How Embroidery Can Make Your Scrapbook Pages Look Great
Embroidery is not restricted to only cloth. Paper can also be beautifully embroidered to enhance the look of scrap books, recipe books, files, etc. It is easy to add content to your scrap book while simultaneously working out the embroidery on its pages. Handcrafted books are a delight to work with while it adds quality to your fine art of embroidery. This is indeed a very interesting craft which almost everyone can dabble in.
It is possible to work thread embroidery on paper by hand or the sewing machine. Though the technique is different, it is fairly simple to learn both the styles well.
Embroidery by hand: Firstly, to work thread embroidery, you will require some heavy paper, a pencil, pin to make holes, threads of different colors, a needle, a design to embroider and a pair of scissors. On a piece of card paper, lightly outline the desired design with a pencil. Avoid light weight papers as when they are worked on, they might fray. In case you feel pencil lines will spoil the appearance, then the design could be traced on paper which then can be taped on, and with this as a guideline, start punching holes.
Designs can be found everywhere - magazines, children’s books, online. A novice should always start working on a simple pattern. Once the mastery in embroidery is achieved then more complex designs can be comfortably worked on with dexterity.
Put your paper on a mouse pad or any other thick cloth that is pliable. Start working along one edge of the design while punching holes neatly and carefully with a pin about every 1/8th of an inch. Erase any pencil marking on the paper, after the holes have been punched. The interesting part of the project has now begun. You start to stitch your design. The choice of colors, and the stitch required is entirely at your discretion. Once this is done, use matching color pencils or markers to fill in the gaps between the stitches to give it a fuller look.
Embroidery by machine: The technique of embroidering with the sewing machine on fabric and cloth is quite similar, only some important adjustments need to be made. Make certain that the bobbin has more than enough thread to work the entire design. If you run short of thread, then there will be gaping holes without any thread in it, leaving you frustrated after all the trouble you have taken to make this a successful project.
With machine embroidery on fabric you generally have to knot the thread ends. However some glue or fastening clear tape would do well to hold the thread ends while working on paper.
Paper craft projects would be so much more with the charm of embroidery. You could use threads, papers, beads, shells, beans any assorted array of materials to make an innovative project even more attractive. The more you let your imagination run wild, the more arty it will be.