Gothic Ivy Butterfly Silhouette Embroidery Design, Instant Download

Sketched this one out wanting something in the gothic botanical space that wasnt just a plain butterfly shape. The wings follow a standard butterfly silhouette from outside but the whole interior packs in ivy leaf clusters, the kind with three-pointed lobes, layered and overlapping across both upper and lower wings. Small pointed stars sit scattered through the leaves, and curling vine tendrils trail off the lower wing tips. Single colour, all black, which suprisingly is harder to get right than multi-colour work because every edge and texture has to read clearly without any contrast help from a second thread. Thats the trick here. Im a fan of how it landed.

Stitch count runs from 9,311 at the 2.33 inch smallest up to 22,961 at the 5.12 inch largest. 4 sizes total. Density sits at 815 which is fairly high for a silhouette piece, and thats intentional because the ivy fill inside the wings needs to look fully opaque rather than patchy on fabric. 0 colour changes, one thread the whole way through. Clean and fast to run on the machine.

I had a customer order last autumn for a small run of gothic-themed tote bags she was selling at a craft market. She said it moved faster than anything else on her table. Not suprised honestly, the ivy-butterfly shape reads well from 10 feet away and also holds up at close range when people pick it up and look.

Best results on black or very dark fabric where the thread reads as a raised texture, or on white and cream where the full black contrast pops. Use a cutaway stabiliser as the base on all fabric types. Good underlay matters here given the high density, the stitching builds up in layers so hoop tight before you start. Avoid loose weave fabrics like burlap or open-knit which wont hold cleanly. Pair with a 90/14 needle on heavier canvas and denim.

Dm me if you want to talk through a thread colour swap or run into any issues loading the files.