How to Hand Stitch a Title

Hello, welcome, I’m Becki. Thanks for stopping by for another edition of Inspiration Station. I’m a scrapbooker at heart. I love creating layout after layout with beautiful photos, embellishments, and patterned papers. Back in the day, I used to sew. I’m a terrible seamstress BUT I can sew on paper. Today, I thought I’d combine hand stitching and patterned paper to create the beautiful title on this layout.

First of all, I wanted to give you a couple of tips about finding a piece of paper that would work for a hand stitched title. Cardstock is always an easy choice, just make sure you choose a contrasting thread color. Patterned paper backgrounds can create a stunning background for any kind of hand stitching, especially hand stitched titles. When choosing a patterned paper, make sure to choose a small/tone-on-tone patterned paper. When stitching on patterned paper, once again you’ll want to choose a contrasting thread color so your title will stand out.

I chose a fine print grid patterned paper for my layout.

I knew I wanted my title to be in the lower right hand corner of my layout. I began by lightly drawing the portion of of the title that I wanted to stitch with a pencil.

After writing my title I poked holes directly over the top of my pencil lines with a paper piercer and a piercing mat. I spaced my holes about 1/4-1/8 inches apart. Then, I erased the pencil lines.

When I start stitching on my layouts, I always tape the end of the my thread to the back of the paper with a piece of washi tape.

Now it’s time for the fun part – the stitching!

I use a simple embroidery stitch, sewing forward one stitch and then back.

To completely finish the hand stitched portion of this title I stitched for a little less than an hour. (That’s only one episode of Gilmore Girls, my friends.)

I used a little more patterned paper, stickers (from the Shine collection by Maggie Holmes), a photo, and some handwritten journaling to finish the layout. I love how the portion of my title that is hand stitched catches your eye.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you next week when I’ll a fun set of Thanksgiving themed cards to share with you. Have a great Halloween weekend!