Butterfox

I'm so excited to share my newest book with you, Embroidered Mythical Creatures! It's full of Iron-On patterns of all types of fantasy creatures: unicorns, mermaids, dragons, fairies and some fun surprises too.

This book has patterns in all sizes and complexity, and one of my favorite little guys is this sweet “butterfox” motif! Here's the original sketch for him:

You can download the butterfox pattern for free and stitch along with me:

You can embroider the patterns in any of your favorite colors and stitches, but I’m going to show you step by step how I stitched my version.

The DMC floss colors I’m using are brown 433, orange 976, light orange 977, ecru, dark brown 838, dark turquoise 561, turquoise 3816, light turquoise 3817, pink 352 and light pink 353.

Split your floss and use 2 of the 6 threads throughout.

I started by outlining the fox with a Back Stitch, and filling in the feet with Satin Stitch. (If you’re new to embroidery or just need a brush up, come visit our tutorials!)

Next, I began filling in the body with the Long and Short Stitch in orange. This stitch is great for filling in color in larger spaces, it is basically just stacking your stitches like bricks. It is also really versatile, it doesn’t have to be exact! Use your intuition, angle the stitches to fit the space, and add extras here and there as you need them.

Next, I’ve added more Long and Short Stitches in light orange to create a bit of a gradient in color from bottom to top.

I’ve added the eyes and nose in dark brown Satin Stitches, and I’m filling in the chest and tip of the tail with more Long and Short Stitches in ecru.

I’m filling in the wings in the same way with the turquoises, and this time I added the outline and details over the top last with Straight Stitches and French Knots.

Finish up the design with pink butterflies in Straight Stitches and Lazy Daisies, and Straight Stitch and French Knot grass and flowers.

All done! I love how this cutie turned out. I hope you’ll give it a try too, and check out my new book, Embroidered Mythical Creatures for lots more fantasy and fairy tale inspired embroidery patterns!