I've been trying to think of a new and exciting Stitchscape which could be turned into a kit. So far my kits tend to be quite flat in the hoop and as my own personal Stitchscapes are becoming more and more textured, I wanted a design that would reflect that whilst still being fairly easy to follow and absolutely unique to each person.
I've been collecting fabrics and trimming items for a while (the house is full to bursting!) and finally I had enough to be able to start designing this little hoop!
My design process for kits is essentially the same as just-for-fun Stitchscapes in that I don't know what it will look like when it's finished, there is no drawn-up plan, I cut straight into the fabrics and go with what I feel. The only difference is that I draw around all of the fabric pieces before I tack them down so that I have a record to create templates from. This one was a little bit more complicated as I had to do the same thing for the felt rocks, and also draw around them once they had been drawn up to show how much shrinkage there should approximately be.
Threads are counted in lengths of 60cms and then when the kit is finished being designed, I total up how many lengths have been used for each colour and add an additional length for the kits themselves in case there are any mistakes. Because I rarely use the full six strands that come in a length of thread, this translates as between 3-6 extra lengths depending on how many strands are used for each colour in the pattern.
The plain blue fabric layer has been simply treated with a two strand seed stitch just adding some texture to that plain area, creating little shadows underneath the stitches to draw the eye, and french knots cover the top of the fabric layer.
Two strands of thread in the same colour have then been used to go over the running stitch with vertical whip stitch, one of my favourite techniques to use on mountains or hills because it looks like bunny runs or the wind blowing the grass around. Of course these Stitchscapes wouldn't be complete without a second row of bullion knots so hopefully enough practice will have been had on the top layer.
I have had in previous kits, where someone doesn't like bullion knots, adaptations been sent in as rows of chain stitch, or more of the couching with embroidery threads, or even blanket stitch. It's great to see how customers/students switch things up to suit their needs more. Bullion knots are a bit of a marmite stitch to be sure!
Texture starts to be added with the white craft stamens, which are more often used in the cake making industry to go in the centre of sugar flowers. These ones are quite big, and a little bit wild, swinging in all directions, but they really stand out against the turquoise background and felt stones. The stamens are folded in half-ish, so that one side is taller than the other (there's a blob on each end of the stamen) and couched down at the fold and on either side to secure them in place.
On the rocks themselves I've stitched little lines of back stitch to pull the felt in and create nooks and crevices, then followed these lines with two colours of french knot and lovely silver lined, turquoise beads which have been stitched quite tightly down so that they tuck into the felt. This little pop of sparkle really made a different to this piece as everything else was really matte so it started looking a bit boring to the eye.
The total stitch run down for this piece is: back stitch, bullion knots, straight stitch, seed stitch, french knots, couching, running stitch, stem stitch, vertical whip stitch, satin stitch and beading. Nice and simple!
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