Conjure up a cosy starry night with our new tapestry, Alcazar. This design has been a long time coming and we hope you like it.
A few years ago I started to think about our lovely Alhambra Stars. It’s a popular design, and appears regularly in the workshop to be made into a bag or used as the middle of a cushion. Perhaps Jolly Red stitchers would like to stitch a large starry cushion? There then followed many design sessions where I repeated extra squares of the Alhambra Stars design in all directions, enlarging the design that way. But it didn’t look right, as it was too busy.
Last year the penny finally dropped! The squares had to be larger, and the stars too – everything needed to be scaled up. Gradually, Alcazar started to emerge.
I’ve deliberately kept the name similar to Alhambra Stars too. Alhambra Stars came about after a holiday in Spain when I visited the Alhambra Palace (before the era of selfie sticks, those were the days!). Alcazar palace in Seville provided the new name for the new tapestry
We’ve had Alcazar made up as a cushion in our workshop for a few weeks, where it has been greatly admired by our visitors. The colours are lovely, and you can see how they stand out against the brown velvet backdrop.
For our cushion we used damson cotton for border and backing, with contrast teal piping. There are endless combinations you could choose for your own cushion, to make it work with your own interior.
Here’s our original Alhambra Stars, which we made into a bag with purple velvet.
Canvas only option We initially intended Alcazar to be a canvas only design, as it is perfect for using up wool from a stash. Use code word canvas in the discount box at the checkout if you need to order the canvas on its own, minus the wools from the kit. The price of the kit will be automatically halved and we’ll know to send you the canvas only.
We have been generous with the canvas border around Alcazar, so there’s space to extend the design if you need to.
You can choose a canvas only option for any of our complete kits, using the same code word, canvas.
Choosing a tapestry frame If you like to stitch using a frame, you definitely need to order a 24″ one, either a CF249 or a CF2412. What’s the difference between the two? Well, the width (24″) is the same on each, but with the CF2412 you see more of the design as you’re stitching. The side bars of the CF249 are 3″ shorter.
27″ frames? We set up our Alcazar canvas on a 27″ frame, which we haven’t officially listed yet on our website. Let us know if you’d like one and we’ll get some in. They won’t be much more expensive than the 24″ ones.
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