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Create a STUNNING Unique Journal Cover with Slow Stitching!
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Jan 20, 2025
Learn how to create a stunning journal cover with slow stitching! In this relaxing and therapeutic tutorial series, I will take you through a step-by-step guide on how to create a beautiful and unique journal cover using slow stitching techniques. From choosing the perfect fabric to adding the final touches, I will show you how to create a one-of-a-kind journal cover that reflects your personal style. Whether you're a seasoned crafter or a beginner, this video series is perfect for anyone looking to unwind and get creative. So grab your needle and thread, and let's get started on this slow stitching journey! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If you enjoy crafting my blog is full of great ideas and tutorials. Plus if you subscribe you gain access to my free resource library, which includes a home crafts e-book, planners and much more, and get to hear about my latest projects first. Take a look at https://christines-crafts.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
View Video Transcript
0:01
hi did you know that you can take any
0:05
notebook any boring notebook and turn it
0:08
into a fabulous notebook or Journal you
0:11
just need to make it a little cover and
0:13
what I'm going to show you is how to do
0:15
that using a technique called slow
0:17
stitching that's quite a modern idea but
0:20
it's based on a very old principle which
0:23
is start sewing enjoy the process
0:27
embrace it and really really
0:30
do the project to enjoy the project not
0:33
really thinking about the end result
0:35
necessarily obviously you make something
0:37
beautiful and creative but it's about
0:39
the process it's about slowing down
0:43
relaxing and
0:45
enjoying so here's a couple of examples
0:48
of ones that I've done this is my diary
0:50
for this year nice little animals on the
0:53
back a bit more subtle on the
0:55
front and a notebook that I've made
0:58
that's for journaling in okay so as you
1:02
can see quite different and the one that
1:05
we're going to work on is very different
1:08
again so the idea is that we're going to
1:12
have two or three episodes of this where
1:14
we're going to work together on a
1:16
journal so I'm going to show you what
1:19
I'm doing and then each week we're going
1:21
to check back in see where we're up to
1:24
and keep working on it so that we can
1:26
enjoy the process together that's the
1:29
idea
1:30
so what I will do now is we'll transfer
1:33
over to the desk and I will show you how
1:36
to get started what you need to do and
1:40
by the end of this you'll be making your
1:43
own journal cover you'll be using your
1:45
own creativity and making it using what
1:48
you've got available I mean this is
1:51
great for beginners and it's great you
1:53
don't need loads of equipment if you've
1:54
got needle and thread and a few bits of
1:57
fabric you're with me so let's get
2:01
started I've got this very simple
2:03
notebook that I picked up in the sale um
2:07
and it's just ideal for journaling but
2:09
I'd like it to be a little bit fancier
2:11
so you're going to need some fabric now
2:14
old sheets pillow cases just some cotton
2:17
you just need something thin and it
2:19
doesn't need to be any specially good
2:21
quality and we're going to cut it so
2:23
that it fits all the way around your
2:25
book when it's open and pressed flat so
2:28
the measurements I'm going to give you
2:30
are going to be your notebook plus so
2:34
you want the height of your book plus 1
2:37
and 1/2
2:38
in and then for the width of your fabric
2:41
you want the book width plus 1 and 1/2
2:43
in but remember to flatten the book
2:45
right down because we're going to place
2:47
it in the middle eventually and you want
2:49
it to wrap right round and have the
2:51
spare that you need for your seams so
2:54
what you've done there is cut out a
2:56
piece that is your Journal
2:58
cover now we're all also going to make a
3:00
piece that's its lining and that makes
3:02
the pockets cuz it's a slip cover and
3:05
this one wants to be the height of the
3:07
book plus one and A2 in the same as the
3:09
other piece but for its width you want
3:12
the width of the cover plus 8 in because
3:15
they're going to make your pockets those
3:17
extra inches so once you've cut those
3:20
out you've got the fabric you need and
3:23
what we're going to do is think about
3:25
our slow stitching on the actual cover
3:29
so as I say slow stitching is all about
3:33
the actual thing that you're going to do
3:36
now I found these shoes and I rather
3:39
like them so I'm basing my whole thing
3:42
on that so I've been looking through all
3:44
my fabric scraps for some pieces I've
3:48
been pulling out bits of
3:50
ribbon ribbon's great for this I've got
3:54
Rick
3:55
Rak and lace is also very good and
4:00
indeed anything you think that you can
4:02
sew on so once you've picked lots of
4:05
different things what about buttons I've
4:07
got some nice vintage buttons here I
4:09
think might go on and I've got a little
4:11
bag here that I was given full of bits
4:13
and pieces and it's got some sequins in
4:16
there and some beads excuse me so I may
4:20
well add some of those later on but
4:23
really all you need to do is gather
4:25
whatever things you think you might like
4:26
to put on your book and you can add as
4:29
many layers as you like which is why we
4:31
start with a thin one so measure the
4:35
width of your Fabric and just Mark the
4:38
center now we don't want to ever be able
4:39
to see this so I'm just making a little
4:42
pen Mark at the top and at the bottom
4:45
and it's just so you know where the
4:46
spine of your book is because when
4:48
you're designing it you want to know
4:50
what's coming on the front what's going
4:52
on the back and what's actually going to
4:53
wrap around the edges so I just find
4:56
that really useful so I can check my
4:59
little shoes are going to fit on there
5:02
and you can see this is a very girly
5:04
cover lots of Pinks which actually is
5:07
quite unlike me but I just fancied it it
5:11
was some fabric I was given and it's got
5:13
quite a few of these different shoes on
5:14
it and you know when you think I'll use
5:15
that one day but then you never quite
5:17
know what you're going to use it for and
5:19
I thought this is it this is what one
5:22
pair is going on so think about what you
5:25
want at the top and what you want is
5:27
just background layers so what I'm doing
5:29
at the moment is putting some pieces of
5:31
fabric on to act as background layers
5:34
now you don't need to go right to the
5:35
edge of your fabric cuz obviously it's
5:36
going to disappear into your seam so
5:39
anything that's really near the edge
5:40
you'll never see I tend to go too near
5:43
the edge but I think it's better than
5:44
having a gap so you can see how logical
5:48
and sensible this is I'm just throwing
5:50
them on and seeing what I think didn't
5:52
like that let's put it up there now you
5:56
might be the sort of person who just
5:57
creates this to go along and you don't
5:59
want to do this planning phase you just
6:01
want to grab bits and sew them on or
6:04
maybe you want to cut some of your
6:05
Fabrics into patterns you know into
6:08
shapes like birds or
6:10
flowers it really is the sky the limit
6:13
this is your creation Now I'm showing
6:16
you how I did it just to help guide you
6:18
if you've never done anything like this
6:20
before but you don't have to do anything
6:22
like I'm doing I imagine we're going to
6:24
do very very different journals using
6:26
the same technique now you can see I'm
6:29
just some
6:30
ribbon and just cutting a length cuz I
6:33
know I want to go across the full width
6:34
with that I think and then the bit I've
6:37
cut off I may well just add that
6:39
somewhere
6:40
else now the way I lay these out and one
6:44
thing over another may not be how I end
6:46
up with them but that doesn't matter I'm
6:49
just deciding whether I like it you'll
6:51
also notice I tend to be quite Square so
6:54
things are either across it or up it I'm
6:56
not great at going diagonal and juny
6:59
angles so maybe that's something I need
7:01
to work on maybe on this project we'll
7:04
see how we go but I do want to
7:06
incorporate the Rick
7:08
rck I love it we used to craft with it
7:10
as children and then it disappeared for
7:12
years and now it's definitely
7:14
reappeared so if you're enjoying this
7:16
please give me a thumbs up so this
7:18
Stitch along can can spread to more
7:20
people and lots of us can make our
7:23
journals now I've got a gap there that I
7:26
feel is a gap and looks like a gap so o
7:29
that nice black ribbon with the pink on
7:32
might be quite nice
7:33
there so yeah maybe I'll put that and
7:36
maybe I'll feed it under the ribbon I'm
7:39
putting down the
7:41
spine I don't know I'm rather liking it
7:45
it's quite busy um I'll definitely add
7:48
embellishments on top of this this is
7:51
just the basic plan that I'm laying out
7:53
so that I can do the bulk of it and have
7:55
it how I think it's going to look and
7:57
then I'll add beads or buttons or
7:59
whatever at the end see let's have a go
8:02
diagonal let's see what we think do you
8:04
know what I might I might well leave
8:06
that on the
8:08
diagonal buttons any thoughts yes I
8:11
might put some in there now you can see
8:13
I'm thinking it through but I'll be
8:15
honest with you any sort of
8:17
embellishments like buttons and things
8:18
will be done at the end and will
8:20
definitely not be how I've thought about
8:22
it now once you're happy with it
8:25
photograph it and then you can see
8:27
exactly how you laid it out even if you
8:29
change your mind you've still got it as
8:31
a reference so just take a quick photo
8:34
and then you can refer back to
8:36
it so you can see I'm just playing
8:39
around
8:40
now so once you've got to this point
8:43
that's it that's all I'm doing till next
8:46
week
8:48
okay so now you're in a position to get
8:51
started you can find the fabric that
8:53
you're going to make your cover out of
8:56
get it cut out to fit your notebook your
8:58
Journal
9:00
and look for some scraps some
9:02
embellishments some things you want to
9:04
use in this project and gather them
9:07
together and if you want to go
9:09
completely free form you're ready if you
9:12
want to do a bit of a plan like I did
9:13
and start laying some things out and
9:15
photographing it so that you know where
9:17
to start then that's where you can get
9:20
up to and then next week I will start
9:24
sewing mine on and introducing you to
9:26
some different stitches and techniques
9:28
that you can use some you may know some
9:30
you may not and we'll all move on
9:33
together so until next
9:35
week enjoy your planning and get
9:39
creative
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