Six butterflies around a daisy hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Six butterflies around a daisy: preview of the stitched design

Six butterflies make a ring round a daisy, each with its head pointing outward. Every butterfly has a teal body and head and four wings outlined in teal, the two larger wings toward the head and the two smaller round wings toward the daisy, with a pink wing spot inside each wing. Two teal antennae curve out from each head and end in gold antenna tips. The daisy in the middle has twelve pink petals round a gold center. The wing outlines and the antennae are stem stitch, the wing spots, the bodies, the heads, the daisy petals and the daisy center are satin stitch, and the antenna tips are French knots.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

3 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.8 in	7.1 × 7.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 4.7 in	11.9 × 11.9 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.6 × 6.6 in	16.8 × 16.8 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 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseWing outlines, body, head and antennae
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseWing spots and daisy petals
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawAntenna tips and daisy center

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
Satin stitch 2 strandsWing spots, body, head, daisy petals, daisy center
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsAntenna tips

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.