Embroidered Hanky; Monarch on Lavender

This is a little piece I embroidered for a dear friend. It's all worked by hand; the hem is done with a pin stitch (point de paris, parisian hem stitch, or madeira applique stitch). The stem of the lavender is stem stitch worked with two shades a green at the same time and the blossoms are wheat stitch with two shades of purple worked at the same time right over the stem stitch. The dark brown of the monarch's lower wing is split stitch and the light tan is long and short stitch. The upper wing is outlined with dark brown split stitch and all the colors are worked with long and short stitch. The body of the butterfly is long and short, and the legs and antennae are back stitch. The wee french knots were worked last and applied rather randomly. Thanks to my mother and Mary Corbet (Needle'N'Thread) for instruction and inspiration!