Positano, Italy

A Positano alley opening onto the sea, with pink façades, branches laden with lemons, bougainvillea and a little red three-wheeler in the foreground. It is worked in counted cross stitch from the chart; the outlines of the balconies and of the houses climbing the hillside are finished with backstitch, shown separately on the chart sheets.

The fabric comes cut with a generous margin around the design, handy for mounting on a frame and for framing later. The kit provides fabric, threads, needles and chart: you only need small scissors, a hoop or frame and, at the end, a picture frame, which is not included. With so many shades in the sky and sea, it helps to work area by area, one colour at a time.