Decorative Spring Butterfly Flower Embroidery Design, Machine Embroidery Pattern, Instant Download

My friend Bex, who sells at a weekend craft fair, picked this one up last spring and texted me a photo of it stitched on a natural linen tote she'd made for a friend. The wings had come out so crisp on the linen I actually zoomed in to check the bobbin hadn't slipped. Theres no actual butterfly shape here in the traditional sense and thats what makes it work. The wings build themselves entirely from flowers, no wing shape at all. Large lavender rose buds sit at the upper wing positions, white daisies with golden-yellow centres fan outward, and peach-salmon daisies fill the lower sections. Tiny lilac mini daisies and small golden buds scatter through the gaps. Its a warm rust-brown thorax with curling antennae that sweep upward in a tight scroll, and navy blue leaf sprays radiate from the centre stem like branches on a pressed botanical print. Genuinely one of the more ambitious designs Ive put out.

Complex design, no question. The smallest size runs at about 15,655 stitches and the full 7.5-inch version hits 34,523, with a density of 823 on the denser fill areas. Youll need a proper cutaway stabiliser underneath, not a tear-away. The satin fill on the rose buds has directional stitching that shifts angle across each petal so they catch the light differently, and the tatami underlay on the daisy centres keeps the fills flat without puckering. On fleece or terry cloth, add topping over the whole design or the fine navy leaf outlines sink into the pile and youll lose the colour separation between the blues and the peach.

Hoop it on cotton twill, canvas, denim or linen and it sits beautifully. The 3.5-inch drops onto a tote pocket or apron bib without crowding the edges. For a jacket back or a linen tablecloth centre panel, the 7.5-inch is what you want, it fills the space without looking sparse. Anything stretchy like a sweatshirt or jersey, use a cutaway and topping both. Pair it with a cream or navy background fabric and the lavender and peach really pop. Skip the tear-away on anything heavier than standard quilting cotton, dont be tempted.

Ive been putting this on spring and summer items mostly but its worked year-round. The colour palette, lavender, peach, gold, and navy, is old-fashioned in the best way and thats exactly why it reads so well. Stitch it onto a canvas zipper pouch or a fleece blanket corner for a quick project that looks alot more involved than it is. I been seeing it on linen cushion covers too, hooped on a 7-inch and centred, and it reads like folk embroidery from a boutique shop, not a downloaded file. Suprised myself with how versatile it turned out.

Use a 75/11 embroidery needle for cotton and linen, step up to an 80/12 for denim or twill at the larger sizes. Iron your stabiliser onto the backing fabric before hooping, not just layering it loose, and it makes a noticeable difference when the jump count runs higher between the flower clusters. The rust-brown body colour stitches out first in my file sequence, then the wing fills, then the outlines last. Run a colour-stop test on the first section before committing to the full 34,000-stitch run on expensive fabric.

Let me know and Ill resend whatever format you need.