Welcome!
I am so glad that you could join us for this She Who Sews ‘Fabric Journal’ intro.
Like most of you, I have been admiring the art of journal and book making for some time. Smash books, junk journals, for scrap, tags, pockets etc., always draw me in to take a closer look. So, I finally worked this topic into my design schedule and an inspiring NEW fabric collection!
Stay Tuned for, “Art Journal” from Riley Blake Designs.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing the process that I followed for my version and first attempt at this favorite pastime. So far mine is going in a direction of vintage sewing keepsakes and collected items, BIG organizer notebook for personal use. My thought, to have everything in one easy to find, easy to store place, artfully and aesthetically pleasing.
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For this project I will be using She Who Sews, Best of (in stores) and She Who Sews HOME (August delivery) as well as Linen from Riley Blake Designs.
1) My first step was to dive into these cute fabrics! So making a few faux stamps and oversized cargo tags seemed an easy and fun way to get started for journal content. Spool stamps using the toss fabrics plus white and natural linen was the obvious choice. I fused the selected fabrics (for front) to some linen and scrap fabrics (for backing) on hand to give both a bit of weight. Once fused I fussy cut the spools apart. To achieve faux postage I then stamped them randomly. You could freehand the postal details using Micron permanent markers if you don’t have stamping supplies.
Next I fused the spool fabric to a larger size piece of backing fabric and trimmed with a pinked rotary blade. Pinking shears will work fine too. Stitching is another great touch to do at this stage or later directly to your journal page. Your choice.
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I used the She Who Sews Border Stripe characters to create some oversized (pocket) tags. I cut the characters apart in this case and fused to my long strips of linen scraps. A binding ruler was the perfect tool to cut the tag corners. I am still looking for the right tool to punch the top hole but will probably hand cut with sharp scissors or simply add a button.
Note: As you can see below my tags are a bit too flexible so sandwiching with an interfacing or heavier fusible product can offer a stiffer tag. I intended these to be pocket tags and did not want to add too many layers so, we’ll see how this will work out. This step depends on your desired result.
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2) For my journal/book base, I decided to use something that I already had rather than to begin a cover from scratch. This saved time and besides that I had acquired so many cool old albums, purchased art journals and notebooks that it seamed a good idea to utilize at least one of them for this project. I chose this chunky green commercial three ring notebook and will concentrate on making my pages only. Eventually, personalizing the cover could be a good plan.
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3) While gathering supplies from around the studio I was reminded of some heavy canvas (bank?!) bags that I purchased somewhere, years ago. These will be perfect as pocket pages to hold a lot of the goods. Anything will do for the page base and a blank canvas for adding the fun fabrics was my initial thought. Moving forward, I am realizing that this work in progress is sure to evolve but any variation of course, is the fun part!
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A look back –
I first tried my hand at constructing a simple cloth style artful book with a few pages, pockets and added materials best I knew how and presented in our QM booth 2019. This Scary Book uses Costume Makers Ball fabric from Riley Blake Designs and was intended as a fun decoration for the Fall festivities and it was FUN to make! I really enjoyed but confess, was winging it all the way. I began another the following year using Goose Tales but have not yet completed. Time is my typical obstacle, then again the life interruption in 2020 took away the (Quilt Market) incentive which didn’t help my motivation.
However, I have NEW inspiration for fabric and mixed media journal making and will be sharing on
Follow us there for the latest and meanwhile, keep making!!
See you next week.
