Ribbon Beach Huts

It doesn't feel like we got to spend much time at the beach this year, I'm not sure why but I can't really recall many beach trips out. Next year we will definitely have to rectify that! Especially as I need to go and collect more shells to wash for my seascape workshops. 

When I was a kid we did vaguely know someone who owned a beach hut and I have misty recollections of them pulling out surf boards and wet suits, buckets and spades and goodness knows what else from the slightly dark and sandy recesses. Walking along rows of beach huts I'm always peeping in through open doors to see how people have kitted theirs out. Some are very neat and have white washed walls, beach themed decorations everywhere and comfy chairs stacked on the side, others are all about the beach BBQ...does anyone reading this own or rent a beach hut? What do you keep in yours?

I've actually used a wide striped tape or ribbon for the beach huts themselves as the colours were so nice! I couldn't decide which colour tape I wanted to use so I made two cards in each colour - I think now they're finished I prefer the blue because of the way it balances against the blue of the sea but I'd be interested to know which colour is your favourite. 

I've added a roof and blanket stitched that on but I haven't actually stitched any further texture or details into it because the pattern with the wood grain kind of does that for me. The tape hut has been overstitched just down each edge to hold it on, and then a rough, scrappy straight stitch door has been put on (not particularly neatly - we're going for the weather-beaten look here!) with a french knot door knob. 

The top polka dot layer has a couple of rows of running stitch at the bottom for a little bit of texture and fly stitch birds swooping overheard. I've done two fly stitches for each bird, the white one at the top and a darker, single strand one just underneath it so that there is a bit more definition and a shadow to each bird. 

The sandy layer behind the beach huts is already a grassy print fabric so I've blanket stitched that down at the top to neaten the edge, and then filled it in with super tall fly stitches, using a single strand in a matching sandy colour and then two strands of green which mostly focus in areas where there were green grasses in the print underneath so the areas of green are all different on each card. 

Under that is a funny little trimming which has these loops on both sides that I picked up at the-stitchery in Lewes. It's quite a dainty trim and I've never seen one quite like it so it intrigued me and I thought the colours worked really nicely here. It's been used to edge the sand or shingle layer beneath the huts but it also gives a little bit of a boundary look or a picket fence perhaps to push the beach huts further away from the edge of the water. 

I've used seed stitch in two different colours for the sand itself, and then I had these little amber coloured beads which I've popped on for a glimmer of shine and to be my shells or shiny rocks. 

For the white horses rushing in to the shore I've used what's called a wonky ric rac - a brilliant trimming from a French supplier called Stephanoise, although also purchased from the-stitchery (as was the beach hut tape actually come to think of it). It's ideal for this as it gives different sizes of wave and it's just FuN!'

I've added some french knot bubbles to help blend it in, using both white stranded (two strands, three twist) cotton thread to create quite neat little knots, and then a single strand of metallic thread to make messy french knots (by not pulling the twists all of the way down to the fabric before pulling the needle through to leave bobbly loops) which are a bit more bubbly. I find that metallic thread doesn't particularly enjoy being twisted into neat knots so if you embrace the fact some may be bobblier than others, you can't go wrong. 

The final stitch run down for these cards is; fly stitch, running stitch, straight stitch, blanket stitch, french knots, couching, seed stitch and beading!

I'm really pleased with these. I also quite like the way they kind of fit together in different ways so the waves go up and down - so much fun taking photos of them in a different order.