Ever had an idea and just run with it…
A friend who is going through difficult times at the moment recently posted on facebook that she had heard about comfort boxes, the idea being that friends and family wrote something nice about you and when you’re feeling low you can read the comments for a pick-me-up. Lots of people wrote comments.
I suddenly had the idea that if you made a little fabric book with pockets in, you could put messages in there and carry it with you, a little book of comfort.
I felt it needed some words running through it and chose a poem from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. I selected some variegated thread and stitched the lines of the poem with simple back-stitch.
The pages sort of came together as I went along, finding fabrics that worked as I stitched. My friend has very different colour tastes to me, she is brilliant at mixing colourful textiles, when I think of her I think of oranges and reds. In my stash I found a little square which I made at a Embroiderers Guild dyeing workshop a couple of years back, it was perfect for the first page…
I stitched everything onto wool felt squares, I find it very forgiving as a backing, you can hide stitches in it for a start! Each double page spread had a pocket stitched on one side and a line from the poem plus a few embellishments on the other…
I raided my button box and bead box for suitable things to sew on, just to add a little something without spending hours embroidering.
My friend comes from Manchester which has the symbol of the bee, so cheerful sunflower fabric with bees on fitted in perfectly…
I just used a simple running stitch most of the time to stitch on the fabric…or tiny beads!
I bound it using some coloured glass beads from Hobbycraft in between each page. I think I’m on about my fourth packet of these beads as they are so pretty and a useful size. For the cover I used two different quilting fabrics, I made a sleeve and then stuffed some heavy interfacing in between the two layers. It was a bit fiddly but it wasn’t an iron on one and I didn’t want the extra bulk in the seams. I embroidered her name and the title on some spare linen, made a cord from two co-ordinating DMC threads and stitched a button on the front as a wrap and tie.
I wrote all the various comments from facebook on luggage labels so they can be read at random, she can even add poems or words that she likes.
I’m really pleased with how it came out, it really didn’t take too long either, an afternoon and a couple of evenings. Time well spent if it helps her in some way through the next few months.
thecraftycreek 
This is a gorgeous and very thoughtful gift.
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I really like your idea and how you went about making this comfort book. Thank you for sharing this.
Betty
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What a loving, thoughtful gift. I am sure she will feel the love and support throughout her ordeal.
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What a wonderful and most thoughtful gift!
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What a beautiful gift to give someone. I think that’s one of the nicest things I’ve heard of.
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What a beautiful gift, in every sense of the word. ā¤ļø
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Fantastic!!!! š
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What a lovely idea and such a thoughtful gift .
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What a great idea
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What a lovely idea and such thoughtful gift. Beautiful work
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I love this! Great idea.
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Clare is very lucky to have such friends as you.
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Such an inspiring post – a brilliant idea. What a heartfelt gift. ā¤
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a truly wonderful piece of crafting and beautiful gesture
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Reblogged this on Wild Daffodil and commented:
This is such an inspiring post about another sort of Stitchbook, that I just had to repost it so that I can share it with you, but also so that I can find it again easily myself. Thank you so much Margaret for this wonderful idea.
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This is so lovely Margaret – what a wonderful thing to do for your friend.
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So beautiful and a wonderful idea. Thank you.
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What a lovely thing to do. Itās beautiful in many ways.
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This is a wondeful, thoughtful gift!
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That is such a beautiful idea. Just wondering…what are the dimensions?
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Hi, the felt pages are 5″ square – I had some left from a felt charm pack š
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This is such a beautiful book! I’ve made many similar that I call “Prayer books” with little pockets to hold written prayer requests in. I take my prayer books with me when I go down to the river… I like to sit on the bank for morning prayers whenever I can get there.
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What an incredibly thoughtful and kind thing to do! I love this idea and may need to steal it!
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What a wonderful gift. Beautifully executed as always.
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Beautiful book and lovely, thoughtful gift.
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Such a beautiful. thoughtful idea and perfectly ideal for your friend. I hope she finds some comfort in it.
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I just can’t even find the words to tell you how wonderful and creative this is!
What a treasure you made for your friend and I’m sure it will be very comforting!
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This is an awesome idea… beautiful and well thought out and much appreciated by the recipient when she gets it I am sure! Kathi
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This is such a beautiful book, what a great friend!
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A loving, compassionate and thoughtful gift. Lovely work, Margaret.
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Thank you for sharing your process in making such a considerate, loving gift! I’m sure your friend will treasure it and be encouraged by it for years to come! Hugs to you!
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I got gooseflesh as I read this post. What a beautiful book and what a wonderful friendship you must have.
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Nice idea
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This is wonderful and it turned out so pretty ā¤ļø you are an amazing friend
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