Over the last few days I’ve started a new embroidery project, clearly three projects with another two due to start isn’t quite enough!! In my defence, this should be a relatively quick stitch and my Bobbin Along book is in the last stages.

This is going to be a concertina book, it’s a slow-stitch kit I bought a few years ago from Helen Bellingham of Untangled Threads. I think it was called Made with Love, the kit included the base calico, some threads and fabric pieces to add to the calico. It’s then really up to the maker to create whatever they want.

The calico strip is the width of fabric, so about 160cm. It’s turned under at one edge and then the other three edges are stitched together and then the piece turned, leaving a double sided strip which can be stitched before or after. I’m stitching it before as I think that’ll be much easier. It folds into six pages, so twelve sides to be decorated.

I gathered some pretty cotton pieces from my scrap box and started laying them on the strip. I’ve decided to use some cross-stitch and embroidery pieces I’ve done over the years, some have gone onto cards, others made into mini cushions. I played about for a while with the fabric and the embroideries, in the end I’ve one side more muted than the other, one will have more pink, softer embroideries, the other will have the red hearts and darker pieces. Some fabrics I’ve used twice as they were too strong for the muted side but I realised the wrong side was still pretty, so some are upside down.

I’ve used raw edges most of the time to soften the look. I then stitched them all down just using rows of running stitch, I used about five muted shades of DMC thread, usually stitching three to five rows either vertical or horizontal . I stitched over onto the calico too to help blend the background fabrics. I’m pretty pleased with the effect so far, its taken about three evenings to stitch as obviously it’s quite long!

I’m really pleased how the stitching has worked out, it’s very simple but it does give the fabric a love soft feel, a bit like the difference between a hand-quilted quilt and one quilted on the machine.

All I have to do now is arrange the rest of the decoration and stitch them accordingly.