Fabric art Journal pages, close up.

Today I am sharing the pages of my last hand stitched fabric art journal. Some have been shown before so they are smaller and have a link to the original page with more details. As always with this blog, click on any of the photos to see them larger.




Zipper cover. Original page with details:

A fabric art journal

Inside Cover. This was an old cross stitch cushion. I removed the back and added some extra stitching on the borders for interest.
















I blogged about this circle here:

A textile experiment...

For this book I added the background then used the same colour thread as the circle to make the two more harmonious.

This is an experimental technique I learned from the Workshop on the Web course run by Maggie Grey. It used lutrador, stamping and water soluble paper.












I previously blogged about this page here:

Using journal pages as inspiration for textiles

This page uses art mediums for texture on textiles. I am planning to make this my next video technique so I will explain more then.











I previously blogged this page here:

2017 fabric art journal

The technique for this one is monoprinting on fabric and will be a future blog post with more details then.

I added embroidery and also circles of various textiles that I had experimented with. The raised circles are Dorset Buttons. You can find many examples of these on the internet.





 This page started out as two rectangles with 2 flower images as the focal point. I decided to do two different colour schemes for the flower images so they ended up on two pages instead. The focus for this page was the original silk screened image and various coloured pieces of textiles including green painted dress making pattern tissue.  I added a lot of lace and sheer fabrics on the white background. There is a lot of hand stitching on this page.







This textile collage was based around the bird postcard I did for a swap last year. I made two so I could keep one. The background is crinkled, painted satin. I will explain the technique in full later in the year.











Previously explained here:

2017 fabric art journal

 

 

 Previously explained here:

2017 fabric art journal

  Previously explained here:

Using journal pages as inspiration for textiles

 Another textured textile that will be further explained in the next technique video.















The page I made to display this previously shared (Fibres West) machine embroidery. I kept it simple to highlight the embroidery.











Another page of machine embroidery that was shared here:

Fibres West








The second rectangle based textile. I used another silk screened flower image as the focal point then added a lot of similar colours. This one is mostly machine stitched and has a patched background. The original rectangle was placed in the center this time.











Previously explained here:

Using journal pages as inspiration for textiles

The back inside cover is another cross stitch no longer needed as a cushion. One of the reasons I use these old embroideries in my new books is to show how I first started in textiles, using other peoples patterns. 

I meant to put this one at the front of the book but messed it up when stitching the book together. I always try to put my name inside the front cover so it won't be stolen if left on display somewhere.


I hope you have enjoyed this close up look into my journal and are inspired to make one of your own. As you can see I don't pick a theme or stick to one technique. I use the books as a way to contain all of my experiments.  It would look great if you did want to pick a theme and do a book based on one idea like photos you took on a trip, or family. Maybe I should try that too....

Hand stitching a fabric art journal together.

Last year I wanted to make a larger fabric art journal. I knew it wouldn't fit under my sewing machine arm when I was going to put it together so it had to be hand stitched together. I thought that it would take a long time to stitch but it didn't because a simple running stitch or ladder stitch was all it needed to hold strongly together.

I have made a video that you can watch here or view a larger size on YouTube by clicking the YouTube name at the bottom of the video screen.

1. The steps are basically the same as the machine stitched art journal. I made all the pages I wanted to include, then I began by hand stitching with running stitch the joining strips between two pages.

 2. I used ladder stitch to join each pair of pages to the next one making sure the outside edges were even.

3. You should end up with a stack of pages and a flap of fabric at each side of the spine to join the front and back covers to.

4. Attach the front cover and inside cover page to the flap. Your book should now be held together well and it is time for the finishing touches.

5. The final elements are to cover the spine and attach binding around the edges if you want. I did machine stitch the binding on because I was able to put the edge under my machine arm but you could hand stitch it on if you want.

I will share some close ups of the pages later this week when I have a chance to photograph them. Some pages have already been shared on the blog previously:
journal pages as inspiration for textiles
fabric art journal

More mixed media textiles

This is the second post using the same mixed media textile background I have previously created and shared. When I did my fabric background I used a piece of fabric that was about a metre (yard) square so I could experiment with a few ideas. I have shared the first three I did and now I have two more to share.

I used the same piece of fabric from before. I only used part of this long strip to make the grid design. I had already stamped and painted the background and then arranged and glued the pieces of fabric and media to it. I turned the fabric over and used a template to draw circles all over the back. I tried to put them as close as possible to get the most out of the fabric as I could. 

I then flipped them back over to see what I had. This is the surprise part of the process. Some little pieces of fabric may need extra glue to hold them in place. I arranged the circles on my background which is more of the painted fabric. I cut some of the circles in two so they could be placed along the edge. I didn't like the stamped side with the circles on top so I flipped the background over to the back. This side had the paint and was a little plainer so the whole design didn't look too busy.

I decided this piece was going to be entirely hand stitched. I made a pile of laces, felts and ribbons to add to the squares as I stitched. I started stitching each circle adding the extra pieces to make them interesting paying attention to the colours as well. I used only thread to enhance the shapes this time, no beads or embellishments. 

When the stitching of each circle was done I then stitched them to the background using a variety of stitches. I am quite pleased with the way you can really change the look of a piece just with a few variations. I think the circles are my favourite in this series but then I really like the others too.  It is always hard to pick a favourite.

This last piece was made from a few extra squares I had left over when I cut the fabric up for the grid. This time I added charms and zipper teeth to the tiles. I added more stitching on these because there was only 6 to do. I have stitched them to a background for a journal cover at the end of the year. I am not sharing the background technique yet. That is part of a class later in the year and I will share more then.

Thanks for taking the time to read through my ramblings and I hope you enjoy having a go at one of the techniques.