Butterfly Picture - PDF

Butterfly Picture Embroidery Chart – Kooler Design Studio

The Butterfly Picture is a charming counted cross stitch design created by Linda Gillum for Kooler Design Studio (KDS #2323), available as a downloadable PDF from the Kooler Classic Charts collection. This decorative needlework piece depicts a butterfly rendered in a rich, multi-toned color palette, making it an ideal project for stitchers looking to create a finished piece suitable for framing and home display. The design is rated as beginner-friendly, making it accessible to those who are new to counted cross stitch while still offering enough color variety to engage more experienced embroiderers.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a decorative butterfly picture intended as a home decoration or wall art piece. Once stitched and finished, it is well suited to framing. The design has a stitch count of 151 wide by 187 high, giving stitchers flexibility in choosing their preferred fabric count to achieve different finished sizes:

• 14 Count Aida: approximately 10¾ inches wide by 13¼ inches high
• 16 Count Aida: approximately 9⅜ inches wide by 11⅝ inches high
• 18 Count Aida: approximately 8⅜ inches wide by 10⅜ inches high

Stitchers are advised to add 4 to 6 inches to each measurement when cutting fabric to allow sufficient margin for framing or finishing.

Techniques Used

This design employs two core counted embroidery techniques that are fundamental to cross stitch as a craft:

• Full Cross Stitch: The primary technique used to fill in the design, worked with 3 strands of floss. Cross stitch involves forming an X-shaped stitch over a set number of fabric threads or Aida squares, building up the image block by block from a printed chart.
• Backstitch: Used for outlining and adding fine detail to the design, worked with a single strand of floss (1 strand). Backstitch creates a continuous, smooth line that defines edges and adds crispness to the finished piece.

Working from a printed or digital chart on counted fabric is the hallmark of counted cross stitch — each symbol on the chart corresponds to a specific thread color and stitch placement, allowing the stitcher to recreate the design accurately without the need for a printed or stamped fabric guide.

Stitches Used

• Full Cross Stitch – worked over one square of Aida fabric using 3 strands of DMC embroidery floss
• Backstitch – worked using 1 strand of DMC embroidery floss for outlines and detail lines

Materials

The design is intended to be stitched on 14 Count White Aida fabric, though the chart provides sizing information for 16 Count and 18 Count Aida as well, giving stitchers the option to adjust the finished dimensions. Aida fabric is a popular even-weave cotton fabric with a grid-like structure that makes it easy to count stitches, making it particularly well suited to beginner and intermediate projects.

The thread palette uses DMC embroidery floss throughout, with a total of 17 colors specified in the floss and symbol listing. The full color list includes:

• DMC 210 – Medium Lavender
• DMC 211 – Light Lavender
• DMC 471 – Very Light Avocado Green
• DMC 517 – Medium Dark Wedgwood
• DMC 553 – Violet
• DMC 745 – Light Pale Yellow
• DMC 772 – Very Light Yellow Green (Yellow Green-VYLT) – 2 skeins recommended
• DMC 800 – Pale Delft Blue
• DMC