Laurel Mini Frame with Bee and Bow machine embroidery design - 3 sizes

Laurel Mini Frame with Bee and Bow is a digital machine embroidery file featuring a golden bee, a black laurel wreath and a bow. The blank center leaves space for a separate letter or initials. It is suited to linen napkins, towels, table runners and small monograms.

This is a digital download. No finished item, fabric, thread, hoop or letter is included.

Design details

Sizes, stitches and hoops

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

Complete the composition

Laurel Wreath with Bow

Tiny Bee

Bee in a Laurel Frame

Bee in a Laurel Frame

Madeira Classic 40 thread chart

The color squares are an on-screen guide. Use the Madeira number on the included color chart as the main reference.

Thread order: 1006 → 1064 → 1006. Do not merge the repeated 1006 block; it is needed for the correct layering of the details.

Stitching this frame on linen and napkins

What linen works best

A stable linen or linen-cotton blend around 150–220 g/m² with a close, even weave is the best choice. It keeps the fine leaves and bee outline clean. On very open or loosely woven linen, stitch a full test first. If the needle pushes yarns apart or the laurel line falls into the gaps, choose a denser linen. After tear-away backing is removed, it cannot replace the ground fabric.

Which stabilizer to use for a napkin

For a firm linen napkin or table runner, begin with tear-away backing. It supports stable woven fabric and can be removed after stitching, so it does not leave a rigid permanent layer. Common Madeira options are Cotton Soft for basic tear-away support, Cotton Stable for fabric that shifts, Weblon Plus for very thin or unstable fabric, and Avalon Film as a water-soluble topping. For an ordinary firm linen napkin, Cotton Soft is the starting choice, not all four products.

How to calculate backing weight

Use this starting rule for this medium-density frame: fabric weight in g/m² ÷ 3 = total backing weight in g/m². For example, 180 g/m² linen needs about 60 g/m² of total backing support. This is the combined weight of all backing layers, not the weight of each layer. Do not add two layers automatically; test one suitable tear-away backing first.

Do you need water-soluble topping

Not on smooth linen. Place Avalon Film on top only for terry, fleece, velvet and other napped surfaces, so the stitches do not sink into the pile. Topping does not replace lower backing and does not solve the problem of loose linen.

Needle and how to avoid puckering

For Madeira Classic 40 on ordinary linen, begin with a new sharp 75/11 embroidery needle. For heavy, coarse linen, test an 80/12. Prewash and press linen, then hoop the fabric and backing together flat and firm without stretching the fabric. Use the smallest suitable hoop, begin with your machine’s normal embroidery tension, and rethread the machine and replace the needle before changing tension. If the fabric starts gathering while stitching, stop: the usual cause is weak support or layers slipping, not a need for tighter thread tension.

Before stitching the final item, embroider the complete design on a scrap of the same linen with the same thread, needle, backing and planned wash cycle. This shows whether the napkin stays flat after unhooping and laundering.