Emerald Isle Stitchscape

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. 

I love the colours in this piece, it's so vivid and bright! The photos don't really do it justice. There are some lovely batik fabrics in this piece as well so each time it's made it will be slightly different to look at. I love the pops of yellow and orange which really help to bring the Stitchscape to life. 

To make these rockscapes I layer up and tack down the backing fabrics first, then stitch on the rocks so that everything is in position for when I start to add the embroidery over the top. There isn't really any point starting to stitch your lovely embroidery stitches and then end up covering some of them with the felt rocks afterwards. 

Starting from the top fabric, the polka dot is used as a grid and each stitch is from spot to spot, working in diagonal rows of back stitch to create a cross-hatch effect. Bullion knots and little cross stitch kisses edge the top of the fabric and lead onto the calico beneath. 

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.

The lovely tiger batik print underneath has had each stripe outlined with a single strand of back stitch to add definition and little pops of colour have been added with bright orange french knots trailing along some of the darker stripes. They remind me of a procession marked with flaming torches or something like that. I've used embroidery thread folded in half to couch along the top for a quick edging to this layer - it's a great way to match colours within the layer without using a lace or bulky trimming. 

Moving down, there's another lovely batik fabric, this time more of a crumple batik where the darker colour almost looks like it's been crumped onto the fabric. Every bit of this will be different so I've hopefully allowed for that with my embroidery stitches. The darker areas have been gone around with a single strand stem stitch just to highlight them, and then a lighter embroidery thread has been used to fill in the lighter gaps with horizontal rows of running stitch. 

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!

The fun section is the bottom section and I've started by adding some satin stitches in the flowers printed on the bottom fabric. Each bit of this will be different for each person as well so it will be interesting to see photos coming back of completed versions of this kit and how it changes their rock formation placement. 

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. 

Two colours of tapestry yarn have been used and complement the light and dark turquoise colours in the Stitchscape. In each length of yarn are four thinner strands all twisted together so I have pulled these apart down to their single strands, put one of each colour together and couched them down into big loops around the bottom of the rocks. In some areas I've taken small snippets of the yarn and pulled them into gaps between the ricks or higher up so it looks like moss or grasses growing in and around the rocks. The best bit about this is you can leave great loops unstitched, or keep faffing with it until it's all exactly where you want it. I like the slightly wild, un-tamed look, what do you think? 

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. 

So, there you have it. This Stitchscape will be turned into the next kit, which I am super excited about. It's a little bit more adventurous than some of my other kits and I love that I can add in new techniques to make it more interesting. 

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!