Embroidered Butterfly #20 & 21 {Meadow Brown & Gatekeeper}

On March 21, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework BugsLeave a comment

Hey friends!

Firstly, I skipped posting this last week as the building work needed on my house finally happened and it was so super stressful…I packed up a whole bunch of stuff to clear as much room as I could to be out of the way of the builders and managed to tidy away my laptop charger, for the life of me I couldn’t remember where it was!

Still its over now and my heating is finally working properly!! (Yay!).

A few weeks ago I posted a couple of photos comparing the differences between two of our most common (and overlooked) butterflies Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper. I really love these two butterflies and kinda think they’re like the Sparrow of the butterfly world, brown, unexciting and everywhere. Obviously I wanted to create a needlework version of both of these happy chaps.

I decided to make females of both as there isn’t masses of difference between the sexes.

So, Meadow Brown – #20 on my embroidered butterfly challenge. Is basically a brown butterfly with orange patches on the upper wing, identified by the one white dot in its eye-spots. With a real life wingspan of 50mm (male) and 55mm (female) it means my needlework version is around 11cm across.

While Gatekeeper – #21 on my embroidered butterfly challenge. Has much more orange within their wing patterns ad is slightly smaller than Meadow Brown with a real life wingspan of 40mm (male) and 47mm (female) giving my twice life-size version a 9.5cm-ish. Gatekeeper is identified by having two white dots in their eye-spots.

I’m so unbelievably pleased with these two!

I have actually made a Gatekeeper before, way back when I was practicing the design process. Boy have I improved the process is so different now (if you wanna check it out the link is at the bottom!).

As usual it has a very thin stainless steel wire concealed in the edge of the wings to help the keep their shape.

That’s a wrap for this week…two more butterflies down only 51 still to go!! Stay tuned for the next instalment on my butterfly creating adventure. Thank you so much for checking out this post!

Hopefully you’ll be back next week!

Ps. If you want to have a look at my other butterflies they’re HERE!

Psps. My first attempt of an embroidered Gatekeeper butterfly from 2022 is HERE!

Psps (again). Also if you want to see my Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper photos they’re HERE!

Embroidered Butterfly #18 & 19 {Ringlet & Mountain Ringlet}

On February 7, 2026February 16, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs9 Comments

Hello my friends!

A couple of weeks ago I posted some photos of Ringlet butterflies that I took during last years gloriously sunshine filled summer and compared them looks-wise to their much rarer mountain dwelling cousins (who I’ve yet to see).

It was so lovely seeing such a large amount of these butterflies just living their best life out in the wild!

So I decided to make both a Ringlet and a Mountain Ringlet to add to my increasing collection of embroidered butterflies…

Ringlet (the bigger one) – #18 on my embroidered butterfly challenge – are a member of the ‘brown’ family of butterflies and are an unassuming light brown to almost black butterfly with little decorative black eye-spots, with a wingspan 48mm (male) 52mm (female) so in keeping with my twice life size scale my needlework Ringlet has a wingspan of about 10.5cm.

The much rarer Mountain Ringlet (the smaller one) – #19 on my embroidered butterfly challenge – is much smaller than their cousins, with a wingspan of 35mm (male) and 38mm (female) and are much darker brown with orange rimmed eyespots. Even when doubled my Mountain Ringlet still only has a tiny 7cm wingspan!

Continue reading →

Embroidered Butterfly #17 {Clouded Yellow}

On September 20, 2025October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs7 Comments

Hey friends!

I’ve been absent for a couple of weeks, theres a lot going on and I’ve had that horrid cold-thing that’s doing the rounds at the moment (not fun!!).

Still, I’ve got a new needlework butterfly to share with you! I’ve genuinely had the best butterfly year ever and encountered so many critters, I’ve even met my very first Clouded Yellow! I always thought I’d have to physically go and search for these butterflies and never in my wildest dreams did I think one would show up in my own back garden and I wanted to create one to add to my ever growing collection of handmade butterflies.

This is #17 on my Embroidered Butterfly challenge – only 59-ish more to go!!! I worked it out if I make one a month it should only take like another four or so years!

Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) who is one of our regular migrant species is considered to be a large butterfly with a wingspan up to 62mm, they tend to rest with their wings closed which is a shame because they are so pretty.

Continue reading →

Embroidered Butterfly #16 {Marbled White}

On August 23, 2025October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs4 Comments

Hello my friends!

I really hope you’re enjoying the bank holiday weekend if you’re in the UK or just enjoying a nice normal weekend generally!

The week before last I posted all about exploring Penlee Battery nature reserve where I met many, many beautiful butterflies and even a few day flying moths. I really enjoyed being able to spot so many Marbled White butterflies and thought I would create an embroidered version for my collection.

These amazing black and white checkerboard butterflies have a real life wingspan of around 5.5cm and are considered to be a medium size chap! I only created a female as there aren’t too many differences between the two sexes.

My needlework Marbled white has a wingspan of more or less 11cm and she’s #16 of my needlework butterfly quest.

Continue reading →

Embroidered Butterfly #15 {Silver Studded Blue}

On July 12, 2025October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs2 Comments

Hello my friends!

How’s the heat where you are?

A couple of weeks ago I posted a One frame of a Silver studded Blue butterfly I recently met a Cubert Common while adventuring in the sunshine.

It was so cool to see an increasingly rare species just living its best life out in the wild – although that being said according to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, thousands of them have been spotted here this summer which is awesome!

These tiny blue butterflies have a real life wingspan of only 3cm how anything that small survives in the wild is beyond me! I created a male and female as this type of butterfly has whats called Sexual dimorphism which basically means you can tell the boys from the girls.

My needlework Silver studded blues have a wingspan of about 6cm and they’re #15 of my needlework butterfly quest, the male is the lovely blue one (all the ones I’ve seen have been male) and the little brown one is the much more reserved female.

Continue reading →