The Optomist's Suit is Done

I want to include one colour from both ‘parent’ butterflies in each ‘child’ butterfly. Having ruled out gold from the ‘father’ I was left only with black or white and black was a none-starter. I stitched the edge of the fore wings with two strands of flat white silk, gradually changing the angle of the stitches so that they followed the curve of the wing.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

Despite being white, this gave a very hard edge to the wing. I softened this by adding pale blue stitches of random length and spacing along the outer edge. I used a quarter strand of silk so there is only a hint of colour visible.

For the antennae, I used the same blue/silver katayori that I used to outline the large spots on the wings. Again it is couched with a 1-2 twist of pale blue silk. All that remains is to sink the ends of the antennae, but I will do that when all the butterflies are complete.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

So the Optimist has his new suit, and I think he looks very handsome. I don’t know who is more proud, the Optimist or me.

Happy Stitching