Hi everyone, get ready for a long one; you may want to get a cup of tea and a biscuit! Today I want to show you some examples of machine stitching on your layouts. I love machine stitching; it adds such a soft texture and dimension to my pages.
I often use stitching around the outside edge of my layouts, as a subtle border. On the page above, I used a zigzag stitch around the inside edge of the cream Melissa Francis paper, and then distressed and inked the edges around the stitching. I also used a straight stitch around the photo mat - when using a straight stitch, I usually go round 2 or 3 times to add more dimension. Oh, and the journalling on the Bright Spark layout is quite funny, it says: 'You are such a clever girl. Your Daddy was trying to explain something to you, but your reply was "Well, I know somebody who knows better... my Mummy." ' Isn't she so clever??!! And so right. Anyway... 
On the Love You layout above, I machine stitched around the painted circle 2 times, and then stitched butterflies punched from book paper onto the page. I used black thread for contrast, and used a straight stitch back and forth. The only thing to be careful of is that if you stitch over and over in the same spot, you may rip the paper, so go delicately.
Also, a tip for attaching the Prima vines to your page, is to hand stitch them on using invisible thread, or fishing line. I pierce one hole in the paper where I want the vine to sit, go up through the hole from the back, around the stem of the vine, and back down the hole. I use sellotape over the back of the hole to hold the thread in place, and to strengthen the hole. If you do this 3 or 4 times in different spots on the vine, it holds it perfectly in place.
The picture at left is a closeup of some stitching holding a piece of lace onto the layout. I used a zigzag stitch for this.
Luckily, if you don't have a sewing machine or can't be bothered threading it up, there is a cheats way to do it. Simply use a large needle or your paper piercer to punch small holes where you want the 'stitching', and use a white pen to connect the dots, and voila, you have faux stitching, as shown at left.
I hope I have encouraged some of you to dust off those sewing machines and do some stitching on your layouts; I know you'll love the outcome! And here is the product list for the layouts above (click on the product to be taken to it in the shop):
[b][u]Bright Spark[/u][/b]
[u][b]Love You Layout[/b][/u]
Prima Vine (sorry, sold out, but Wildrose is available on backorder)
Tracy le Roy
