The embroidery tattoo trend has stepped straight out of Nana’s embroidery design magazine and onto the tattoo scene.
This increasingly developed genre does a superb job balancing realistic needlework looks with outlandish style choices ranging from classical art to traditional flower ink and video game characters.
The almost 3D appearance of an embroidery tattoo makes it look like an iron-on craft patch applied to the skin directly. The embroidery style tattoo art form replicates the deliberate linear needle marks that are hallmarks of embroidery, as opposed to the noticeable tiny “X” marks in the equally growing cross stitch tattoo design trend.
There’s no actual embroidery, stitching, or yarn used. Embroidery tattoos are created the usual way – with a tattoo gun, needle, and a variety of inks required to get the job done by coloring in your skin.
An embroidery tattoo design mimics the stitch texture of embroidered fabric and features some of the classical styles, such as cartoon characters, sports motifs, 3D tattoos, and superhero badges.
A successful embroidery tattoo looks like an embroidered patch tattoo that you can iron or stitch onto your clothing. Read on and explore our gallery of embroidery tattoo ideas that will have you thinking in stitches.
1. Unique Embroidery Tattoo Art
These badass examples bring out interesting interpretations of what you can achieve with a cool embroidery design. There are that look like they may be an actual ready to cover a ragged hole or make a cool jacket fly even more, while others mix the and regular concepts — I love the blue sailboat and white ink flourishes — for killer contrast in .
The classical art piece takes the traditional flower in a fantastic new direction, melding an with another to create one great idea. I also love the of the pizza sweater-wearing astronaut, backed by traditional execution of the purple solar system that furthers the fabric look of the main feature.
2. Movie Stitching Tattoo Ideas
These movie ideas put your favorite (or not, looking at you, creepy clown from Saw) characters into a different kind of from deep-cut tiny tattoos or large scenes from the films.
Each offers small tattoos that imbue the idea with some fun and while paying homage to pop culture greats such as Princess Leia, Gizmo, or Thanos.
is also useful to make ink expressions look like the badges you see on school bags, hats, or officially licensed clothing. Marvel’s Black Panther and Iron Man ideas are particularly well executed.
3. Food Embroidery Tattoo Design
These lively small tattoos show off the cool use of colorful tattoos and shapes to add realistic elements. The cross-section of the lemon stands out as art that your Nana could affix to a Christmas cable sweater to really make it pop.
4. Animal Themed Embroidery Tattoos
of animals feature range and variety, probably more so than any other category. Each uses colors with command, from the bat in grays with regular black ink highlights to the vivid rainbow stitching of the hummingbird.
For mine, the standout pieces are the stone-cold honey badger (Youtube Honey Badger Don’t Care for an experience) and the fox and shark . These art examples halve the with fractal geometry and animal realism characteristics to brilliant effect.
5. Bands/Music Embroidery Stitch Tattoo
These embroidered examples look like someone, probably with an epic mullet or perm, took a temporary tattoo from a stall at a concert, then took it home for an older relative to whip up into a badass 3D effect with a sewing . I personally enjoy nothing more than skull tattoos mixed with the hairstyles of Poison or Def Lepard. It might even be time to make my appointment and get my Guns n Roses hair bandanna dream combo.
6. Rick and Morty Embroidery Style
Rick and Morty are smart, funny, and completely off-the-chain weird. They make popular normal designs too! From an perspective, you can use some of Rick and Morty’s weird characters to make colorful ink.
7. Symbolic Embroidery Tattoos
There are some cool, old school vibes coming from these examples. I mean, the smiley face is iconic, as is the pro-weed piece. All you need is a peace sign and you have the hippy trifecta from 1960 until today.
These examples are cool; they mirror common themes you could find in a Japanese city convenience store or an Outback Roadhouse 200 miles away from anything, except for the tooth, which is just weird unless you’re a dentist or bone collector!
8. Cartoon Character Classic Embroidery Tattooing
ideas mesh well with classic cartoon heroes and villains. Given how popular the is as an easy, inexpensive fix for kids’ clothes or embellishment to make things cooler, it stands to reason they’re popular.
Whatever cartoon you’re into — I’m a She-ra Princess of Power fan — you can find an with a cartoon character theme that appeals to just about everyone, including the .
9. Traditional Style Embroidery Design
I love how these pieces of — very much from the new school in design and execution — pay tribute to traditional of Sailor Jerry Collins, Lyle Tuttle, Don Ed Hardy, and company. The key to these designs here is the knowledge that some people will look at the and realize it’s in homage to old school traditional work, while others will believe it’s just a rad-looking patch.
10. Disney Themed Embroidery Tattoo Art
There are those cartoons from your childhood that you loved and never watched again; then there are the timeless stories told by Disney you watch over and over again. Worse if you have small animals masquerading as humans. If you’re of a certain disposition, that naturally makes you a candidate for a Disney-themed , and these are pretty kickass examples of how cool they can look.
Embroidery Tattoo FAQ
What is an embroidery tattoo?
The 3D effect of embroidery tattoos makes them look like real embroidered patchwork designs sewn into the skin. They’re still created the usual way – with a tattoo gun, needle, and the variety of inks required to get the job done.
Are embroidery tattoos real?
There’s no embroidery, stitching, or yarn involved, but the way they’re etched onto the subject’s skin mimics the timeless technique of embroidered fabric. Most embroidery tattoos look like those cool texture patches you can iron or stitch on to clothing.
What’s the difference between embroidery tattoos and cross stitch tattoos?
The two art forms are similar in execution, application technique, and effects; however, they have noticeable differences. Embroidered tattoo examples feature deliberate linear needle marks (they look vertical), while cross stitch tattoos have the noticeable tiny “X” marks in the stitch tattoo.
Did you enjoy these embroidered tattoos? Click on the links below for more galleries featuring cartoon character, movie, and 3d inspiration.