Weekend Review: Journal With Thread

 

Journal with Thread / Jessie Chorley
Pynes Hill, Exeter, UK: David & Charles, c2024.
111 p.

I love embroidery, and I love journaling - so I really couldn't resist this book when it appeared in my local library! It's a collection of motifs (iron-on included in the back of the book though of course you can also just trace any of them) plus some design suggestions. All in the service of creating a fabric journal with a visual record of your days. (lots of interior photos on her blog as well!)

The book opens with an overview of what exactly a fabric journal is, and some ideas about inspiration, tools and materials, sketching, appliqué, a thread and stitch guide and of course motifs to share. But by page 40 she's jumping right in to the making of a journal. 

The main part of the book involves how to create your own fabric journal, whether that's all completely from scratch or by applying stitched panels to a premade fabric book. She follows the round of the seasons for her example work but of course you can create any design you want. 

She goes into detail for each page of the book, with instruction and photo examples (lots of big clear photos). She shares Front Cover/Inside Front Cover, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter pages, and also the Inside Back Cover/Back Cover layout. All of this specific, hands-on instruction takes up 50 pages. 

The book finishes with some additional templates and further ideas, as well as a list of resources and DMC colour codes. And the iron-on transfers are all attached in the back of the book too. 

I thought this was an interesting concept, and really liked the straightforward instructions on creating a book from fabric. I'm not sure I'd have the same visual style if I made one; I probably wouldn't use many of these motifs for my own version. But I really like the idea of creating a book like this, and I enjoyed seeing how she uses extra items beyond just threads to create her imagery. She'll sew on bits of lace or cloth, or use buttons or Suffolk Puffs as ornamentation. She even has some snaps and tiny jingle bells in her wintery scenes. Lots of fun to look through. It's the English joy in imperfection that shows through here, and I did feel it worked in this instance. Glad I read it!