Behind the Scenes: The Making of Wooded Trail with Richly Stitched Landscape Embroidery Author Cassandra Dias

April 1, 2026

Behind the Scenes: The Making of Wooded Trail from Richly Stitched Landscape Embroidery

By Author Cassandra Dias

When coming up with project ideas for my book, Richly Stitched Landscape Embroidery, I knew I wanted to share with readers some places that are special to me. I’m really inspired by the landscapes found here in California, so incorporating embroidery projects that showcase the beauty of my home state was a must.

One of my favorite projects in the book, “Wooded Trail", is based on a photo my husband took at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden several years ago. I often visited this place as a kid with my family, and the photo the embroidery is inspired by is from a day on which he and I brought our own kids. Seeing them walking the same trails I had when I was a child was really amazing.

I’ve found that creating scenes I have good memories from, or nostalgic feelings towards, really makes the stitching process so much more enjoyable. For that reason, I always try to make sure I have a positive connection to the subject matter of my pieces in one way or another.

Since there was so much green and brown in my reference photo, I knew that having a wide range of those colors to work with, and creating various textures to differentiate the trees from the bushes, would be important.

By layering several basic stitch types, making directional changes with those stitches (especially in the background foliage), and building the depth with shadows and highlights, I was able to develop the sense of realism I had aimed to achieve.

I documented each step I took along the way as I created “Wooded Trail”. As I worked on a section, I would write down what color I was using, which stitches I had just made, where I placed those stitches, and then photographed each step, so readers would be able to follow along with my process to make this scene themselves!

Being able to share my knowledge of the thread painting technique, and teach readers how to create beautiful landscape embroideries with it is such an honor, and I can’t wait to see the art my book helps others produce!