"), Stitches: 4100

Five Gold Rings — RPE-3797-5
Size: 46.5x52.4 mm (1.83x2.06"), Stitches: 5700
Size: 51.0x57.4 mm (2.01x2.26"), Stitches: 6200
Size: 56.2x63.2 mm (2.21x2.49"), Stitches: 6700

Six Geese a-Laying — RPE-3797-6
Size: 57.6x52.3 mm (2.27x2.06"), Stitches: 4800
Size: 63.3x57.4 mm (2.49x2.26"), Stitches: 5300
Size: 69.6x63.2 mm (2.74x2.49"), Stitches: 5900

Seven Swans a-Swimming — RPE-3797-7
Size: 49.1x52.3 mm (1.93x2.06"), Stitches: 4600
Size: 54.0x57.5 mm (2.13x2.26"), Stitches: 5200
Size: 59.3x63.2 mm (2.33x2.49"), Stitches: 6100

Eight Maids a-Milking — RPE-3797-8
Size: 36.3x50.3 mm (1.43x1.98"), Stitches: 3900
Size: 39.8x55.3 mm (1.57x2.18"), Stitches: 4300
Size: 43.9x60.8 mm (1.73x2.39"), Stitches: 4800

Nine Ladies Dancing — RPE-3797-9
Size: 41.8x54.4 mm (1.65x2.14"), Stitches: 4800
Size: 46.0x59.8 mm (1.81x2.35"), Stitches: 5200
Size: 50.5x65.8 mm (1.99x2.59"), Stitches: 5800

Ten Lords a-Leaping — RPE-3797-10
Size: 55.8x55.2 mm (2.20x2.17"), Stitches: 6900
Size: 61.3x60.7 mm (2.41x2.39"), Stitches: 7500
Size: 67.4x66.8 mm (2.65x2.63"), Stitches: 8200

Eleven Pipers Piping — RPE-3797-11
Size: 32.8x52.1 mm (1.29x2.05"), Stitches: 5000
Size: 36.1x57.3 mm (1.42x2.26"), Stitches: 5600
Size: 39.7x63.1 mm (1.56x2.48"), Stitches: 6100

Twelve Drummers Drumming — RPE-3797-12
Size: 41.8x52.3 mm (1.65x2.06"), Stitches: 4900
Size: 45.9x57.4 mm (1.81x2.26"), Stitches: 5300
Size: 50.5x63.2 mm (1.99x2.49"), Stitches: 5900

Formats: .dat, .dst, .exp, .hus, .jef, .jef+, .jpx, .pec, .pes, .sew, .vip, .vp3, .vp4, .xxx

Where to use these tiny Christmas embroidery designs

The compact scale makes this Christmas embroidery bundle especially useful for small projects, narrow areas and coordinated holiday sets.

• Christmas napkins: embroider one verse in each corner to create a complete set of 12.
• Tea towels and guest towels: place a motif above the lower hem or beside a decorative border.
• Advent calendar pockets: use the designs as miniature storybook accents across a fabric calendar.
• Gift bags and sachets: embroider the front panel before assembling the item.
• Cutlery pockets: choose a bird, ring or musician for each place setting.
• Fabric ornaments: stitch on linen, cotton or felt, then add a separate backing and hanging loop.
• Stockings and tree skirts: arrange several motifs as a border or narrative sequence.
• Clothing: decorate cuffs, collars, shirt fronts, pockets, children’s dresses and sweatshirts.
• Small accessories: use on zipper pouches, eyeglass cases, journal covers and textile gift tags.
• Holiday décor: create miniature quilt blocks, table runners, framed embroidery or fabric greeting cards.

Important: these are standard machine embroidery motifs. They are not in-the-hoop construction files for finished ornaments.

How to create one coordinated Christmas project

For a set of 12 napkins, choose the same size group for every verse. The shapes differ, but matching scale and repeated colors make the finished pieces look like one intentional collection. For a table runner or wall hanging, place the motifs in song order with equal spacing. The Five Gold Rings design works particularly well as a central accent.

You can also divide the collection into visual groups: birds for one set of linens, figures for another, and the gold rings as a separate focal motif. This allows you to use the complete collection across several Christmas gifts without repeating the same design.

Madeira Classic thread color chart

The collection uses a coordinated Madeira Classic palette. Not every design requires every color. Follow the individual color sequence supplied with each embroidery file.

Stabilizing small and detailed embroidery

With tiny embroidery, the most important factor is preventing fabric movement while short stitches and final outlines are being formed.

• Linen and loosely woven cotton: use a light fusible tear-away stabilizer and press it on smoothly before hooping.
• Firm cotton and twill: use one layer of medium-weight tear-away stabilizer.
• Knits and sweatshirts: use a light cut-away stabilizer and do not stretch the fabric in the hoop.
• Finished bags and narrow pieces: hoop self-adhesive stabilizer, then secure the item on top.
• Terry cloth and fabrics with pile: add backing underneath and a thin water-soluble topper above. Choose the largest size for better visibility.

Practical tips for clean miniature embroidery

• Start with a 75/11 embroidery needle and 40-weight thread on smooth linen or cotton.
• Test the chosen size on the same fabric and stabilizer intended for the final project.
• Reduce the machine speed to approximately 500-600 stitches per minute for faces, bird legs, instruments and final outlines.
• Position each design by its file center rather than its visual bottom edge. Baroque scrollwork can shift the optical center.
• Use one size group throughout a set. Mixing the smallest and largest versions can make coordinated napkins look uneven.
• Madeira Classic 1159 may be replaced with metallic gold only after a test stitch-out. Use a metallic needle and lower speed.
• Choose plain, smooth fabric for the smallest files. Fine details can disappear on busy prints or heavily textured material.
• When combining motifs in a larger hoop, leave 10-15 mm between files so their outlines remain visually separate.

Please note: this is a digital machine embroidery design bundle. No finished product, fabric, thread, stabilizer or other physical material is included.