Needlecrafts Crochet Crochet Basics

How to Crochet Butterfly Stitch

A Stitch That's Easier Than You Think

Butterfly Crochet Stitch
Kathryn Vercillo

The butterfly crochet stitch is a stitch pattern worked across multiple stitches and multiple rows. This makes it different from a basic crochet stitch, such as a single crochet or a double crochet, which is worked in a single stitch in a single row. It also makes crochet butterfly stitch different from a cluster stitch, which is worked across multiple stitches but is still worked in only one row. In that sense, the butterfly stitch is a more complex stitch, but it's really fairly simple, which you will see as soon as you first try to crochet it. In fact, the crochet butterfly is basically just made up of chains and a single crochet stitch, things that you likely already know how to do well.

Butterfly Crochet Stitch: Before You Begin

One version of the butterfly crochet stitch pattern is found below. Before we get to it, we're going to give you a better understanding of what this stitch is and how it works. At the end of the article, learn about some variations on the crochet butterfly.

What you most need to understand to crochet the butterfly stitch is that it is worked within a pattern of other stitches. So, for example, you might have a butterfly stitch inside a bunch of single crochet stitches or, as in the example you'll see inside of this tutorial, within sets of half double crochet stitches. The butterfly stitch is always worked the same way, regardless of the type of stitch pattern it is worked into. So the butterfly stitch will be worked the same whether it is worked into a single crochet or half double crochet pattern (or some other pattern). The only thing that will differ is the stitches that are worked around the butterfly stitch, although this can impact what you do right after each crochet butterfly stitch is made. Don't worry, this is all going to make sense as you craft.

Understanding Butterfly Crochet Stitch

You'll get exact instructions below along with a photo tutorial, but read through this section to get a solid understanding of what butterfly crochet stitch is all about before you begin. Basically what you're going to do when you crochet butterfly stitch is this:

  • Crochet a set of basic stitches, such as hdc stitches.
  • Crochet a chain.
  • Skip as many stitches as the number you chained.
  • Crochet normally into the next stitch (hdc in our example).
  • Turn the work and repeat. You'll be creating a new chain above the first chain, with basic stitches on either side again.
  • Turn the work and repeat again.
  • In the fourth row, you'll "close" the butterfly by crocheting the beginning of the chain as normal, securing all three chains below it with a single crochet, finishing the rest of your crochet chain and going back to your basic stitches.

 

  • 01 of 12

    Begin Butterfly Crochet Stitch With Chain

    Crochet Starting Chain
    Kathryn Vercillo

    As with most crochet projects, your butterfly crochet stitch is going to begin with a basic chain. The number of chains in your project will depend on how long each butterfly is going to be and how many butterflies you want in each row. This will vary greatly so we won't try to predict the length of your starting chain. Suffice to say that it must be at least as long as the number of chains in your butterfly, plus the number of stitches you want on either side of the chain.

    So in our case, let's say we'll have five hdc stitches on either side of a butterfly that itself is ten stitches long. Our starting chain has to be as long as five plus five (for either side of the butterfly) plus ten (for the butter) so that equals 2 stitches. Plus we need the extra stitch for the turning chain. Our starting chain would have to be that long at a minimum. So, for our purposes, let's begin with a starting chain of 21.

  • 02 of 12

    Crochet a Row of Basic Stitches (Optional)

    Half Double Crochet Stitches
    Kathryn Vercillo

    Your butterfly crochet stitch is going to be worked amidst a pattern of basic crochet stitches, as described above. You can begin the butterfly stitch in the first row of your project if you want or you can begin with a row of just the basic stitches. In our example, we are going to do a row of half double crochet stitches, so we just did hdc all the way across the first row. Then we did a turning chain of two (the proper height for hdc) and turned the work.

  • 03 of 12

    Crochet Basic Stitches Up To Your Butterfly Stitch

    Half Double Crochet
    Kathryn Vercillo

    In this row, you are going to continue to crochet basic stitches until you are ready to make your butterfly crochet stitch. The number of stitches you will make varies by pattern. In our example, we are going to crochet five hdc stitches before we start our butterfly stitch.

  • 04 of 12

    Row 1 Butterfly Chain

    Butterfly Crochet Stitch Chain
    Kathryn Vercillo

    Okay, now we're going to begin our butterfly, which at first is just going to look like a crochet chain. Chain as many stitches as there are across the length of your butterfly; in our example, we will make a chain ten. 

    Continue to 5 of 12 below
  • 05 of 12

    Skip Stitches and Resume Basic Stitches

    Butterfly Crochet Stitch, Row 1
    Kathryn Vercillo

    Skip the same number of stitches as the length of the chain that you just made for your butterfly (so skip ten for this tutorial). Then resume your basic crochet stitches (five hdc stitches in our example).

  • 06 of 12

    Repeat For Row 2 of Butterfly Crochet Stitch

    Butterfly Crochet Stitch, Row 2
    Kathryn Vercillo

    Turn the work and repeat the process. Crochet basic stitches over your basic stitches and chains over your chains. So, in our case, we will crochet 5 hdc, ch 10, 5 hdc.

  • 07 of 12

    Repeat for Row 3 of Butterfly Crochet Stitch

    Butterfly Crochet Stitch, Row 3
    Kathryn Vercillo

    This is just a repeat of Step 6. This will be the third and final full chain of your butterfly crochet stitch.

  • 08 of 12

    Begin Row 4: Basic Stitches and Half Chain

    Butterfly Crochet Stitch, Row 4
    Kathryn Vercillo

    Now we are on the fourth row of the butterfly. (Remember that this is actually row five of the project since you first created a whole row of hdc stitches). 

    Crochet your basic stitches (5 hdc). Then chain half of the stitches for the butterfly, so chain five stitches.

    Continue to 9 of 12 below
  • 09 of 12

    Single Crochet Around All Chains

    Single Crochet Around Chains
    Kathryn Vercillo

    This is where your chains begin to get that butterfly look. You're going to make one single crochet around the midpoint of all three of the crochet chains. So, insert your crochet hook from front to back underneath all three chains, yarn over, draw up a loop, yarn over and pull through both loops on hook. This secures all of your chains at the center, creating your shape.

  • 10 of 12

    Complete Last Half of Butterfly Stitch Chain

    Complete Butterfly Stitch
    Kathryn Vercillo

    You need to finish the rest of that chain to complete your butterfly, so you're going to chain five. Then you'll continue on with your basic crochet stitches (5 hdc).

  • 11 of 12

    Repeat Stitch Pattern for Additional Butterflies!

    Butterfly Crochet Stitch
    Kathryn Vercillo

    That's it, you've made a butterfly crochet stitch. You can repeat the steps above to continue the pattern. You would add a row of hdc, three rows of butterfly chains and a fifth row that closes the butterfly, making your butterflies line up with the ones from the rows below. 

  • 12 of 12

    Variations for Butterfly Crochet Stitch

    Crochet Butterfly

    Lorraine Barnard, Getty Images 

    There are a lot of options when you crochet butterfly stitch. We already discussed that you can vary the stitch pattern around it, using different types of basic stitches like the half double crochet. In butterfly stitch, you crochet a few basic crochet stitches, then make your butterfly, then crochet more basic stitches. You can vary the design by changing the number of stitches between each butterfly, putting them closer together or further apart.

    You can also choose to vary the number of stitches in the butterfly chains to make them shorter or longer. We are going to use ten, so we'll crochet chains of ten, skip ten stitches and make our next stitch in the eleventh stitch. But you can make butterflies as small or as large as you want by changing their stitch length. Just make sure to keep it consistent across all chains.

    Note that it is best to choose an even number because in the fourth row you need to crochet half of the stitches, single crochet one, then crochet the other half of the stitches; even numbers give you even chains on either side of each single crochet. You can fudge it with odd numbers by rounding up or down (up is more common) but it's easier to just go with even numbers of chains if possible.

    Sometimes you will only have one butterfly stitch in the pattern, like when it serves as a decorative bow detail in a crochet hat pattern. But sometimes you'll have rows of butterfly stitches on top of one another. In this instance, you can choose to either place the butterflies vertically right above one another or to stagger them in different places across the row. You can also choose to have rows of basic stitches between the rows with butterflies or just begin the butterflies immediately in the fifth row (since the fourth row is where you close the butterfly). These variations can create different effects. Of course, if you're working from a butterfly crochet pattern then the designer will tell you what to do but if you're doing your own designs then it can be fun to play around with these different butterfly stitch variations.

    Finally, you may wish to forego the crochet butterfly stitch altogether and instead to make other butterfly crochet appliqués/designs.