Saturday 20 February 2021: Online Workshop (Stitch Journal)

Gary Mills - Saturday 20 February 2021 - 4.00pm to 7.00pm (GMT)

Online Interactive Workshop: Mindful Stitch Journal

This wonderful Mindful Stitch Cloth Journal class by leading textile designer/tutor Gary Mills will help feed your inner spiritual self! Learn how to make a truly unique memento for those special moments in life via this skills-based course, which will see you engage with machine-sewing and hand-sewing - and lots of inspiration, flair & creativity!

Introduction by Gary:-

I've created this project especially for CraftyMonkies - a beautiful and thoughtful Cloth Journal for you to practice upon its pages the lovely pastime of Mindful Stitching. Within this workshop you will not only practically make this beautiful cloth journal (guided throughout the process by me) but also discover that hand stitch is becoming one of the new meditative and relaxing pastimes to calm our minds in a world at times which can seem unsettling, worrying and, frankly, stressful...

You may well ask, “What is Mindful Stitch, Gary, my man?!”

It's amazing how much pleasure can be had from slowing down, picking up a needle & thread and simply SEWING, be that a repetitive decorative embroidery stitch, or needle turned appliqué of found work, embellished to a cloth page within your journal. This practice has connections to sustainability, simplicity, preserving memories and, increasingly important, reflection.

“Mindful Stitch allows our mind and body to work in harmony and express our inner feelings. It is a slow, repetitive process, which helps to promote calmness and inner peace”

Reference: thegraystone.co.uk

Once you have made your Cloth Journal, this is just the beginning of your mindful practice journey to discover enjoyable skills such as scrapbooking, stitched doodles and simple appliqué.

The Cloth Journal now becomes your own unique narrative of work, reflections or even a diary of textile entries; the pages do not have to have any theme at all; but then again, they might do so - it's entirely up to you and for the best benefit do not over-plan the outcome or the end result. Let your journal evolve & inspiration take you on a journey!...

Best of all, this project is a scrap-buster and encourages you to reuse repurpose textiles!

What You Will Learn in this Online Interactive Workshop:-

This three-hour session is divided into two halves with a short comfort break for 10 minutes in the middle. To begin, you will be introduced to the project by Gary who will show you examples of his own Mindful Journal to give you inspiration and understanding of the possibilities available. Next, Gary will guide you through the making of the Cloth Journal, learning how to cut and assemble the outer cover using machine and hand stitches, with consideration to decoration and even words to add to the front of the cover if you wish. Next you will be guided on how to make pages and to begin inserting them with hand stitches.

As the journal begins to take shape Gary will further cover textile and hand stitch practices which you can carry out to then create your very own unique Mindful Journal. Everyone will start at least one stitches and worked entry to kick start their Journals.

Skill Level for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

Gary has many years’ experience as a professional practitioner and teacher of textiles; his workshops are so enjoyable, fun and very well organised with his clear and patient guidance. This workshop is suitable for all; if you are a beginner this is a great project to learn and understand the processes of assembling simple squares of fabric with hand and machine stitch to create a journal and then to explore some simple embroidery stitches with his easy-to-follow embroidery stitch handout. For those more experienced and advanced you can build your confidence further by honing your creative mind and project skills by working on improved artistic ability to achieve a considered and exciting outcome.

Material requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

None!

Fabric requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

For the Journal COVER (pre-cut, ready for class!):

• 2 x rectangles measuring 16 ½ “x 9” of neutral medium weight fabric to create a base for your A5 cloth memory book. used in the sample is a simple cream and blue wide stripe linen for the front and a biscuit / beige colour linen for the inner. You can also use heavier weight cottons or even upholstery fabrics which have ‘body’ to them but are not too thick sew and turn through and the weave is not too loose as it will fray in the making.
• For the interlining of the front cover 1x 16 ½ “x 9” either batting / bumph / 2oz wadding (not too thick)
• For the spine of the book 1” x 8” strip of either stitch in Buckram (used for pelmets or curtain tie backs) or similar; you can even use a piece of card to give the strength of a book spine to the Journal.
• For the tie around the journal 42” of cotton tape or ribbon ¾ “ wide (consider the colour with your chosen outer fabric)
• For the book cover (optional): Printed words “Mindful Stitch” for your journal. Used in the sample is a simple hand block printing set you can purchase from a craft store to print in black ink on a strip of calico and then hand stitched onto the front cover. This can be done in retrospect after the workshop if you choose.

For the Journal's INTERNAL Pages (pre-cut, ready for class!):

• 11”x 7” cut rectangles in layers of 4. Here you can use a mixture of any combination of found and purchased fabrics to form the pages, consider plain and patterned fabrics as some may be worked into with stitches alone just tracing a pattern or a set of stripes or some may have textile elements applied on top of them. Consider from simple pillow cotton and sheeting, to unbleached calico, pre-loved and washed vintage textiles, even old linen tea towels. Have a look at your own stash bundles (cottons, silks, and Poly-cotton).

For the workshop example you may only need to gather 2 sets of 4 mixed layers, as you will be able to add more pages over time as you work further into your journal over time.

Machine and embroidery thread:

• A small selection of mixed embroidery threads such as cotton Perle thread or DCM or similar. Consider perhaps what colours you may be creating your journal cover and anything which would either contrast or work well with that.
• A selection of machine threads in colours to work with the outer cover and to hand stitch in pages to your journal.

For ideas of things you may wish to bring to personalise your outcomes:-

A collection of things which generate MEMORIES, eg keepsakes, or secrets! Any ideas can be discussed at the workshop and will probably generate much discussion amongst the group attending which is fun and interesting! Keepsakes such as part of an old party dress, a piece of fabric from a child’s garment, old/vintage found textiles, old/vintage embroidery, pages from an old book/diary, beads and buttons… basically, anything along this line!

Note: Optional you may wish to have some fabric adhesive/glue or fuse-a-web as this can help first bond pieces onto pages before stitching!

Equipment requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

• A sewing machine for simple straight stitch with a new needle size 12-14
• Hand sewing needles.
• Fabric scissors, embroidery scissors
• Pins
• Tape measure or rule
• Fabric marker pen
• Something to push out the corners of the journal such as a blunt chop stick.

Pattern Information relevant to this Online Interactive Workshop:-

Those attending the workshop will receive Gary’s handout on his top 7 simple embroidery stitches, along with guidance instructions.

​Tickets for this Online Interactive Workshop (via the Zoom platform) will be limited & allocated on a first-come/first-served basis! If applicable, any free pattern, or other information, relevant to this course will be forwarded to you after booking and approximately 5 days before the course date. The ticket price of £25.00 is based on ONE person attending this crafting class.

Ordering MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT Online For Any Class/Workshop!

In light of the ongoing potential for lockdowns in some/all parts of the UK due to Covid-19 outbreaks & subsequent Government-imposed restrictions to people movement and business operation, we advise everyone to please book your place & order any materials/equipment online in plenty of time ahead of any course dates.

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Enjoy This Class/Workshop Again on YouTube!

A recording of this workshop will be sent to all who buy a live ticket for the Zoom broadcast approximately 5 working days after the event; the video will be available to view for 90 days from the video release date.

Are you not able to attend this class due to living in a different time-zone?

Are you otherwise engaged on the date of this workshop? Well, we have excellent news!

This class will be available to view via Pay-On-Demand via our Online Shop for 90 days following the video release date (approximately 5 working days after it is broadcast on Zoom).