Today is just a short post, and happy new year to those of you on my side of the international date line.
I will begin posting my ATCs (every day OMG!) starting tomorrow, ie on the first US time, since it is my friend's idea and she is in the US.
Down to business.
I love Kim Thittichai's work and follow her adventures all the time. One of the things she has begun using is newspaper and scrap paper. If you have been reading my blog, you know I have been using newspaper as a great base for my artbook pages.
In December's issue of Workshop on the Web, Kim had a great article on making a collage using newspaper and so I had to have a go.
Here are some pieces of newspaper which I have gessoed, randomly painted and them stamped with my motif of leaves. (The stamp was made from a piece of wood with elastic bands glued with contact adhesive. I often do this with stamps that are composed of only lines)
Here is my collage assembled. The leaf at the bottom left has been free machines and applied. I decided I liked the rough edges, so I free machined the collage to a backing. I have also added a bit of foiling.
The background fabric is only pinned around the stretcher bars, because I intend to do some hand stitching to isolate the leaf and to integrate the collage into the background. I will also tone down some of my over enthusiastic foiling with some gesso and stitching.
I used a dark blue piece for the background and randomly put curvy bits of other blues over the top. The foreground is some unravelled yarn from a jumper and a little bit of green yarn. I put a few wisps of merino tops over the water.
I added tulle over the top and Stabilised with some wavy watery free motion stitiching.
In the final piece, above, I have done a little more free motion stitching over the foreground. Just this tiny bit was all that was required to define it.
All together, this page took a total of about a half an hour. So, it's not really a hard job. I don't do anything complicated and get these finsihed quick.
I have started a scrap journal. I often feel the need to have something to stitch that I can play with and where I don't have a particular end in mind.
I cut up some canvas to use as backing for the scrap collages.
Above, on the left, are the pieces for the papges. On the right, is the piece for the cover. As you can see, there is extra space between the front and back for the spine. At present, the pages are the same size as the front and back, but they will be cut own after they are finished.
This is the cover, in process.
Above, I have added scraps, in a basic landscape, which will be the theme for this first journal.
Next, I added just a bit of yarn in the sky and on some of the hills.
Finally, I pinned down some tulle (I think I must have cornered the market on tulle as I use it so much)
I did some free motion scribbling all over the piece. I used a multicoloured thread, with green, brown and orange in the bottom section and just "scribbled" (which is really all that is neccessary). Later, I used a multi toned thread in blue for the sky (not shown here)
And here is the finished piece for the cover. It is a very simple, abstract sort of landscape.
In the next post for this project, I will construct the cover and in further blogs, I will do the pages. Remember, this is an on the spot, make it up as you go along project, so I intend to surprise myself!!!
Well, this has taken me all day! but the video is finally uploading. In the video I will be making a journal cover using a fibre entrapment technique to create a gorgeous surface.
As this is my first video, I hope you will excuse the fact that I accidentally clicked stop when I was supposed to click go and lost the second half of the binding section. So I have embedded a you tube video about binding below to assist if you need it.
If you want to make your own butterbox journal, you can find the tutorial here on Gwen Diehn's blog, although I heard about it from Melanie Testa.
I can honestly say that this was not my best sewing and next week's tutorial will be a little simpler (sigh) and use a better camera. My web cam is OK for face to face and hands on stuff, but not for sewing and tiny stuff, so I have glossed over the sewing bits.
Zippered Journal
Materials
Journal - all measurements depend on your journal, so make sure you have it handy before you start
A piece of fabric and a piece of tulle at least 2 inches larger on all sides than the opened out journal for the background
As you can just see here, the opened out book has been traced in chalk on the background
A piece of heavy interfacing at least 1 inch larger on all sides than the opened out journal
Double fold bias binding (this was left over from quilting) and a length of zipper by the meter
And of course lots of yummy embellishing thread I have used a selection of black, white and silver is varying textures)
Adding fibres
Back your Background with the interfacing. (because we are going to free motion over the tulle, we need a firm foundation so we don't need to use a hoop.)
Add your fibres, I added a light amount of feathered merino tops first.
Finish by layering and pinning the tulle over the top (pin outside the main area of the background)
The tulle is not strictly neccessary, but it will make the journal more durable. Free Motion
Set up your machine for free motion, with the feed dogs down, a darning foot on and any other tools you use. I use a silicone mat to help with slip during free motion. Just remember to take it off when you put the feed dogs up, or the dogs will not work!
Take your time and just sew swirls and circles all over the tulle until the threads are anchored
Cutting
Next, cut your fabric to an half an inch larger all around than the opened out book
Also cut two pieces half the size of your fabric and fold them in about a third on the long side
these will form the inside of the front and back. Place them with the fold to the centre and raw edge underneath and staystitch
Adding Zipper
After making this a few times, I think it would be easier to put the binding on first, then the zip, however, in the video I did it the other way around.
Using a zipper foot, start stitching the zip at the top right of the spine, and follow around, snipping at the corners to fit. Stitch only half way around, to the bottom right of the spine.
Unzip the zip, leaving the two sides in place and flip the unsewn half to the other side of the cover. Sew in place the same way
Slide the zipper head back into place, and bar tack each end of the zipper. Binding
Open the zipper out again and sew the binding tape to the inside edge of the cover, folding to form a mitre at the corners
fold and overlap the ends before stitching down.
Open out the cover and fold the binding to the front
Secure either by hand or using a straight stitch, folding the corners into mitres as you go
Add a journal, zip it up and off you go!
I have not had time to write detailed notes and put a PDF together for you, but will during the next week. I just hope my friend, whom this was made for likes it. It is her birthday today!
Without further adieu, here is the tutorial
And here is a short video on binding to help you if you need it.
This is from daystyle designs which is an excellent site.
Don't forget to check in tomorrow for how to use up all those scraps of thread and get some new fabric out of it!
One of the things I am working on is increasing my repertoire of FME stitches.
I have worked up some samples. I have used different colour thread in the top and bottom to help show the stitches in all their glory. The first sample is me fiddling round with the bobbin tension, to see how the stitches will turn out.
Next, is the first stitch, feather stitch.
This is made by tightening the upper tension and having a loose lower tension. when done in a circular fashion, the bobbin thread shows like red feathers. I am looking forward to doing some of this with metallic in the bobbin.
The next stitch is closely related - Whip stitch
Like feather stitch, the upper tension is tight and the lower is loose (perhaps not quite as loose) and when you stitch in a straight line or a very smooth curve, the bobbin thread wraps around the upper thread.
The next stitch is my favourite, probably because it is so easy to do, moss stitch
Moss stitch is basically using a tight or balanced lower tension and loosening the upper tension almost to zero and scribbling in little circles. If you do it on wash away stabilizer, it will stand on it's own and look like.....moss.
The next stitch is really a set of stitches and is related to moss stitch and to pebble quilting. It is called garnet stitch
This is just a scribble, really, but it is used a lot in landscapes to fill in and change colours
This is a heavier one
Bull's eye is just what it says and is used for putting dots for things like..... eyes!
Seed stitch, (this sample is not quite correct) is a circle with a tail
Spray stitch is the same, but has more than one tail.
I also try do do a bit of scribbling each time I sit down, so here is some of my scribbling
