Make Me A Butterfly

By Meb

Follow these directions to construct colorful cloth butterflies. Add a magnet to use on the refrigerator, or put on a wire stem to add to flower arrangements. Also make great gift wrap decorations and can be used in place of a bow. There's no limit except your imagination. A great way to use up scraps of fabric or to create matching decorations to go with curtains, slip covers, etc.

Start with a small piece of colorful fabric. You will need about 10 inches by 10 inches. Make sure it is smooth and wrinkle free.

Cut two lengths of cloth covered wire 10 inches long.

Cut two lengths of cloth covered wire 7 inches long.

Pull each wire through your fingers to remove wrinkles and straighten. Then loop into an oval shape and twist the ends securely leaving about ¾ inch at the end.

Shape your wings
Place the two large wires together and use your finger to form an indentation to make the large butterfly wing. Leave the small loop as an oval shape.

Glue to fabric
Glue the wire to your fabric and let it completely dry.

Centre and magnet
Make your center by cutting a piece of felt ¾ inch by ¼ inch and glue two stamens to form antennae. If you don't have stamens, you can make them by gluing small beads to the end of a piece of cloth covered wire. You may also use wire pipe cleaners or other material for the center.

Cut out wings
Cut the butterfly wings out of the fabric. Be very careful not to cut the wire because your wings won't hold their shape if you do.

Form sides
Place a large wing and small wing together and twist to form one side. Repeat with the other side.

Basic butterfly
Put the two sides together and twist tightly to form your butterfly.

Unfold and shape your butterfly.

Final butterfly
Glue the center to your butterfly. When completely dry, glue a magnet to the back. Or you may attach your butterfly to a wire stem to add to a flower arrangement. Works great with dried flowers or a rustic wreath.

My Outcome
The fabric I chose was a mixture of white and baby blue smudges. I also decorate the wings with little round blue beads and used a bit more wire to tie the butterflies to a basket. All in, it looked pretty!