Who doesn’t want to give an unique gift when a new baby arrives or when a toddler, dear to you, has its birthday! We all know that the gifts we make ourselves are the most precious ones. With this consideration in mind, I made this storybook.
Of course to be able to make whatever project, you need to have the technical skills required for it. Skill number one for me was learning the embroidery stitches.
Some years ago, I decided to learn the knowhow of embroidery. In my search for interesting online lessons, I came across the craftsy platform and found this wonderful class Embroidering Texture & Dimension by Hand with Sue Spargo.
After learning the different stitches and making some flower hoop designs, I was ready to go deeper into the embroidery skills by learning stumpwork.
By the time my first grandson came along, I wanted to make him something special. Being a fervent reader, I wanted to share my love for reading with him. So I decided to make him a fabric storybook. My embroidery skills were in place, now I was looking for inspiration. And did I find it! Sure enough! I discovered the works and art of Salley Mavor! . This fiber artist creates the most beautiful sceneries, using felt and hand embroidery! She shares her skills in the books she wrote .
Next I had to decide which story I would use for my storybook. A story from an old children's book came to my mind. The story is about a little boy who wanted to bake cookies. It tells how he goes to the mill to get flower, to the hen to get eggs, to the cow to get milk and to the bee who gives him honey. With all these ingredients he then bakes his cookies. As I always like to put a learning factor in what I share, this story fulfilled my wishes.
Inspired by Salley Mavor, I decided to use felt as my main fabric.
The first page shows the main character Theodor, happy and excited to start his journey searching for ingredients to make cookies. In all the pages the main character looks the same.
The house you see on the first page was definitely inspired by the houses Salley Mavor made. I surrounded it with a garden and trees.
Next Theodor went to the mill, placed at a brook, next to a grain field. The book Free-Form Embroidery with Judith Baker Montano inspired me. It showed how to embroider grasses and flowers which I put along the water side.
Theodor went to the hen to get eggs. On this page, alongside the hand embroidery, I used machine stitched flowers, from the stitch library on my machine.
The cow is ready to give her milk. Theodore is so happy!
What I learned in the stumpwork class, I applied to make the bee. Honey she gives for the cookies. Hand embroidered flowers show Theodore where the bee gets her nectar to make honey.
Finally, the proud Theodore shows his 12 cookies! As focus is on the boy, I scaled him up in front of a tapestry background.
To bind the book, I added fabric rectangles one inch wide which I sewed on the pages. To hold the pages together I made 2 buttonholes. It works perfectly.
Maybe you feel inspired to make a similar book with your own story or you might already have made one. I would love to hear from you.
Reactie plaatsen
Reacties
So beautiful and inspiring! Your grandson is one lucky child to receive such a loving gift!