LAVENDER FIELDS
LOSE YOURSELF IN THESE LUSCIOUS LAVENDER FIELDS AND LET YOURSELF RELAX WITH SOOTHING PAINTERLY STITCHES
Travel in stitches with Cheila Sousa’s picturesque landscape hoop
01 Transfer the design from the template onto the fabric using your preferred method. We used a heat-erasable pen for easy transfer, but since the markings will all be covered up with stitches you can use a pencil if preferred. Mount the design in a hoop, making sure the fabric is taut like a drum.
02 The bushes are all worked in French Knots using two strands of thread.
Use deep green, fern green, light green and caramel brown in different sections, referring to the main photo for colour placement. Make sure to fill in all the spaces so that the colour of the calico fabric isn’t showing.
03 Work the trunks of the trees using two strands of brown in vertical Long and Short Stitch, making sure that the trunks don’t get too thick in width. Afterwards, work the foliage of the trees using two strands of each colour and placing overlapping Straight Stitches in random vertical and diagonal directions. Use light green for the two larger trees and fern green for the smaller tree to create a variety of tree types.
04 Stitch the main dirt paths in the lower section of the hoop using two strands of brown and caramel brown, working Long and Short Stitches that follow the direction of the path. Use the brown more heavily on the sides of the path to help create the effect of a shadow while also adding some stitches randomly in the middle of the path to create texture. To help the design look more organic, don’t be afraid to overlap your stitches. Work the smaller dirt paths in a single line of Long and Short Stitch using two strands of brown.
05 To stitch the lavender fields, first work a sparse layer of vertical Straight Stitches using two strands of light green, adjusting the angle of each stitch. Work these stitches more densely around the outer edge of the design.
06 Add a layer of Straight Stitches using two strands of lavender purple, violet and pink. First, work a layer of random Straight Stitches using pink on each patch of flowers then do the same thing with the violet shade. Finally, work a more abundant layer of lavender purple. You want this to be used last, on top of the previous layers, to make sure it’s the most prominent colour.
07 For the base of the mountain, stitch a layer of Long and Short Stitch using two strands of navy blue, working from the base of the mountain towards the peak. Then, use two strands of deep blue and blend it with the previous stitches, overlapping when needed
and working in an upwards motion. In the top third of the mountain, work in layers using dark grey, graphite grey and light grey. Blend each colour from darkest to lightest, moving upwards and adding lighter details randomly about halfway up the mountain.
08 To make the other two mountains, use two strands of light blue for the left mountain and two strands of cornflower blue for the right. Work in diagonal Satin Stitch, following the slope of both mountains.
09 For the sky, begin by working the clouds in horizontal Long and Short Stitch, using two strands of lavender purple. Then, continue to scatter horizontal Straight Stitches in violet and pink. We did this in a fairly random manner, as these colours will help to blend the purples with the blues that will be added in the next step.
10 Fill the remaining sky with Long and Short Stitch using two strands. Begin with yellow, working it in between the two mountains on the left side of your hoop and then start to spread out using the yellow mixed with a bit of orange. Then, use baby blue to fill the bottom part of the sky, slowly blending with the sky blue as you work upwards, creating a gradual transition between the two shades. Add a few coral pink stitches throughout all parts of the sky, making it look more cohesive.
11 After you've finished embroidering, erase any transfer markings using a hair dryer or iron. Then, fill in any gaps in the threads using the appropriate matching colours.
12 To finish trim the excess fabric around the hoop, leaving about 4cm all around. Work running stitch all around the border of fabric and then pull to gather at the back. Finally, sew a circle of felt to the back of your embroidery using whipstitch.