The design is an oriental shaped butterfly sitting opened winged on grass stalks. It is inspired by the butterflies in Master Siato’s copybook. Butterflies in oriental cultures are symbols of felicity and good luck while our Western culture considers them to be symbols of happiness and a carefree spirit.

Our butterfly in this study is a combination of canvas and silk and metal techniques. The body is padded with cotton threads then embellished with filament silk using long straight satin stitches. An oblong cross-stitch accents the center of the body.

The silk threads used are flat, twists and soie d’alger. The gold threads used are #1 imitation Japan gold and a gold braid. DMC 6-stranded cotton and #8 Pearl cotton are also used. Techniques include couching, slanting gobelin, laidwork, and a Kogin darning pattern for the background.

The piece is worked on a 10 inch by 10 inch piece white congress cloth.

Proficiency level: Beginner and beyond

Kit Cost: $75.00

Design area: 7-inch square