Canvases will be returning, so please sign up for restock notifications. This helps the Penny Linn team plan how many canvases to order, and you’ll be the first to know when they come back in stock!

Welcome to the next post in my series detailing how I’m stitching my Cape Cod Christmas Village! I’ll be diving into the details, materials, and techniques I used. Please reach out if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer. Whether you follow my stitch guides exactly or use them as loose inspiration, I hope you enjoy stitching this series as much as I did!

Greenery

Admittedly I’ve been hoarding my stash of Straw Silk (R.I.P.) for these canvases, but I’ve started branching out into other more accessible threads, as well!

I mix and match colors throughout my village, so this is a great way to use up thread from your stash, as well.

Below are some close up images that should help demonstrate the technique.

When using a ribbon-style thread, I randomly place long stitches to mimic the effect of leaves and pine needles. There’s a little trial and error involved—I just keep going (and rip back if needed) until I feel like it looks right. Channel the movement of the object: orient your stitches to sweep around the circle for wreaths, and the follow the bough of a garland around the door frame.

Bouclé is more forgiving than a ribbon-style thread like Straw Silk or Soie Tissée. As long as you use long stitches instead of tent stitches, you really can’t mess it up. The texture of the thread does all the heavy lifting here!

Bows and accents

Amongst the wreaths, trees, and garlands, I’ve added lights, bows, and baubles. Here’s how I stitched them.

I use cross stitches for the lights and baubles inside the greenery to give them a bit more oomph than a tent stitch.

I also want to share a stitch guide for how I created the larger bows, like on my Café and Candy Store. The gist is using long diagonal or straight stitches that follow the lines of the bow.

Here’s an example, animated to show how the order of how I laid my stitches.

P.S. I also think these Soie Tissée Metals (Christmas Collection) would be fun to use as greenery and bows in this series.

When my next batch of Christmas Village canvases arrive, I’ll attempt to film a video of me stitching the greenery, so you can see firsthand how I approach it.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or reach out on Instagram @bluehydrangeastitcher. If you used any of these techniques, I would love to see photos!

Blue Hydrangea Stitcher canvases are available to shop at pennylinn.com.

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When the Penny Linn team asked the collective to create exclusive designs to celebrate their new store opening, I knew I had to imagine my golden retrievers into some classic NYC scenes.

This canvas is among my all-time favorite designs, inspired by this iconic Dustin Hoffman scene:

Thread recommendations

As always, I encourage you to take these as a suggestion, not an expectation! Work from your stash and what you have available at your LNS.

Decorative stitches

Now that we have threads established, let’s dive into how I stitched the piece.

For the grass, I used a double diagonal Parisian stitch in Soie Tissée.

For the dog, I used an interlocking gobelin (aka encroaching gobelin), 1 over 2.

For the road, I used alternating skip tent stitch (aka T-stitch) in Essentials.

For the taxi bumper and taxi window, I used satin stitch in Neon Rays and Radiance, respectively.

For the border, I used mosaic stitch.

Beaded letters

Truthfully, I improvised this. Typically you would use size 14 beads on 18 mesh canvases, but I sized up to 11 since I wanted bold, chunky letters.

Beading technique

Rather than placing one bead at a time using continental stitch, I strung a few beads on my thread at a time and placed them in lines, matching the lines of the letters.

I then came back in and lassoed a number of the individual beads here and there to keep them secure to the canvas—usually 1 or 2 lassos per 3 or 4 beads strung in a line.

You’ll have to get a little creative with the curved letters. I used lassos to strategically manipulate the beads in the direction I wanted them to lay. It took a little trial and error, but became more seamless once I got the hang of it.

Here’s a close up of my letters, so you can see how I approached it:

Here’s an excellent video from the queen Lauren DeVous (aka @SequinLalaStitches) on how to lasso your beads!

Check out Lauren’s Substack.

P.S. The perk of writing a stitch guide is realizing you missed three stitches in your sidewalk! Thankfully I caught this before I sent it off to be finished. Phew. 😅

P.P.S. The plan is to have it finished as a standup by The Canvas Craftsman, if you’re wondering!

Please let me know if you have any questions. If you used any of these techniques, I would love to see photos! Feel free to add a comment below, or tag me on Instagram @bluehydrangeastitcher.

Blue Hydrangea Stitcher canvases are available to shop at pennylinn.com.

If you’d like to receive these stitch guides by email, please feel free to subscribe.

Subscribe now

Canvases will be returning, so please sign up for restock notifications. This helps the Penny Linn team plan how many canvases to order, and you’ll be the first to know when they come back in stock!

Welcome to the next post in my series detailing how I’m stitching my Cape Cod Christmas Village! I’ll be diving into the details, materials, and techniques I used. Please reach out if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer. Whether you follow my stitch guides exactly or use them as loose inspiration, I hope you enjoy stitching this series as much as I did!

Let’s look closer at the roofs.

This is a relatively simple stitch guide, but I think the technique creates a polished and subtle effect.

I used a few shades of either Planet Earth Silk, Milan, or Silk & Ivory thread across the roofs in my series. You’ll need white, and usually two or three shades of gray. I like to use a dark charcoal gray for the darkest shade, instead of a pure black.

This is a great use of stash thread!

Stitch recommendations

Across the roof lines, I alternate my direction of tent stitches to make clean diagonal lines, coming to a point at the top.

For flat expanses of roof, I use a double brick stitch. H/t to my bestie Emily who gave me the idea when she used this stitch on her book store!

Here’s how the stitches come together in my finished pieces.

My bookstore uses double brick stitch, as well as the alternating direction of tent stitches on the top of the dormers.

My candy shop and stationery shop both use alternating directions of tent stitch to make a clean pointed roof line. Notice how I mirror that on the dormered sides of the stationery shop, as well.

My creamery uses double brick stitch. I used long stitches in Neon Rays N81 (Nutmeg) for the top of the cupola and weathervane.

Please let me know if you have any questions. If you used any of these techniques, I would love to see photos! Feel free to add a comment below, or tag me on Instagram @bluehydrangeastitcher.

Blue Hydrangea Stitcher canvases are available to shop at pennylinn.com.

Which stitch guide would you like to see next?

If you’d like to receive these stitch guides by email, please feel free to subscribe.

Subscribe now

Canvases will be returning, so please sign up for restock notifications. This helps the Penny Linn team plan how many canvases to order, and you’ll be the first to know when they come back in stock!

Welcome to the first post in my series detailing how I’m stitching my Cape Cod Christmas Village! I’ll be diving into the details, materials, and techniques I used. Please reach out if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer. Whether you follow my stitch guides exactly or use them as loose inspiration, I hope you enjoy stitching this series as much as I did!

Let’s start with the siding.

The most iconic element of the architecture on Cape Cod and the Islands (and, well, many towns along the coast of New England) is the cedar shingle siding. When exposed to the sea air, it weathers to the beautiful gray we all know and love.

I mix and match from the following three stitches using different shades of gray Splendor to give each piece its own character, and provide subtle variation across the entire village.

Stitch recommendations

Using six strands of Splendor, I use straight stitches to mimic shingle and clapboard siding.

Here’s how the stitches come together in my finished pieces.

My stationery shop uses shingle siding no.1 on the main part of the building. On the dormered sides, I used more long straight stitches following the path of the roof line.

My candy shop uses shingle siding no.2 on the top of the building, and a shorter clapboard siding on the bottom.

My bookstore uses clapboard siding.

My creamery uses shingle siding no.2 and my café and fish market both use clapboard siding.

Please let me know if you have any questions. If you used any of these techniques, I would love to see photos! Feel free to add a comment below, or tag me on Instagram @bluehydrangeastitcher.

Blue Hydrangea Stitcher canvases are available to shop at pennylinn.com.

Next stitch guide coming up: roofs!

If you’d like to receive these stitch guides by email, please feel free to subscribe.

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