3D embroidery designs celebrate the delicate beauty of winged insects

With their delicate shapes and iridescent colors, insects are the perfect subjects for arts and crafts projects. Embroidery artist Megan Zaniewski is a creative who celebrates the beauty of insects. She creates hand embroidery designs with three-dimensional wings.

Zaniewski uses the stump embroidery technique when creating her creations by hand. This involves sewing over the padding, wiring, and other items to create 3D textile patterns that are lifted from the fabric. Zaniewski uses thin jewelry thread to sculpt the shape of each wing, then fills in the shape using a combination of long and short stitches. The talented textile artist then embroiders the insect’s 2D body onto the fabric with pictorial stitches.

From bumblebees to butterflies, each finished design showcases the fragile beauty of insect wings. In one piece, Zaniewski uses rainbow colored thread to sew the Madagascan moth. And in another, she uses a shimmering tulle fabric for the dragonfly wings. Each beautiful insect is mounted inside decorative frames, ready to display on a wall.

When not sewing insects, Zaniewski uses colored thread to portray other animals. Check out some of his creations below and find out more about Instagram.

Megan Zaniewski hand creates insect-inspired embroidery designs with three-dimensional wings.

She uses the stump embroidery technique, which consists of sewing on wire frames.

When not creating textile insects, Zaniewski creates other creatures in her distinct embroidery style.

Megan Zaniewski: Etsy | Instagram

All images via Megan Zaniewski. Art submitted via #mymodernmet on Instagram.

Related Articles:

Ultimate Guide to Embroidery: How It All Began & How You Can Get Started Today

Embroidered brooches look like real butterflies perched on your jacket

3D embroidery recreates the lush beauty of nature with an enchanting touch

12 online embroidery lessons that make it easy to learn creative sewing of all kinds