Bluework moth with eye spots hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 1 color · 2 kinds of stitch

Bluework moth with eye spots: preview of the stitched design

A moth is seen from above with its wings spread, drawn as bluework: one navy thread and line stitches, with no filled shapes. A round head with two feelers tops a body crossed by four rings. Each fore wing has two bands, an eye spot between them, and three veins fanning from the body to the nearer band. Each hind wing, showing below, has one band and an eye spot. Each eye spot is two rings, the outer in stem stitch and the inner in back stitch. The head, body, feelers and wings are stem stitch outlines; the rings of the body, the center veins of the feelers, and the bands and veins of the wings are back stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Line stitches only, but a good deal of line to work.

1 color of floss and 2 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.5 in	4.6 × 3.8 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.2 in	6.9 × 5.6 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3 in	9.4 × 7.6 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 3.7 in	11.7 × 9.4 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 5.2 in	16.3 × 13.2 cm

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 336 Navy BlueHead, body, feelers, fore wings, hind wings, eye spots of the wings, rings of the body, center veins of the feelers, bands of the wings and veins of the wings

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsHead, body, feelers, fore wings, hind wings, outer rings of the eye spots
Back stitch 2 strandsRings of the body, center veins of the feelers, bands of the wings, inner rings of the eye spots, veins of the wings

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.