Have you ever wandered through an antique store, craft bazaar, or flea market and stopped in your tracks because you’ve just spotted a new art form? That’s how we felt when we saw this gorgeous crochet and embroidery piece, complete with metallic thread, pearls, and ombre shading. The results are simply stunning, and the possiblities for use are nearly endless. These would look spectacular as brooches attached to scarves, hats, or bags; used as place cards, gift tags, or a garland; or simply used to decorate a spring centerpiece.
To make one of these lovely butterflies, you’ll need to gather up the following materials and tools from your craft cabinet or work space:
- Crochet hook (size varies depending on how big you want your butterfly to be, of course)
- White yarn (this is used for the base)
- Metallic yarn (gold or silver, depending on the other colors you’re using)
- Embroidery floss (try for three different shades of the same color, as seen in the photo below)
- Beads (think faux pearls, wooden beads, or porcelain beads for the body, smaller seed beads for decoration)
- Wire (this can be used to help the wings retain their shape, as well as for the antenna)
- Brooch fastenings (or keyring, if you prefer)
- Scissors
- Needle (this can be a tapestry needle or embroidery needle, depending on if you’re using embroidery thread or yarn)
The creation of the butterfly is a process consisting of a few steps: crocheting the wings and body, embroidering the wings, and then assembling the creation. There’s plenty of help to be had with graphs, photos, and a video tutorial. You may want to consider making a larger butterfly to start with so that it’s easier to put together, and then scaling down to the size that you want depending on how you’ll be using them.
Interested in creating your own collection of these beautiful butterflies? You can view the instructions and photo tutorial here, or watch the embroidery video tutorial here.
