Art Journals

I do apologise for the long break since my last post.  My laptop has been upgraded to windows 8.1 and then it kept on adding more upgrades each time I switched it on.  I have had to get the software functioning properly again and other stuff loaded so hence the long gap.

So back to Cloth Books or Art Journals. I have made some labels for the second signature of my cloth book.  I plan to decorate the third signature with machine embroidered applique.  You may remember we were practising free machine embroider techniques before Christmas and we did some applique motifs at that time.  So I plan to add those to my final four pages.

I have been thinking about different ways of binding the books.  We have already started with sewing down the centre of the cover and then adding signatures one at a time..

I think this is a good method as it is easy to do and the signatures produce several pages for the book all at once.

But there are many other alternative methods and one I have tried is making pairs of pages back to back which are mounted into the book separately and then a cover wraps around and is fastened on to the pages in some way.  I used buttons sewn through from the front to the back and this worked quite well..

Something similar could be done using metal grommets or eyelets and then threading cord or ribbon through these holes.  Packs of metal grommets are available as are the tools to fix them.  I bought mine shown here from a website call U-Handbag.  It's worth a look and is a nice site with lots of handbag making accessories.  The grommets (or eyelets) and tools are listed under metal hardware.



There is a tutorial on the site about using the eyelets but I wasn't able to print it off unfortunately.

Simply put: you make a hole in the padded and backed fabric a little smaller than the metal eyelet.  There is a tool that you place the bottom part on to, then thread the fabric hole onto that, then put the upper part on top and push the tool you can see it the photo on the left into the hole, hold it firm and whack it with a mallet.  The other photo shows a kit you can buy with a different sort of tool but I liked the first type best and the eyelet seemed smoother.

Here you see both the eyelets I tried using cotton fabrics top and bottom with thin wadding in between.  If I decide to use this method on a book I would make the page a little thicker as on this example there is a gap between the material and the eyelet.

An alternative way of doing this would be to make buttonholes on the sewing machine (or by hand) and thread cord or ribbon through these.  In this case the cover would not be a wrap-around type but would need reinforced cover pages back and front with buttonholes and the cord or ribbon laced across the spine.

I am lucky that my lovely sewing machine has the facility for making sewn eyelets through which a hole can be punched after stitching.

On my machine this is in the same section as the buttonhole stitches so it may be the same on your machine.  However if your machine does not do eyelets a small buttonhole would do just as well  and a lot of machines have the facility for making buttonholes.

Once the holes are made using whatever method you choose then ribbon or cord can be threaded through the holes with a bodkin or large eyed darning needle to join them all together.


 I also made a small trial cloth book right at the beginning to see how it went together.  Having decided not to throw this empty trial book away I have started to stitch or fuse little embroideries and other  bits I have found on to the cover and will use this to try out hand embroidery stitches.

This is a really interesting subject and I think we will get lots of unexpected benefits from exploring the techniques.  The challenge to come will be making a memory Art Journal with family photos, images we like and perhaps some clip art - all enhanced with the treasures we have stored up just waiting to be used.