Hey friends! 

Are you enjoying the last of the summer sunshine?

A while ago I posted a Complete Lifecycle of the Large white and then a couple of weeks ago I shared a One frame of two Small white butterflies mating…I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for cabbage butterflies – purely because of the fact that they’re treated as pests, in my mind it makes ‘em a bit of an underdog.

I thought that as they’re so similar I’d create both types in needlework at the same time, so this is both #4 and #5 on my Embroidered Butterfly challenge – only 53 more to go!!!

Similar to my Orange tip butterflies, you can easily distinguish between the two sexes of both types and can clearly see the size difference as well. They’re white with black wingtips (although the female have slightly creamy lower wings) and I thought it would be fun to create both a male and female, size wise the little pair of Small whites are about 7cm across (so they’re slightly smaller than the others I’ve already made!) While the Large whites have a wingspan of almost 14cm!! The body of each one has a crocodile clip sewn on so that I can attach the butterflies to plants, but I’ve also been wearing them in my hair.

I did decide to add a very thin, stainless steel jewellery wire around the wing edges to give them a bit more body and help them keep their shape (actually I like this method better it looks so much tidier) so I think its gonna become a regular thing.

I’ve also decided it would probably be quite terrifying (but beautiful) if they were this big in real life!

The Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland by Richard Lewington is full of these amazing sketches and facts about each type of butterfly. He really is the king of butterfly illustration.

Well that’s it for this week…do you have a favourite butterfly? I’m hoping that you enjoyed this post and that you’ll stay with me on my butterfly creating adventure. Thank you so much for checking this out and I wish you a wondrous week ahead!

©️ ArtyMissK (2023)