Stitching Week - Machine Stitching (and a giveaway too!)

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I do all of my stitching by hand and have yet to attempt it with a sewing machine so I don't have a lot of great tips for you today. However, I did do some searches for some tutorials on machine stitching on paper and found a couple that are very informative.

• A Machine Stitching on Paper Tutorial found at Belle Papier blog
• Tutorial - Machine Stitching: found at October Afternoon blog

"Autumn" by Carolyn Wolff

On this layout I machine stitched each of the squares on the background. The stitching was done after each square was adhered to the page.

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"Cool Dude" by Carolyn Wolff

On this layout I machine stitched around the entire background sheet after it was adhered to the white cardstock. I used a contrasting colour of thread so that it stood out on my page.

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"Time" by  Janette Kincaid
Supplies - Patterned paper: Scenic Route, Basic Grey; Cardstock: Cordinations; Brown felt flowers: Heidi Swapp; Journaling card: Jenni Bowlin; Patterned alpha: Basic Grey; Gold bling, orange eyelettes, acrylic paint: unknown

I created this layout with an old line from Scenic Route (I think). It was one of those paper sheets with several strips of coordinating patterns all in one, plus the flip side. I added some Coredinations cardstock and another text patterned paper to go along with it. I tore and trimmed the patterns as well as scallop punched some edges and then layered them over one another to get a mix of patterns and textures. I used the sewing machine with cream thread to zigzag stitch some edges.

Next, I created a simple mask by trimming three heart shapes from computer paper and sticking them lightly (on the back) to the background with masking tape. I used an old toothbrush and brown acrylic paint and ‘splattered’ the background by dragging my thumb across the bristles of the brush. This created a fine splatter as well as some larger splotches of brown. Then I removed the computer paper masks. Once the background was dry I used my sewing machine and brown thread to roughly stitch around the masked area.

You can see in the detail photos that I wasn’t too concerned with how perfectly I stitched. Some of the felt flowers were sew directly to the page, others we added after with glue dots.

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"You Always Keep Watch" by Katrina Hunt

Supplies -  Patterned paper: Echo Park; Stamps: Unity Stamps Ink: Memento; Border punch: EK Success; Ribbon: Offray; Adhesives: Scrapbook Adhesives and Scotch ATG; Digital overlay: Rhonna Farrer; Other: twine and sewing machine

The stitching on this layout is a little rough. I had pulled out my machine that I haven’t really ever used, nor has it worked well! So, the stitches are uneven, jagged, and not typical stitching that would come from a machine. I can never reproduce this effect, but I love this page and how I did the stitching.

I actually stitched through the photo on this to create another type of frame. I also stitched throug almost all of the wording.

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"Dashing Through The Snow" by Shari Thurman
Supply List - Patterned Paper: Echo Park; Tools: Cricut; Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink; Glitter Glue: Ranger Stickles; Other: Cardstock, machine stitching

When I made this layout I knew that I wanted to use a huge snowflake as part of the background and I also wanted to use the paper with the cute snow drift and snowman on bottom.

I used zig-zag machine stitching to give the photo collage cozy quilted look and also on the top of the snow drift to give it definition.

When stitching on paper, try to avoid sewing through adhesive. It can gum up your machine and cause it to get jammed. I typically use Nylon Upholstery thread. It is thicker, so it is more visible on layouts. My machine really likes it for some reason. It rarely gets jammed.

I then cut the snowflake and the title with the Cricut and added Stickles to the title to give it a snowy look.

I stepped away from my camera for a bit and got in on the snowy fun with my boys.

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"Celebrating Summer With a Splash" by Shari Thurman
Supply List - Patterned Paper, kraft alphabet and buttons: October Afternoon; Alphabets: American Crafts; Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink; Other: cardstock, jute, machine stitching, embroidery thread

This layout was based on one of Allison's bonus sketches that she made for us during the month of May when we celebrated National Scrapbook Day all month long. I currently have this thing for banners. I will put one on just about any scrapbook layout.

The first thing I did was machine stitch a frame around the edge of my background. I discovered from a fellow scrapbooker that heavy duty upholstery thread made from nylon or polyester works great for sewing on paper. It is thicker, so it is more visible on the layout.

The next step was layering the border. When sewing on layouts, you want to try to avoid sewing through adhesive. Use only what is necessary and position it so that your needle doesn't have to go through it. If you do sew through it, try to clean your needle immediately, so that it won't gum up your sewing machine.

I stitched my border and then attached it to my layout. This reduced the number of papers my needle had to sew through. Paper can dull needles, so it is a good idea to have certain needles that are specifically for paper. My sewing machine specialist recommended the Janome size 14 Red Tip universal needle for my machine. It provides the extra strength and durability needed for thicker fabrics (and paper in my case). It is equipped with a larger eye, which helps to prevent thread breakage.

I then created my banner by folding 1/4 inch of the pendants back over the jute and machine stitched through the jute and paper pendants. I attached the banner to the page and then added the buttons and bows.

One of the final sewing touches I added was the journaling lines. This is the first time I've ever sewn them on a layout before. It was a bit tricky getting them all the same length, but I think it added a nice touch to the page.

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"So Berry Sweet" by Shari Thurman
Supply List - Patterned Paper and chipboard shapes: Kaiser Craft; Alphabet: American Crafts; Tools: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper; Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink; Other: Cardstock, Jute and machine stitching

This was a pretty simple layout. To add a homey feel to the layout, I added both straight and zig-zag stitching.

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"Ordinary Day" by Christy Arthur

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Stitching Week Giveaway 

 

One of our fabulous Sketch Supporters will receive everything pictured above to get you started on some stitching fun. There are the basics: a foam board, a paper piercer from the In Stitch'z line from Bazzill and embroidery floss in several colors from the Sew Easy line from We R Memory Keepers. There is also some fun stuff like a set of birthday stitching templates from Bazzill and the Sew Easy tool, two small piercing heads, and two of their new large piercing heads from We R Memory Keepers. 

To be eligible, leave a comment on this post by Sunday, we'll randomly select a winner, and then announce the winner on Monday. 
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