Femme avec chapeau

A quiet portrait: the face of a young woman shaded by a wide straw hat trimmed with roses, worked in soft gradations of skin tones and pale yellow. The fine linen suits this kind of shading, as you stitch over two threads with one strand of stranded cotton and the crosses stay small and crisp.

It is a fair-sized piece, best suited to anyone who has already completed a few cross stitch projects and wants to try a figurative subject. Alongside the kit, a hoop or frame and a small pair of scissors are useful; a picture frame is not included, though the finished work is made for framing.