Paper with Stitches

Last weekend I pulled the ole’ sewing machine out of the closet. I’d like to clarify that I’m not a sewer but I’ve been around it in my younger years. My dear Grandmother tried to teach me and my older sister how to sew when we stayed with her during summers on the farm. I never got the knack of it but my sister learned how to sew easily. She’s made beautiful clothes and home decor like curtains and pillows. It seems my crafty muse blossomed later in life, and unfortunately after my Grandmother passed away. I wonder what my Grandmother would say to seeing pieces of paper sewn together! 🙂

I owe a big thank you to my husband who also knows how to sew. He’s patched work clothes and fixed a hem here and there. He’s also the reason we have a sewing machine. Admittedly, the old Singer has stayed in the closet for a while now, but as I expand my cardmaking knowledge and gain inspiration from other crafters on the web, this is something I want to learn more about. My husband helped me thread the machine and showed me a few tricks on how to use it. I experimented on some pieces of scrap paper to test it out. The first attempt was a disaster because I forgot to set the presser foot so the paper was jumping all over the place. After I remembered to set the foot, got the feel of the pedal, and remembered to watch my fingers in comparison to the needle zipping by, I created this – the beginnings of a card.

I sewed a green square of cardstock to a larger blue one using a wide zig-zag stitch first. I should have stopped there because when I switched to a single stitch I didn’t sew it as straight. I think I am still scared of the needle and I’m sure sewing with ease will come to me after plenty of practice. To hide the more obvious error in the lower right hand corner, I sewed a little piece of folded cardstock to mimic a little book or card. I then used rub-ons to decorate it. Looking through more of my scraps, I found an old piece of cardstock that had a “Storybook” branch cut out of it.  I used this negative as a stencil and applied brown ink with a sponge dauber. I used another rub-on for the little bird.

The sewed pieces of square cardstock reminds me of a quilting square, bringing back more fond memories of Grandmother and the beautiful quilts she made. I dedicate this little sewing experiment in loving memory of her.

• card making
• cardmaking
• cards
• Cricut
• handmade
• inking
• inspiration
• paper crafts
• quilting square
• rub-on
• scrapbooking
• sewing
• sewing on cards
• sewing paper
• Singer
• stamping
• stencil
• Storybook