Add Texture and Charm to Your Scrapbook Pages with Creative Stitching Techniques

Stitching, whether by hand or machine, can add texture and charm to your scrapbook pages.

See here the special stitching touches our Creative Team members added to their pages and get their tips and insights on this creative work.

Cara Vincens says, “My children seem to be growing faster and faster, I dare not blink anymore. For a child, childhood stretches for an eternity, and I wrote the lyrics of a Raffi song around the edges of the pages that talk about how children want to grow up so fast. But for us mothers, it flashes by in sleepless nights, endless taxiing and countless cross moments of discipline. Why can’t they stay little just a bit longer so that we get to enjoy it too?”

“I wanted this page to have a happy, homey feel. I wanted it to feel like my children’s childhood home.  To that end, I used both machine and hand stitching to mimic the stitching I do around our home: to patch the knee of a pair of jeans, to sew a costume or to make some curtains.”

“There are a few embellishments that already had stitching, and there are a few rub-on cross stitches as well. I used stitching to make the page feel like our homemade, cozy home. I used a pale pink color on my machine to stand out just a bit from the white background. I used pink and green embroidery thread for a few handstitched touches around the page.”

 

Marie-Pierre Capistran says, “This layout is about my daughters’ Halloween costumes this year.”

“I stitched several vellum die cut leaves onto the page with my sewing machine and added stitching to others. I used white thread and followed the veins of the leaves. I also created a small shaker pumpkin element by stitching clear acetate over patterned paper in the shape of a pumpkin and I filled it with sequins. I added another vellum leaf with stitching details to the pumpkin.”

“A very basic sewing machine is all you need to recreate this. It’s impressive to see the needle sew through anything I use on a page: acetate, paper, cardstock, plastic. And the best part of it is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, the more imperfect it is, the nicer it looks!”

“I really like the feel of the thread on this page. It adds so much texture to the leaves which feel more natural and organic.”

 

Cynthia T. says, “This is about a mini cruise, Portsmouth to Bilbao, that  we took back in 2010. For the book to be printed, I picked one of the photos I liked the most to make an introductory page.”

“There are many ready-made creative stitching digital scrapbooking kits. The possibilities are endless, and no special techniques are needed. To create the look I love–which is to cluster and layer–the layered elements can often these can often look too full and messy. Then I use my digital eraser tool to remove part of the stitching and make a cleaner or more realistic look.”

“I love using full-page photos, and I also love using lots of elements. In this case, I love the photo and didn’t want to cover it too much as it would take away the light and feeling of the photo. To that end, I added stitching in blues at three corners of the page: a combination of clouds and foliage.”

 

Hannah Lemieux says, “The story I am telling is about the flowers starting to bloom in my backyard this spring.”

“I added hand stitching with embroidery floss. I also used my sewing machine to add stitching with a couple of different stitch patterns. I used my pen to doodle faux stitching on my layout as well.”

“To hand stitch, I use a larger size embroidery needle and different colored floss. I like to pierce holes first with a sharp jewelry piercer. I use a thick cardboard piece under my layout when making the holes. The springiness of the cardboard makes the piercing easier, and it prevents ripping the paper. Then you just give yourself the time to do the actual stitching. It can be a labor of love but it really looks striking.”

 

Iris Fox says, “I created this page in celebration of my daughters’ graduation days last June. The younger graduated from 5th grade, and the older graduated from 8th grade. I wanted to give them words of affirmation and show them my love on a pretty page which I plan to display in our home.”

“I took inspiration from my love of embroidery and created a hand-stitched background based on a pincushion from Clover & Violet. I first painted strips of colors in rainbow gradation, then I outlined each strip with its corresponding thread color and filled each with a different design including french knots, lines, plus signs, Xs, flowers, and leaves.”

“A tutorial on basic embroidery stitches can be found here. You need something to poke holes into paper. I used an awl, but you can also poke holes with the large embroidery needle you use to stitch with if the paper is not too thick. I use an old mouse pad under my paper when poking the holes. Embroidery floss is popular for hand stitching. It has 6 strands you can separate and choose how many to use depending on how thick you want the stitches. I personally prefer to use Sulky brand 12 weight thread, which comes in spools and can be used for hand or machine stitching. It is thicker than normal sewing thread, about the equivalent to two strands of the embroidery floss, so one strand is enough to get a vibrant design.”

“I enjoy hand embroidery and have done it often on fabric. This stitched background was not complicated, but definitely took time and was a labor of love. I had beautiful photos of my girls and wanted to do something special to showcase them. What better way than to combine my love of embroidery to create a unique stitched background.”

 

Devra Hunt says, “This is a story about perspective and feeling grateful for the way things are. Although I face many challenges with my family, things could be so much worse than they are.”

“I love stitching on my pages and do it frequently. For this page, I cross stitched a heart that was meant for journaling. It already had dots to create lines (like a bullet journal). This made it easy to poke the holes in the right places using a paper piercer. I hand stitched with a needle and embroidery floss.” 

“The cross stitching and the heart represent what the ‘red door’ means. It’s the Cardiac unit at the hospital. It’s about healing hearts. It’s stitched together. It’s stitchedd completely. It’s whole. It’s full. It also represents my feelings of gratefulness and hope, as one ‘crosses their heart’ or ‘counts their blessings.'”