How it's made

Dye Layer Stitch

Each landscape moves through four stages, all worked by hand in the studio.

Stack of hand-dyed double gauze in periwinkle, cornflower blue, sage green and plum, on the grass
Hand-dyed cotton double gauze
A sunset landscape in progress on the cutting table, raw-edge layers zigzagged down, with seven spools of rayon thread, scissors and a ruler
Work in progress: raw-edge layers, each stitched in its own thread

  1. Dye the cloth

    White cotton and linen go into small batches of fiber-reactive dye, so the color lives in the fiber rather than on the surface. Read the dye notes.

  2. Cut the ridges

    Each mountain layer is traced onto fusible interfacing, fused to its fabric, and the composition is refined before anything is fixed in place.

  3. Stitch it down

    Layers are applied one at a time, back to front, alternating straight and zigzag stitches.

  4. Embellish & finish

    Couched variegated thread for clouds, wool roving under tulle, sequin mesh, French knots on the closest ridges. Each piece is then squared and finished for hanging or framing.

RAW EDGE

A scant ⅛″ edge stitched down flat. It softens over time for a textural, painterly finish.

TURNED EDGE

A ¼″ allowance pressed under before stitching, for a crisp, classic appliqué edge.

Every technique in the pattern is in the Stitch Library.

Video

In the studio

Process reels on Instagram, and earlier sew-along videos on YouTube.

REELDye day: double gauze in the washer

Watch white cloth turn Blue Ridge blue.

 REELRidge by ridge: a landscape in 60 seconds

Seven layers, glued, stitched, trimmed.

 YOUTUBE · 2021Sew-along, part 1: cutting the pattern

Simplicity 1618, the cold-shoulder top: reading and cutting the pattern.

 YOUTUBE · 2021Sew-along, part 2: French seams

Clean, enclosed seams without a serger.