OLW: gigi's tip

you may have noticed i love to sew on my paper projects...hand stitching, machine stitching, embroidery...i love it all...i think it lends such a homemade, crafty look and adds tons of texture too...

so if you are interested in experimenting with sewing on your projects, here are some great links & tutorials that i've found extremely helpful:

french knots
i LOVE french knots...LOVE them...they had mystified me forever until i found this little how to from purl soho

backstitching
i find myself back stitching almost on everything...it is a super quick way to add a frame to your design, add a flower stem exactly where you want it or just add a bit of color...and with embroidery thread being so affordable, backstitching could become your new favorite go-to technique...again, purl soho has a great how-to (after the back stitching instructions, keep reading that post...it has has a bunch of great embroidery basics...these basic stitches will definitely add a ton of character to your crafts)

machine stitching
i was mystified by machine stitching on paper for the longest time...i thought there had to be some special skill or trick to it...but there's not! all you do is pop that paper under the sewing foot & sew away...you don't need any special adapter for your machine, i've never even switched needles...you just sew away...viola!
but here are some tips that are helpful:
* i usually (but not always) adhere whatever i'm sewing on with dry adhesive (i use those koyko dot roller things)...this helps keep the ribbon or patterned paper in place...don't sew through glue dots...totally will gunk up your needle

* i get questions all the time @ how to keep your stitches straight...truth is i don't really worry about that at all...i generally use the guide on my machine right on the little "platform" to keep in the general area of straightness...but if i'm making a frame around my page or photo, i go around a few times...this way the stitches will create a defined frame & because i went around 3 or 4 times, i gave myself a better chance of one of those many rows of stitches matching up & kinda being straight...i actually try to make sure the lines aren't perfectly straight...i like it better that way...lol

* try to let go of that whole perfection thing when sewing on your pages...you'll have much more fun & really like what you've created so much better...when i was finishing up a recent page i just wasn't thrilled with it...it was kind of boring, but i didn't want to add any more "stuff" to junk it up...so i decided to sew some crazy stitches on it...i don't know why, i just figured a little color drawing the design outward would help a bit...well i added the pink (i was going to keep the design to just white/orange/pink) in straight stitches & it was still blah...so at this point i kind of had no fear b/c what the heck, i wasn't thrilled with the whole thing as it was...so i re-threaded my machine with green & switched to zig zag stitches & then just stitched the heck out of it, over those pink straight stitches...& you know what? i like it SO much better now...so lesson learned here: let it go...it's just paper & this is supposed to be fun :)

lisa truesdell put together a really wonderful blog post with some fabulous machine sewing tips & tricks...definitely check it out for some great information

so i hope you take the plunge & start stitching on your projects! it is really fun & you'll find it a bit addicting :)

& also, don't forget! the deadline for your REAL projects is this coming friday, march 20th...keep 'em coming!!! they are all absolutely wonderful thus far!!

xoxox

Comments

I want so sew.......... now I need to buy a machine... though I have been doing the hand stitching.

Posted by: Wendy Kwok | March 18, 2009 at 08:59 AM

ahhh my stitching queen, always wondered how you made those 'balls'. french knots. thanks!! and those last stitching (straight pink and zigzag green) are simply genius. thanks!

Posted by: Revlie | March 18, 2009 at 01:21 PM