A Primitive Black Veined Butterfly with Rose Bouquet

This charmer is Loretta. She will be my last butterfly for a little while. Loretta is 19" tall with a wingspan of 15". She has been made of muslin & stuffed with fiberfill. Loretta has been hand-painted & sanded, top to bottom many, many times. She has been treated to a series of paint washes, giving her a rich, aged patina. Loretta has a loop attached to her back for hanging or she can sit (if propped).

Loretta’s face has been needle-sculpted by hand and hand-painted. Her bottom lip ‘pouts’ while her top lip is simply painted. She is heavily detailed & features big brown eyes, rosy cheeks & rosy lips. She has been painted with various mediums. She has been sealed top to bottom with a combination of glossy & matte acrylic sealer so that she may be lightly dusted after display & kept a lifetime.

Loretta’s fingers have been needle-sculpted by hand. She sports taupe painted gloves. She also sports painted brown boots and striped socks in shades of cream and taupe.

Loretta’s apron dress is made from two super cute 100% cotton prints. Her underskirt is a pale, pale sage green floral print. Her over skirt is a striped creme fabric. The skirt straps are finished with two vintage mother of pearl buttons in the front. Loretta’s blouse is made of muslin & features hand-gathered sleeves. Both the dress & blouse feature tons of hand-stitching! All visible hems have been hand-stitched (dress & sleeves), as well as the back of the blouse & collar.

Loretta’s wings have been made of muslin, machine-quilted around the edges & then hand-painted. They were inspired by the Black Veined White butterfly. They are lightly wired on top & can be very gently bent. They’re  attached to Loretta with a large vintage, green button & several strands of heavy duty thread.

Loretta carries a single rose posy. The rose is a freeze-dried purple passion rose. The rose head has been attached securely to wire, then wrapped in a burlap "cuff" & tied with chocolate ribbon. Loretta holds it by two hemp loops.Loretta’s hair is curly brown 100% mohair. I’ve lightly glued, then carefully needle-felted it to her head. Her hair is styled into a low side pony.

She is available on eBay April 27th – May 4th. Her auction will end at 9:15 PM EST on Sunday, the  4th. Click here to view or bid on this little gal!