Peacock butterfly with eye spots hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Peacock butterfly with eye spots: preview of the stitched design

A peacock butterfly is seen from above with its wings spread. The wing outlines are rust stem stitch, and gold French knots, the margin spots, follow the outer edge of each wing. Each wing holds one eye spot: an eye spot ring of gold chain stitch, a circle of blue French knots inside it as the eye spot beads, and a round navy center in satin stitch. The eye spots on the upper wings are larger than those on the lower wings. The head, thorax and abdomen run down the middle in rust satin stitch, and two rust stem stitch antennae end in gold French knot tips.

Size and details

Intermediate. Dozens of French knots; from a 5 inch hoop up the widest satin stitches are long.

4 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.5 in	4.6 × 3.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.3 in	6.6 × 5.8 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 3 in	8.9 × 7.6 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.4 × 3.8 in	11.2 × 9.7 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.1 × 5.3 in	15.5 × 13.5 cm	5/8 in (16 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 5/8 in (16 mm) across. Satin stitches longer than about 12 mm (just under 1/2 in) tend to work loose: divide the shape into sections, or work it in long and short stitch.
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 355 Dark Terra CottaWing outlines, abdomen, head, thorax and antennae
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawEye spot rings, margin spots and antenna tips
DMC 3755 Baby BlueEye spot beads
DMC 336 Navy BlueEye spot centers

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 strandsWing outlines, antennae
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsEye spot rings
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsEye spot beads, margin spots, antenna tips
Satin stitch 2 strandsEye spot centers, abdomen, head, thorax

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.