January 19, 2010

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques-Vary your stitches



I am finally getting around to scrapping some of those railroad shots that I took of the kids a couple months ago. As I am sure you know by now, I love sketches and this layout is based on a sketch by Becky Fleck. Here's her sketch:
 


 To add some variety and interest to my layout, I used different machine stitches.
First, I used a large zig-zag stitch to go around the circle of my title.


To do this easily, sew the circle BEFORE you adhere it to the page. No one is going to know that the circle is not actually SEWN onto the page (well, now you all know mine isn't). It is much harder to turn an entire 12x12 sheet of paper in a circle as you are stitching than a little 4 inch circle. {Mom, I can hear you laughing at the thought of me advising someone else how to sew...}. Remember to tie your loose ends together when you are finished just as if your were "really sewing."



I also added a zig-zag stitch to one of my border strips.



Now this takes a little planning ahead...you DO NOT want ANY adhesive under the area that you want to stitch on. Needles and adhesive don't get along. So, I put just a couple tiny glue dots under my strip on the side that I wasn't going to stitch on. If you don't put any adhesive at all, you run the risk of your border sliding a bit on you and that...is hard to fix.


I adjusted my zig-zag to be wider than the one I used for the circle, again just for interest.


My final stitch on this page is a simple straight stitch. Since the area I was stitching was very small and the entire layout is quite distressed, I stitched in forward and reverse very tightly. It was just the look I was after.



And again, my finished layout:

Happy Stitching!





















11 comments:

mustangkayla on January 19, 2010 at 9:24 AM said...

Fabulous layout! Love your take on the sketch! I'm loving sketches and sewing at the moment too!

Tara on January 19, 2010 at 10:53 AM said...

Love your Technique Tuesdays Kristie, weirdly enough I used my sewing machine for the first time on a LO a few weeks ago. I must say I was struggling to get the whole page through the gap as I was turning it round. I knew there must be an easier solution - didn't think of it though. So thanks for sharing.

Wonderful layout and love what you did with the sketch.

Unknown on January 19, 2010 at 12:08 PM said...

found you through Suzanne...I love all the stitches you added and your color combo is fabulous

Andrea Amu on January 19, 2010 at 3:50 PM said...

Beautiful page!! Love all the stitches... I can't sew to save my life!! I love what all you did with the sketch as inspiration :)

Luz Maria Bruna on January 19, 2010 at 9:06 PM said...

What a pretty layout Kristine.I love it especially the colours!!

Suzanne on January 19, 2010 at 9:26 PM said...

Oh WOW! Fantastic layout! I am laughing at your comment about your mom laughing at you. I was afraid to stitch on my layouts for fear everyone would find out that I wasn't as helpless as I let on! :-D It IS one of my fav techniques, and that is one great tip! So obvious, yet, yes, I sit here and turn 12 x 12 paper. LOL TFS!

Lydia on January 21, 2010 at 12:10 AM said...

Great layout love what you did with the sketch, I thought this sketch rocked and I did it too!!Love all your stitching

Unknown on January 21, 2010 at 10:47 PM said...

This is simply stunning - WOW - what a fabulous page!!!

Robyn Schaub on January 24, 2010 at 10:31 AM said...

I can never get zig-zag stitching right on my layouts...maybe it's the adhesive that's creating issues. Thanks for the tips! Beautiful layout!

Meg Giroux on January 24, 2010 at 4:46 PM said...

Love all your stitching Kristie!!
Beautiful layout!

Cindy on March 1, 2010 at 11:30 AM said...

Love this layout!

Related Posts with Thumbnails