Camber Sands Stitchscape

 

I absolutely LOVE this Stitchscape!! I am beyond chuffed with how it turned out, and I've spent all afternoon photographing it to try and get the best angles. There are just so many nooks and crannies that have been created (not all intentionally), and the combination of everything is quite realistic I think. 

Initially I was feeling a bit ambitious. I purchased a 25cm hoop on a whim at some point before the first lockdown, but wasn't really sure what to do with it as my biggest Stitchscapes have been around the 20cm mark, either stitched in a square hoop (which makes it slightly bigger) or the usual circular shape. It doesn't seem much to just add a couple of centimetres on to the diameter, but when you're hand stitching it, those extra centimetres all add up!

But in September last year my family had a 'staycation'. There was too much risk actually travelling anywhere, even staying somewhere else in the UK. We instead decided to visit places that we hadn't visited before/for a while in our local area, all within about 2 hours drive from the house, and one of my requests was to go to Camber Sands and Dungeness. I'd never been to either and it was fascinating how different the two beaches were!! Dungeness was all pebbles, eerie but quaint little shacks, big lighthouses, the nuclear power station (elephant in the room) and a miniature steam railway station. I always go prepared to beaches with bags to bring back any finds and the shells we were picking up were all fairly chunky, dark coloured ones with defined ridges which I think are called Common Cockles. 

Camber was completely different!! Just a few miles round the coast and it was a long stretch of sand which just got bigger and bigger as the tide went out. It was just sand, mind you, there were no fun rock pools or anything, but here the shells were smaller, more delicate and lighter in colour. As well as the Cockle shells (ridged ones) there were beautifully coloured smooth triangular shells (Banded Wedge Shells?) which had stripes in peach, purple, soft yellow and cream. I must admit I enjoyed shell hunting more on this beach than the other. 

Because of the scale of the Dungeness shells I thought they would fit perfectly with the size of the 25cm hoop so I set to my stash, pulling out beachy fabrics that worked together. The shell above was a one off find in Camber, the colours are absolutely stunning with those purples, and it absolutely had to be included. This then helped to inform the colours of the fabrics I chose, some of which have a purplish hue to them, like the batik it's sitting on, and the purple sky fabric with the birds. 

There are several ways to stitch on shells, depending on their shape and size. I do have a Youtube tutorial about stitching on shells, which features the initial layout and stitching of these shells, as well as some fabric placement for a much smaller hoop I made also using Camber shells. If you would be interested in watching (I warn you, it's long!) please click here, or visit the tutorials section on my website. Regardless of which way works best for your shell, if you can match the thread colour as closely as possible, most people don't notice the threads. I've had several queries as to whether I've glued these down, and some disbelief (until I pointed out the visible stitching) when I said they were all embroidered only. 

I loved these broken shells and the way they created little caves for me to fill with this fantastic fancy yarn, pieces of dyed scrim or silk throwsters waste. The combinations work really well and the silk waste is fantastic as it's got a mind of its own and just goes everywhere! The yarn itself is couched down leaving huge loops before the next couch so it moves organically. I've bounced it backwards and forwards over the broken sides of the above shell so it builds up layers and looks like it's almost frothing out of the hole. Further out on the sand I've stretch the knitted yarn area to make it flat and wide, like that seaweedy stuff that covers rocks and is soft and squidgy to walk on. 

I've deliberately put some of the silk waste in the lapping water edge to emulate the seaweed that floats and gets caught around your legs when you go paddling. It just wanders backwards and forwards with the tide until it catches on something. 

The waves have been created with rows of blanket stitch, which is an idea I played around with last April with this Rockpool inspired sampler. I wanted something quite lacy and delicate, so worked a few rows of back stitch to create an even base to work from, then worked different length blanket stitches between each of the back stitches. You have to be a bit careful with the layering of these so the first blanket stitch layer to work is the one furthest up the beach so that the next few layers sit on top. 

I've also added a little bit of discreet sparkle with some white beads just on the edge of the white fabric, where the sea horses turn to blue waves. It's not there to be glitzy and that noticeable, but more like bubbles that catch the light where the water draws itself up to have another go at the sand. The blue water is also fairly discreet as all of the attention is on the shells so I've used a DMC silky yarn which has fantastic lustre without showing off - you can just see the gorgeous effect it has in the below picture where a tiny ray of sunshine has crept in.

The layers further up have also been treated quite simply (although they still took a bit of time!!). The Paisley batik layer with its lovely purple sections has a single strand of back stitch around the pattern edges, apart from in a couple of areas where there was a long straight-ish line, where I have worked a whip stitch to create a bolder statement.

The layer above is a brilliant Japanese print with golden print marks. It's actually lots of neutral flowers but the smaller strip reminded me of sand dunes and the ripples you get in the sand. I've filled each layer with single strand straight stitches, working with the shapes to curve round and give movement. Where the fabric is lighter underneath, I've used a lighter thread and in some areas I've added a discreet pink colour between the lines to match the colour in the shells. 

The plain blue layer above that has a single strand of running stitch worked in rows just to give texture, the fabulous purple sky fabric uses a variegated blue/cream DMC thread in the lighter creamier areas, and then a pinkish purple in the darker areas - the lines stitched with stem stitch. The birds in this section are already there in the print but I've picked them out with straight stitches and worked as delicately as possible with a dark navy. Another variegated thread has been used to work french knots on the fabric edge which balances a little bit of dark at the top. The final layer is a space dyed blue and has been worked with single stranded seed stitch in two colours to match the colours underneath. 

As well as all of the fun green bits that have been stitched to the bottom there are satin stitch pebbles covering the pebbles in the printed sand fabric and, the fabric edge for this one, although really broken up has been edged with french knots. The plain sandy fabric has been textured with two strand seed stitches and edged with a super skinny leatherette cord. 

I've used lots of different types and colours of beads - some little brown tube beads, shiny seed beads in various colours and sizes and matt tall beads which came in one of those fantastic assorted tubes. I would really like some more of them but I don't know what they are called to search for on their own. 

Barnacle type 'things' have been stitched on using a bullion knot flower technique. You start with a french knot at the centre, then work two little bullions around it, and more bullions around those....until it's the size you want. I kept mine fairly little for scale. 

I don't know that I'd approach another hoop this big anytime soon, I'm very fond of my 15cm ones or smaller because they give more of an instant satisfaction. But I can't deny that this is one of my favourites and it has so many holiday memories stitched into it as well! There are many more shells left too so it could get quite shelley in my future whilst I'm feeling inspired by them!

Wouldn't you just love to be sitting somewhere near the below photo in the summer? Frothy waves lapping at your feet?

The stitch run down for this one is; back stitch, seed stitch, french knots, stem stitch, fly stitch, straight stitch, couching, running stitch, bullion knots, whip stitch, beading, satin stitch and blanket stitch. 

Frozen Landscape

 

I am desperately waiting for it to snow! Sadly, being in the 'balmy' South of England, we seem to miss the snow most of the time and everyone else gets all of the fun. We were trying to remember when we last had significant snow, enough to stop everyone in their tracks for more than a morning, and we think it was about 5 years ago? Maybe? Time plays tricks on you and as 2020 was a bit of a write off, it may have been longer since a decent snowfall.

So far this year we've just had a couple of frosty mornings and on the first big frost I was out there, all wrapped up, snapping photos to my hearts content. I love it when the frost is so thick it looks like everything has been dusted with sugar crystals. Even the smallest thread is suddenly enshrouded in a mystical crystal cape and solidified for just a moment in time. Because it's been so mild recently we've got quite a few flowers still going in the garden, as well as some super keen Daffodils that have been flowering for the last two weeks already!!

The seed heads have been left up over winter for the birds to pick over, like Sunflower heads, Poppies and Fennel which all of the small birds comb over. We do feed our feathered friends extra over the winter but it's just so easy to leave lots of your seed heads for them to forage and they look so pretty on mornings like this. The frozen spiderwebs were also an absolute marvel! You could really see the patterns woven into them and they looked like a finely worked lace. 

You could imagine a frosty Stitchscape inspired by one of these - covered in beads for that crystalized, slightly sparkly effect!

Mini Blue Green Hoop

I couldn't come up with a fun name for this little Stitchscape (any ideas?), it was just a fun little piece I started at some point last year intended to be a lunch break filler at work. The work pattern has been all over the place in the last few months/year with so much catching up to do from the first lockdown that I didn't get much of a lunch break as I mostly worked through them and then we had lockdown 2.0, at which point I started working from home, where lunch breaks also don't really happen as much, and then it was Christmas... routines are all out of the window at this point and we take each day as it comes. The only full and proper plans we make are on Zoom (online) as now we are in lockdown 3.0 any outdoor plans are all cancelled anyway!

But, I am still feeling very inspired following on from my Candy Mountain Stitchscape and this poor unfinished hoop (one of many started last year and still waiting to be finished off!) caught my eye. I had only stitched a couple of leaf shapes and nothing else so it was essentially a new hoop. The fabrics are all scraps leftover from putting together my Bluebell Garden Stitchscape kits so they aren't new and, to be honest, I haven't changed the treatment of them much either but it's amazing how they all still look so different. 

Because it had been so long I'd put away the thread colour I was using for the blue leaf batik but I think this actually worked in my favour. I used up the thread on the needle, leaving some gaps to stitch in more colours so it kind of washes light around the hill shape, with the dark concentrated on one side. It's not a fancy satin stitch and each leaf shape was started with a centre line then more stitches worked either side (a great way to keep your stitches in an even direction - it works on circles too). 

The top two layers were also treated very simply (you don't want to go too mad in a tiny hoop) with the top piece using a matching single strand of thread to work straight stitches across each block shape (they aren't close enough for satin stitch) and one long stitch over each line. The same thread was used for two strand, three twist french knots covering that top edge, and some little kisses into the calico above. 

The layer underneath has had the block shapes edged with a whipped back stitch (working a row of back stitch first then going over with whip stitch) and then a single strand running stitch just along the top of the fabric to help pin that down ready for bullion knots on the edge. I could have added additional textures to this piece; continued the running stitch down to cover all of the green sections or seed stitch...but I think the simple treatment has worked well here as it contrasts with the mass of pattern going on below. 

The zesty green layer also initially just had back stitch in a single strand around the block shapes and I was going to leave it there but then I found a tiny bit of trimming in my drawer which I wanted to use. Once it was stitched on though it stood out like a sore thumb and I toyed with the idea of taking it off again but decided to try blending it in, adding zesty green french knots along the length of the trimming and down into the fabric layer getting smaller as it went down - to look like rows of hedges or trodden pathways. It still stood out a bit so I then added in some more french knots in the same colour I'd worked the back stitches in to bleed that colour up into the trimming and I actually really like how it's turned out!

The bottom batik layer which, when originally used, was inspiring thoughts of Bluebells now reminded me of water where the lines of the pattern had chanced to be. The big blue circles I worked a rough satin stitch, alternating the direction of the stitches in each circle (something you may not have considered - they look different if you do them all the same direction or switch them up as the light bounces off the thread differently), and then a stem stitch along the visible straight lines of the 'wave'.

I was still thinking about those sequins The Mother bought me for Christmas that I used on the Candy Mountain Stitchscape and the different colours it had. As well as the blue undertone one I used before, there was a green/gold undertone one which would be absolutely perfect!! So both of them were scattered around the edge of my main river section and stitched down using different tinted clear beads at the centre. 

The sequins didn't quite gel in their surroundings on their own but I didn't want anything big and flashy, or very tall, so ended up adding little straight stitch stems around them to try and blend them into their surrounds (oily iridescent sequins don't necessarily fit into a typical landscape!). 

It worked but it was still missing something so I started adding little two strand, one twist french knots around them and the knots started creeping up some of the stems like bindweed which looked really lovely! The thread itself is one of the variegated DMC threads I used in the last Stitchscape so where I have worked along the two rows of sequin flowers, the colours also gradient across which is really pretty. 

The knots have helped to make a distinction of almost two banks along the water's edge, with blue bubbles of the rushing stream flowing between the two. There is quite a lot of knotwork between the blending of the little flowers and the green hill knots but that's the thing about not planning before you start. If I'd planned it this would have turned out completely differently!

I love that these two Stitchscapes clash and meld so well together. They are completely different but look almost part of the same collection thanks to the sequins. The colours are the perfect compliment (quite literally) to each other! 

So, my little 10cm blue hoop stitch run down is; french knots, straight stitch, bullion knots, running stitch, whip stitch, satin stitch, back stitch, couching, stem stitch. Really simple but so effective!

Do you prefer one hoop over the other?

Candy Mountain Stitchscape

 

Happy New Year!! I hope you were all able to have a lovely festive period over Christmas and New Year? Ours was much quieter than usual due to the semi lockdown restrictions but it was happy and food/gift filled nonetheless. Next year we'll have to have huge celebrations with all of the family and friends we weren't able to see this time around and perhaps a Christmas in July to receive the presents we couldn't be given!

I was very lucky as I was given some truly wonderful presents and feel very spoilt. My gorgeous other half bought me a big pack of mixed Kaffe Fassett cotton squares! The colours and range of prints is astounding and it was all crying out to be turned into a Stitchscape. 

A few of them had this kind of candy colour theme so whilst I was feeling inspired I chose three of the prints and combined them with the green leaf fabric I already had in my stash and a lovely yellow/orange batik which was part of a fat quarter pack I also received from a certain someone. (He really outdid himself this year!! Thank you honey <3)

There's a lot going on in this piece and so many colours! I've tried to keep it all combined by re-using the same colours throughout the layers to tie it all together. It's not a colour palette I would normally go for in a Stitchscape but I love the freedom of this slightly more abstract landscape - sometimes you can't get bogged down in realistic looking scenes and need to just cast all of those hang ups aside and have fun! 

I haven't really done anything too dramatic with the fabric prints themselves as if you are going to splash out on Kaffe Fassett fabrics you should honour and respect it I think, his work doesn't need much improvement. 

Where I can I've also kept other layers quite simple so the batik at the top just has single strand back stitch following the lines (using a variegated thread for a bit of interest and to match the colour wash in the fabric) and the leaf fabric has big fly stitches following the leaf veins in the print, with whip stitch outlining the edges. I have mixed up the colours a bit on this and changed the line thickness (a great trick for making things seem bigger or smaller) to match the thickness of the lines underneath. 

Looking at this layer close up you can see the white lines that I was going over where they are slightly more curved than my thread line, but weirdly you can't see these from afar and I'm not too worried about being able to see them, they are a part of the fabric after all. 

For the Fassett fabrics themselves, this fabulous big floral number didn't need much at all, and some areas or lines I haven't stitched on, just picked out certain colours and sections. The big pink flower became more and more sun-like as I stitched it and does now look like a rather stylised sun peeping out from behind the hill ridge line. It wasn't consciously intentional but I wonder now whether my sub-conscious just does these things for me? 

I have roughly satin stitched (wouldn't win any awards at a needle-painting ceremony) the pink petals, following the lines and colours of the pink print underneath. Where the yellow french knots are there are areas of yellow print underneath so I have just filled those and made it look slightly more like pollen. 

The yellow/orange flower on the left has a similar satin stitch treatment just to make that layer the same depth and I added some stem stitch to the green highlights, along with some off-white stem stitch later on as I had some leftover on my needle from the bullion flowers (waste not want not!).

I left the striped layer almost until last as I really wasn't sure what to do with it. It's beautiful but so many options! I could have filled in each of the spiky layers, or gone around the spiky layers, or made a fly stitch from the point of the spikes downwards.... In the end I plumped for a much simpler whip stitch along some of the straight and obvious print lines, with a few of the lines left as back stitch for a contrast in texture. As I was planning knot flowers over the top there wasn't a lot of point going wild because whatever I did would be covered up and I think I hit the right note with this layer. I made the edge of it slightly more fun and exciting with a different variegated DMC thread for french knots - the colours matched the general theme of pinks and yellows really well which I was rather chuffed about.

 

And the final Fassett layer, how gorgeous is that?! It was a similar flower type as the pink one above but I didn't want to repeat what I had done. I did fill the centre of the flower with more french knots, again following the line of the pattern and, now I look at it, it could maybe represent fiery water with the pink flower sun centre reflected? With a bit of artist's prerogative and an imaginative eye maybe?

The petals I just worked straight stitches into so it's a bit choppier than the satin stitch which has given a different texture (and maybe implies watery ripples? I'm going to go for this water idea now I've thought about it!) and on top of that I've stitched these truly beautiful oily iridescent flower sequins that The Mother gave me for Christmas. The pack of sequins itself has lots of different coloured undertones, three of which I've used here. There's one that gleams a sort of light blue/pink/purple, one that has a red/orange/deep pink mixture and one that's more of a yellow/gold depending on the light. They are really lovely and I just can't stop looking at them. 

Because of the blue sequins I've added tiny little specks of a blue thread, just one strand, one twist french knots scattered here and there to help tie those in. The sequins looked a little bit lonely among the straight stitches so I've added more french knots in another variegated thread which goes from dark orange to pale yellow and fits in so well, providing light and dark across the layer. 

The top of this layer has been edged with several strands of the two orange threads used for the straight stitches. I think it was three strands of the darker orange and two of the lighter orange, completely stripped apart and then put back together so they were blended, then folded in half for thickness and couched down. 

The bullion flowers were all started with just the dark green stem stitches providing a base, then an off-white used for the flowers themselves. This was quite an important colour I think as there are just so many colours and patterns going on in this hoop, a break from it all is needed for the eyes and was possibly the only colour that would stand out whilst fitting in (ie; a black would stand out, but not fit in if you see what I mean?). They didn't look quite right on their own though so I have used the slightly more zesty green from the leaf layer and worked little pistil stitches among the bullions to help colour balance the greens. 

I'm rather chuffed with how this has turned out and hope I have done Kaffe's designs justice! There are always so many options for stitches and textures with this type of fabric print, would you have done anything differently?

So the stitch run down for this piece! I have used; back stitch, whip stitch, satin stitch, french knots, bullion knots, stem stitch, fly stitch, pistil stitch, straight stitch, couching and beading (if you can count using beads to hold the centre of the sequins in place).