Decorating the Butterfly’s Back

I can’t embroider right now, but that doesn’t stop me doing a bit of reading and thinking!

I was hanging out in “Art of Needlework”, by Lewis F Day

http://www.archive.org/stream/artinneedleworkb00dayliala#page/viii/mode/2up/search/table+contents

(downloadable for free, all sorts of interesting stuff in there).

I was reading about interlaced stitches.

Here’s the Interlacing sampler Mr Day provides :

Here’s the body in question that I want to cover in a fairly open diaper pattern……

I’ve talked about the difficulty of adding a decorative thread pattern on top of the body before, because the body is wrapped stem stitch bars, so using those threads as a ground will muck up their tension and allow the (purple) ground to show through. (which might be an option in the end, anyway). But I think it needs some decoration, to fit in with the highly coloured and detailed wings. I’m pretty sold on using the metallic copper thread that I used in the wings.

I want a vaguely rounded decorative stitch and so I favour (A) from the Sampler. The wings and the shape of the body are all curves, so I want a pattern that is a bit neutral, or curvy.

I like (B) but I don’t think it’ll work in metallic thread.

Btw, although I loved the idea of using an Electyra Beetle wing for the head, I don’t think it works, and have since replaced it with a purple head.

Back to the interlacing sample,…… as typical in books this old, the explanation on how to do the stitches is pretty brief. And I’m hopeless without step by step instructions anyway.

The stitch instructions for Sample (A) are

Could someone possibly explain this in words of one syllable for me?

(To see the whole section on Interlaced Stitching, search on “Interlaced” within the document).

I’ve got lots of options from Mary Thomas’ book as well. I’m after something that is curvy, and impacts on the ground (the stem stitch) as little as possible, preferably only going *into* the ground at the edge of the body.