A Quilled Butterfly Embellishment - Steps-by-step instructions too..

Hello on the first day of the last month,


Today being the first day of December 2011, I am very sure lots of my peers in crafting are gonna get busier. Well, I won't deny myself that I am in a lot of holiday mood and that means lots of crafting and fun!!!!


So, I made this beautiful (I think I should let you guys decide that :P) butterfly..Well, I won't say its way too special but since its my first proper quilled butterfly it is special to me.. Not only it turned out all bright and cheery it was quite big than the size I had in my mind (and pattern too!!:P).  Please have a look..

Now, this is my very first time when I executed the idea right from the beginning. Though it took a lot of time...compared to time taken normally by quillers but I am satisfied...


I would also like to share the Step-by-step pictorial instructions on how to make a butterfly like this...I am doing this as I searched a lot but could not really find proper step by step tutorial for the same. And so I thought of sharing one myself...


(I am not very good at things called tutorials but I had given my best shot at providing a pictorial as well as theoretical explanation...:))


1) The first step was to have a pattern in mind. Well, you dont have to be very strict for a pattern but it certainly helps you when u actually sit down and start quilling as otherwise a lot of confusion takes place (happens to me for sure!!) as to size of the coils, color scheme etc.

(Sorry! for the way pics came out coz of my impatience :oP)


I drew a very simple butterfly pattern on a small piece of tracing paper with an approximation of the size and roughly drew patterns on the wings keeping in mind the color scheme I wanted. Again, I would like to stress, you DON'T have to be strict about anything...I made a lot of changes while making the actual product myself...


2) The second step is to select a color scheme and allot colors to the pattern and the shapes you would like to use for the patterns. I selected bright orange and bright yellow color combination for my butterfly and used mainly simple quilling shapes (teardrop, half moon, tight coil to be precise).
I shaped a few coils first.

All of them are separate at the moment and pins are placed just to see how it will look like once glued.


I glued the ones I made and started adding more details. I outlined the whole wing with a red color strip to highlight the edges a bit (more noticeable in the final outcome.)

I kept it on my pattern after gluing the first wing and as you can notice, it is quite different from the pattern originally planned :P 


3) After you are satisfied with one wing, the work gets easier. As the second wing is supposed to be exactly the same as the first (Again, no strict rules apply!). It took me no more than 10 minutes to finish this second wing as opposed to an hour for the first.

4) Design the lower wing. I followed on lines of upper wing only but kept it a bit smaller in dimension.

On the left are the total strips that took me to create one lower wing. On the right is one completed lower wing. Also, please note that I have used almost half the length of strip to make coils for lower wing compared to the length of the strips that I used to make coils for upper wing. This automatically made the lower wing smaller.


5) Finalize the design by placing on the board and with the help of pins their placement can be decided.

Also, notice the body and head of the butterfly. I used a crimped strip to roll the head and two normal strips to make the two-part body of the butterfly.
Also, I was stupid enough not to take care of the shape of the wings and hence, when I placed them, a gap was noticed.


6) Make the final adjustments. I inserted two tear drop shapes to cover the gap and also give strength to the overall structure. I also folded a brown strip which was used to make head and body in half to create the antennas. This is how it looked-

7) Glue everything together- Once you are happy with the placement, carefully glue everything together and let it stand for a few mins with the help of the pins. Then remove all the pins and your beautiful butterfly embellishment is ready to flutter! :D

Well, I hope you liked it. I am sure a lot of ways to use this pretty creature must have propped in mind as soon as you see it. A catchy fridge magnet!!, or a hanging ornament? How about a gift box topper or to put on a card to make a beautiful greeting card...its uses are endless.
I thoroughly enjoyed making this, hope you had fun looking too...


Have a great Day!!!
Just Love Crafts xx