Flower filled butterfly hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Flower filled butterfly: preview of the stitched design

A butterfly is seen from above with its four wings open, each wing outlined in one thin line. Every wing holds one large orange flower of eight petals with green leaves all round it, and each upper wing also holds a smaller gold flower of six petals nearer the body. The body and the head are brown satin stitch, and two brown feelers rise from the head, each ending in a French knot. Every petal is a loop of lazy daisy stitch and every flower center is a brown French knot. The wings are tan stem stitch and the feelers brown stem stitch; the leaves are fishbone stitch and the small leaves satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: line stitches and loops and French knots, with some short satin stitches; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

5 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 × 1.6 in	4.1 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.4 in	6.4 × 6.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.2 in	8.4 × 8.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.1 × 4 in	10.4 × 10.2 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.7 × 5.6 in	14.5 × 14.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

In a 3 or 4 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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLeaves and small leaves
DMC 922 Light CopperLarge flower petals
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawFlower petals
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownLarge flower centers, flower centers, feelers, feeler tips, body and head
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownWings

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

Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
Satin stitch 2 strandsSmall leaves, body, head
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsLarge flower petals, flower petals
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsLarge flower centers, flower centers, feeler tips
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsWings, feelers

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.