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With their delicate shapes and dazzling colors, insects are the perfect motifs for craft projects. Embroidery artist Megan Zaniewski is a creative who celebrates the beauty of beetles. She creates handmade embroidery designs with three-dimensional wings.
Zaniewski used the butt embroidery Technique when she creates her designs by hand. This involves sewing upholstery, wire, and other elements to create 3D textile designs that rise out of the fabric. Zaniewski uses thin jewelry wire to model the shape of each grand piano and then fills in the shape with a combination of long and short stitches. Then the talented textile artist embroider the 2D body of the insect with painterly stitches on the fabric.
From bumblebees to butterflies, every finished design highlights the fragile beauty of insect wings. In one piece, Zaniewski uses rainbow colored thread to sew the Malagasy sunset moth. And in another, she uses shimmering tulle for dragonfly wings. Each beautiful beetle is mounted in decorative frames and can be displayed on a wall.
When she’s not sewing insects, Zaniewski uses colored thread to render portraits of other animals. Check out some of their designs below and find even more on Instagram.
Megan Zaniewski handcrafts insect-inspired embroidery designs with three-dimensional wings.
She uses the stumpwork embroidery technique, which involves sewing over wire frames.
When she’s not creating textile beetles, Zaniewski creates other creatures in her own embroidery style.
Megan Zaniewski: Etsy | Instagram
All images via Megan Zaniewski. Art submitted to Instagram via #mymodernmet.
On the subject of matching items:
Ultimate Guide to Embroidery: How It Started, and How to Get Started Today
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3D embroidery creates the exuberant beauty of nature with an enchanting twist
12 online embroidery courses that make it easy to learn all kinds of creative embroidery
