Celestial butterfly hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Celestial butterfly: preview of the stitched design

A butterfly with its wings spread carries the phases of the moon along its fore wings, from a thin crescent at each tip to the full moon between its antennae, with stars on its tailed hind wings. The wings and body are back stitch outlines, the moons on the wings are back stitch circles with satin stitch dark parts, the full moon is stem stitch, the large stars are satin stitch, the line inside the wing edges is running stitch, and the small stars, the head and the antenna tips are French knots.

Size and details

Easy. Line stitches and French knots, with some short satin stitches.

3 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.6 × 1.3 in	4.1 × 3.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2 in	5.8 × 5.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 2.7 in	7.9 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 3.4 in	9.9 × 8.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.5 × 4.7 in	14 × 11.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)

In a 3 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

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 BlueHind wings, fore wings, dark parts of the moons, antennae, antenna tips, body, body segments and head
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseLine inside the hind wing edge and line inside the fore wing edge
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawLarge stars, small stars, moon rims and full moon

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

Back stitch 2 strandsHind wings, fore wings, moon rims, antennae, body, body segments
Running stitch 3 strandsLine inside the hind wing edge, line inside the fore wing edge
Satin stitch 2 strandsLarge stars, dark parts of the moons
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsSmall stars, antenna tips, head
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsFull moon

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.