The making of...The Butterfly Panda

THE BUTTERFLY PANDA

The Butterfly Panda design is loosely based on a ‘band’ sampler, which featured horizontal rows of different stitch techniques. This idea was blended with the later, more pictorial and decorative samplers of the 1800’s to introduce the characters and naturalistic references. Schoolchildren tasked with creating samplers often embroidered familiar settings, such as their own house or the school building, and alphabetical and numerical details were frequently included to practise stitch and lettering. Sabina has chosen to spotlight the plight of the Giant Panda in this design, a creature much loved around the world and sadly in dire decline. The primary scene is bordered by other endangered and threatened species, including each of the butterflies. Verse was frequently included in many samplers as a way to practise detail and lettering; Each design from the Samplers of Sincerity collection contains a trompe l’œil embroidered verse, inspired by those found in antique school samplers. The verses contain a moral caution to protect our natural world.

Sabina wrote the verses in each design, inspired by the texts she found during her research; She also penned an additional short verse to accompany each design.

What bless’d example do I find writ in the word of truth
Of children that began to mind all nature in their youth.
A panda soft, a tiger fierce, a butterfly in flight,
Is it not true that humankind in animals delights?
Defer not, friend, your acts of hope, now we must all be wise,
To-morrow’s sun, for our dear beasts again may ne’er rise.

THE BUTTERFLY PANDA ILLUSTRATION IN PROGRESS