Lady with lipstick

A retro-style portrait from Lanarte's Romantic Collection: the face and shoulders are worked in half cross stitch, while full cross stitch gives body to the hat, the gloves and the feather boa. Moving between the two techniques creates the soft shading of the skin, yet the work stays straightforward to follow on the large-square chart.

The kit comes with fabric, threads and needle: you only need a hoop or frame and a pair of small scissors, plus good light, as 12-thread linen is normally stitched over two threads. Given its size, the finished piece works well framed as a picture; the frame is not included.