How to Embroider an Adorable Alien Design on a Shirt

Materials & tools you'll need

Step 1 — Design the alien

Start by sketching the alien design on paper before transferring it to fabric. Keep the design simple and charming: an alien head peeking out of a pocket, waving with one hand, with reptilian eyes and three small horns on top of its head. Planning the whole shape out first — including where the horns and waving arm will sit — makes the later transfer and stitching steps much easier to follow.

Step 2 — Transfer the design onto the fabric

If you're using a water-soluble fabric marker with transfer paper, place the transfer paper against the back of your paper design, trace over the lines, and iron the transferred design onto the shirt or fabric. If you'd rather skip the transfer paper, trace the design straight onto the fabric with a pencil or water-soluble marker instead. Either method works — the transfer paper route is just handy if you want to reuse the same design more than once.

Step 3 — Outline the alien with split stitch

Using an embroidery hoop to keep the fabric taut, outline the entire alien shape with a split stitch — the same stitch used for outlining round shapes like planets. Work the eyes in pink thread to give the alien its Roswell-inspired look, then continue the split stitch outline around the rest of the head and body before moving on to filling it in.

Step 4 — Fill in the design with chain and satin stitch

Rather than filling the whole design with split stitch, switch to chain stitch for a more textured, organic look. Start with the head, filling it in with a mix of green shades rather than aiming for a smooth shadow effect — let the colours sit next to each other naturally. Work the eyes separately in light pink using a satin stitch for a smooth, solid finish, then fill in the rest of the head and body with more chain stitch in lighter green and leafy green tones.

Step 5 — Add the reptilian eyes and horns

With the base fill complete, add the alien's defining features: the reptilian eye shape and three small horns along the top of its head. Three horns is enough to give the alien a distinctive, otherworldly silhouette without overcomplicating the design — keep them small and evenly spaced so they read clearly at shirt-embroidery scale.

Step 6 — Embroider the waving hand

Finish the design with the alien's waving hand. Outline the hand and arm shape with a split stitch first, just as you did for the rest of the body, then fill it in with chain stitch to match the rest of the design. Working the hand last, in the same two-stitch method as the face, ties the whole piece together and gives the alien its friendly, waving pose.

Frequently asked questions

How do you outline an embroidery design with split stitch?
Work a split stitch by bringing the needle up, making a stitch, then bringing the needle back up through the middle of that same stitch so it splits the thread — passing under two or more previous stitches to complete a smooth loop before continuing forward. Repeated along the design lines, it creates an even, continuous outline.

What's the difference between chain stitch and satin stitch when filling in a design?
Chain stitch builds a line of connected loops, giving a slightly textured, organic fill that's well suited to larger areas like a head or body. Satin stitch instead lays several parallel rows of stitches side by side along a single line, creating a flat, smooth, solid surface that works better for smaller detailed areas like eyes.

What colors should I choose for a Roswell-inspired alien embroidery design?
Various shades of green for the body and head give the alien its classic otherworldly look, while pink for the eyes adds a distinctive Roswell-style touch reminiscent of the famous New Mexico UFO incident. Mixing lighter and darker greens throughout the fill also helps the design feel less flat and more textured.

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