A gift for Wanda

I usually plan (and try to make) gifts for people well in advance but this year I suddenly realised that Wanda's birthday was just over a week away, which really limited my options - it had to be quick and relatively easy to make. Fortunately, I had been thinking for a while of exploring the many inbuilt stitches on my Husqvarna Diamond (I think there are more than 400) and decided that this might be a good option for a journal cover.

Here's what I came up with (by the way, Wanda likes puppy dogs):

Start with a piece of calico

I decided to participate in this year's holiday challenge for ACT Textile Arts. The only requirements were to make a journal cover, starting with a piece of calico (the calico didn't have to be visible at the end). I used calico, brown paper, copper metallic paint, machine embroidery thread - and beeswax.


And here's my completed journal cover. I'm quite pleased with it, although I've learned a lot about the construction process.


I painted the paper, scrunched it up (lots of fun and very good for relieving stress) and fused it to the calico. I then embroidered words onto it, using a font built into my sewing machine, and finally rubbed beeswax all over it. There is a magnetic catch to hold it closed.