A Bright Corner: Butterfly Canvas Art tutorial

Spring Butterflies tutorial - cute fabric butterflies!

Today I have a tutorial posted on the Therm O Web blog to make these sweet Spring Butterflies. Yep – they’re fabric! And better still, it’s a great way to use up some of your favorite scraps. These were so fun to make. It’s an easy, no-sew project and you can use the butterflies for all sorts of other things.

These are just a few of the fun butterfly ideas I’ve found around lately. They’re all pinned here (along with some other spring-inspired décor!)

1: Butterfly collection pillow tutorial from Ruffles & Stuff

2: Peach and pink paper butterfly garland found here

3: Paper butterfly decoration found here

4: hand cut butterfly garland found here

The pattern sheet that I created for the butterflies has four sizes on it (tiny, small, medium & large). I thought the large size would make a lovely garland, and as it turns out, the medium size is perfect for making a butterfly canvas art! Again – no sewing!

Butterfly Canvas Art tutorial from A Bright Corner

Here’s what you’ll need:

one 16” x 20” canvas

HeatnBond Ultrahold

Butterfly Applique Shapes pattern

fabric scraps

sharp scissors

iron

hot glue gun

I had a small pile of scraps leftover from the quilts I had made for my nieces – not enough to make anything, but just the perfect amount for a few butterflies!

First you’ll need to print the butterfly applique shapes page from here. Then trace the medium size butterfly 9 times on to some HeatnBond Ultrahold and then cut out roughly around each shape.

Using the instructions on the package, iron each butterfly to the wrong side of a fabric scrap. Cut out along the lines, and peel off paper backing.

Then iron the butterflies to the wrong side of another fabric scrap. It can be identical fabric, or a coordinating fabric. Be creative!

Now carefully cut around the butterfly, just a bit inside of the first butterfly piece. You now have a stack of pretty, two-sided butterflies!

To crease each butterfly, fold in half and press with iron for 6 or 7 seconds. To keep the crease nice and crisp I picked up each butterfly with my scissors and held it there for a few seconds to let it cool.

Next, lightly mark on the canvas where you want the butterflies to go. I measured and marked the canvas using a ruler and drew a thin pencil line where the butterfly body would be.

Using a hot glue gun, lay a bead of glue on the pencil markings and gently press the butterfly body (not the wings) onto the glue. I used a pen lid to press it in place along the crease, just to make sure it was fully adhered.