Dragonflies are a very ancient species of insect. They have been flitting and darting about for eons. In primeval times, they were large and some of them had wing spans of two feet or more. Today, the wings span three to four inches. Each pair moves independently for more skillful maneuvering. A dragonfly can attain great flying speed.

The dragonfly in this study is worked in gold purls. The head and thorax are padded then stitched in metals using satin stitch. The wings are fused gold metallic organza and cream silk organza outlined with #28 wire. The wire is embellished with buttonhole stitch using Accent #023. The wing veins are in #10 gold check purl.

The tail and body are outlined with Gold wire #371 in detached chain.

The cattail leaves are worked in Soie ovale in shades of green in diagonal Satin stitch and French filling. The cattail stems are worked in #3 Japan imitation gold with gold silk couching thread in the brick pattern couching. The cattail heads are padded with felt and/or cotton thread with the outer layer in wire Check Purl #5, Russet with 1 black silk straight stitch at the top.

Proficiency level: Basic

Class time: 2 days (12 hours)

Kit Cost: $75.00

Class size: 24

Size: 5.5 w X 8.5 H inches

Overall 9 X 12 inches