Hello crafty friends! Look at this flock of butterflies I stitched up using the Tim Holtz tattered butterfly die.

This die came from the Sizzix workshop at Creativation back in January and I love using it. The butterflies have foil tape in their wings so they can bend and pose.

Here’s the video process of how they’re made.

Materials and tools used

Most of these materials are easily available, but I provide links below so you can see what the material looks like. All links are Amazon affiliate links and I will make a small commission if you end up purchasing from there.

Tim Holtz tattered butterfly die by Sizzix https://amzn.to/2WJ0c8y

Foil tape can be found in the heat/air section of a hardware store like this stuff https://amzn.to/2FWci7u

heat & bond fusible webbing https://amzn.to/2G1Th4M

unbleached muslin – available at any fabric store, here’s an example: https://amzn.to/2WR6cMO

heat & bond fusible webbing https://amzn.to/2G1Th4M

wire for antenna – any thin gauge jewelry wire works, like this one https://amzn.to/2UAqQ6c

grey wool for body – mine came from a felted wool skirt I found at a thrift shop because that’s the best place to get cheap wool. Any felted wool garment would work, or try some purchased wool felt like this stuff: https://amzn.to/2WIqEzg

E6000 glue – I like the small tubes like these https://amzn.to/2D1oF1p

Here are the steps I’ve outline in the video above:

1. Cut 2 squares of muslin, and one square of heat&bond to a 6×6″ size

2. use an iron to fuse the heat&bond to one square of muslin and leave the paper backing in place (it doesn’t matter with muslin, but fuse to the wrong side if using a fabric with print that has a right/front and wrong/back side)

3. for the 2nd piece of muslin, place the foil tape so it sticks to the wrong side of the fabric

4. run each of those pieces through your Sizzix or die cut machine with the tattered butterfly die so you’ll get a big and small butterfly of each

5. remove heat& bond from the butterfly and place it muslin side up on your work surface

6. twist wire into antenna and place on the right side of the butterfly with heat&bond, cover wire with wool body and place this stack onto tear-away stabilizer – I’ll call this the butterfly sandwich

7. put the butterfly sandwich on your sewing machine

8. stitch over the body and embellish the wings using your sewing machine. I used free-motion embroidery but you do whatever you’re comfortable with

9. gently tear off all the stabilizer

10. using an iron, fuse the heat&bond side of one butterfly to the foil side of a matching sized butterfly

11. curl the wire antenna if desired

12. (optional) glue a tiny clothespin or pin back to the back of the butterfly using E6000 glue <- it sticks to fabric, wood & metal

I made over a dozen of these flutter bugs and clipped them to colorful straws to give away en masse. What do you think? What other uses can you find for a tattered and stitched butterfly?