Journal cover

I use a lot of writing journals, for different kinds of writing. One for morning reflections, one for a secret project, one for writing whatever wants to be written and one for a seven-week writing course that starts in just a couple of days. Today I show you my just finished journal cover.

I do have a store bought journal cover for my secret writing project, but it turns out that it isn’t in a standard size, so none of my A5 journals fit. That was my cue to make one myself.

You can see a short video reel of my journal cover on my Instagram.

Material

I wanted to use material that I already had in my stash. As a premium member of the Berta’s Flax Guild I have a box of membership gifts from Christiane Seufferlein who runs the guild. In the stash I had the perfect fabric for the cover, a hand woven piece (cotton I think) from a German dowry somewhere between 1900 and 1950. The lining is a fabric sample in printed linen my friend Cecilia wrapped a birthday gift in.

The embroidery linen yarns come from flea market finds. I bought the linen bands at an estate sale after a textile profile who passed away during the autumn. I bought the sashiko thread new, but for earlier projects.

Model

I actually started out browzing for journal covers to buy, but when I decided to make one myself I put on my inspiration goggles instead. First I was leaning toward an envelope type of solution with a button on the front, but after a while I simplified my plan to a plain model where the jackets of the journals are slid into the cover pockets to help stabilizing the structure. Ribbons at the spine keep the journals centered and in place. Loops for a couple of pens and a simple bow tie to close the construction.

The first thing I did after cutting out the pieces was to add a strip from the main fabric as a stiffener for the spine. I also spent many hours stitching the stars across the spine to keep the spine in place and for reinforcement.

Sashiko stars

The star section is my favorite detail in the project. I was brave enough to stitch them without a template, I just used the checquered fabric pattern as a guide. I did all the horizontal lines first, then added the diagonals, one direction at a time. This resulted in a sweet rhythm where my thoughts came and went in the same pace the stitches did. The wonky stars and sliding arrangement add a nice contrast to the right angles of the woven pattern.

Cross-stitched monogram

When the stars were strewn I added the monogram. I kept it simple with a cross-stitch from Anna Bauer’s Mönsterbok, a book filled with patterns for both cross-stitching and knitting. I can’t manage one stitch for every one thread in the aida fabric anymore, and doubling the distance between the stitches was still quite fiddly. I really need a new prescription for my glasses.

Finding a suitable colour to stitch onto a checquered fabric was a challenge. Even if the apple green is quite close in hue to the light blue, it still stands out a little from the jumble of blues.

I sewed the main fabric and the lining together, including the two ribbons for the inside of the spine, and then added a seam around the edges after I had turned the right sides out. This is where my plan was to stop the embellishing and folding the pockets into place, but a poem came my way and shook me about.

When a poem shakes your foundation

I was introduced to this very short, but potent poem by Cleo Wade:

A message from today, by Cleo Wade
maybe
don't
tomorrow
your
life
away

I love a good word mischief, and brutally turning an adverb into a verb is such a lovely way of giving a poem the space it needs to be and breathe in the world. So I knew I needed to stitch it onto the pocket of my journal cover.

Backstitching

I found a backstitch font, 2×3 stitches, and started stitching, with the help of the same aida fabric I used for the monogram. It was very fiddly to sew the tiny stitches while at the same time making sure/hoping the needle caught the main fabric too and not just the aida fabric.

I knew there was a big risk the poem would be unintelligible and I almost gave up, a couple of times. But I realized this was for me and I didn’t care if the letters were wonky and jumbled. The poem was there to remind me to write whatever wants to be written, to today my writing now instead of tormorrowing it away. I needed to work the words through the stitching and have the memory of them sizzling in my hands. My fingers are still sore from the intense needle spelling, but the words are there, helping me keep the focus.

More writing

Next week I start a seven-week writing immersion led by Beth Kempton. I have taken many of her classes, including the Book proposal Masterclass that resulted in a book proposal that landed me an agent and a book deal. The journal cover is finished and packed with notebooks and pens, ready to spill across the pages. I can’t wait!

I do miss being so intensively in the project, though. I’m thinking about sewing a small wallet for cards and small stuff. We hardly use coins and bills in Sweden anymore, so I would like a different model, more card shaped and with secret spaces and pockets. Do you have any pattern ideas?

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