Hand stitching and embroidery techniques on your pages can add not only texture and dimensions but also give it an interesting and wow factor to your pages. I like to do hand stitching rather the machine as I feel intimidated by machines, but if you have a sewing machine and are confident in using it please have a go.

A few tricks I have picked up on the way and a few from others are –

• Try to be light handed when sewing to avoid tearing of paper/cardstock

• ALWAYS pre prick your holes

• Use stick tape behind your page to start and finish a thread as tying a knot will leave a mark on you page and other pages in your album.

• Use long sharp needles with a large head if possible; there are several brands of paper needles on the market now or try a beading needle.

• Always prick into pricking mat (Collozzle mat works well also)

Two common hand stitching stiches are –

                                        Back or straight stitch                                        Cross Stitch

For a list of more challenging stitches out www.inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html

There are a variety of different types of materials you can sew with –

• Embroidery threads like DMC
• Cotton threads
• Silk threads
• Wool
• Very fine ribbon
• String/jute

Making hand stitching templates

I have used word to make all of the following templates

Block word template -

§         Open a new word document

§         Choose a font that will work for you stitching and your page, I have chosen here Fusion-Bold, not all fonts will work it’s just a matter of playing around.

§         Type your word  Scrap

§         Alter size to match – here I have set to 150

§         Highlight your word

§         On the tool bar click on format > font

§         A font tool box will appear and half way down in the effects sections click in the box that says outline and now your word is ready for printing and pricking.

Scrap

A font that already has an outline so no altering of its format is, you computer may have more and there is bound to be some more out there also

 Scrap = Alfredo Heavy Hollow

Follow the instructions below if you don’t need to alter font in any way. Have some fun with a tool that most of now have in our homes and workplaces our computer.

Simple word pricking –

1.       Open a new word document

2.     Type word you wish to prick

3.     Highlight word

4.     Select font and size

5.     Print and prick

Some other cool fonts that I have tried and tested are –

Scrap= AdineKirnberg      Scrap= Wendy Medium

Scrap = Architect     Scrap= Comic Sans MS

Your home computer will have an array of its own so have some fun with fonts

To print shape templates at home yourself –

1.       Open a new document

2.     click on insert on top tool bar

3.     Scroll down to picture

4.     Click on auto shapes

5.     Choose shape

6.     Make as big or small as you like

 Hope you had fun stitching on you scrapbook pages - Paula