


I’m obsessed with sketchbooks but I rarely draw. I do, however, have lots & lots of ideas that are continually spinning round in my head and these ideas & inspirations need to be ‘captured’ or they will eventually disappear. I love to make my own sketchbooks to catch my thoughts, ideas and all the other inspirational stuff that appears around me.
Somehow page after page of ‘white’ puts me off – I become obsessed with how ‘unbeautiful’ my handwriting is rather than all the stuff I’m trying to say. These little sketchbooks, ideas books, journals (call them what you will) are my antidote to that!
During this one-day workshop you will create an A5 sketchbook with an open stitched spine from brown & black paper and sheets of vellum. It’ll have gorgeous fabric ‘tabs’ that help give the book structure, fastened down onto the covers with vintage buttons. Once you learn this technique, you will never need to buy a sketchbook or journal ever again!
Now we all know that all stitchers love and are inspired by the sight and feel of fabrics, so we’ll add gorgeous hand stitching and fabric scraps and oddments of haberdashery to the pages thus creating a sketchbook that is crying out to be used.
I’ll show you how I use my own books and how pages can be added & altered as you go along. I’ll share tons of inspiration for stitching ideas and ways to add interest to your pages. Even those of you who have ‘sketchbook fear’ (yes it absolutely is a thing) will find yourself working away and adding content to your book without even thinking about it.
Your sketchbook will have a fabric cover to make it robust (it’s the ideal size to throw in your bag). I’ll provide a lovely choice of fabrics and show you how to attach them to your book. You may wish to do this during the workshop or perhaps you’ll want to add stitching to your cover at home. Please note that during this workshop creating the beautiful pages is the focus rather than making a stitched cover – though I’ll provide you with plenty of ideas and inspiration.
You may not finish this on the day but don’t worry I’ll show you everything that you need to continue working on this lovely project at home.
All materials will be provided, but you may wish to bring along treasured fabric and haberdashery scraps from your own stash. I’ll give suggestions on booking.