Butterfly Heart Line Art Embroidery Design, Instant Download

Theres no drawn heart outline here, which is what makes it interesting. About twenty small butterflies are arranged so the cluster itself forms the heart shape, and each butterfly is nothing but a thin open outline. Two rounded upper wings, two lower wings that are a bit smaller, a body down the centre, and two looping antennae. Thats it. No fill, no satin, just the outline running stitch picking out the shape.

Because every single butterfly is open and empty the whole design reads as really light and airy when its stitched out. You can see the fabric right through each wing. The butterflies vary slightly in size so the heart edges feel organic rather than perfectly uniform. Biggest are on the outer edges, smallest sort of tuck in toward the centre point at the bottom.

I drew this one for valentines things and wedding gifts but it gets used for all sorts. A customer stitched the large 6-inch version on white cotton last february for her daughters bedroom wall art, stretched it on an embroidery hoop and framed it. Simple and it looked great. Smallest size is 2.84 by 3.5 inches, largest is 6.1 by 7.5.

Pick a fabric with a bit of colour behind it so the open outlines read properly. Pale pink, soft lavender, cream or dusty blue all work well. White on white is gonna get lost fast. Because the density is so low at sixty-six stitches per square inch this stitches out in under 3 minutes on the smallest size, very fast run.

Use a light tearaway stabiliser on woven fabric or a water-soluble topping on knits to stop the thin outline stitches sinking in. Hoop firmly. Skip heavy canvas or thick denim, the fine lines dont have enough bulk to read properly on dense fabric. Keep your machine speed moderate so the thread tension stays even across the long outline runs. Reach me through the shop if the file plays up and Ill send a corrected version.