Hello SCT fans! It’s Lisa Dickinson here today with a fun design tip to share! I love adding hand stitching to my layouts for the texture and dimension it lends to the design, but I’m definitely not an expert seamstress. To get straight, even stitches isn’t easy if you’re free-handing it, so I found a great way to ensure neat stitching using my computer. Here’s the scoop!
Supplies | Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned paper: American Crafts, Crate Paper, Bella Blvd; Alphabet, stickers: American Crafts; Metal flair: Crate Paper; Clip: Bella Blvd; Enamel dots: Doodlebug Design; Electronic die cutting machine: Silhouette Cameo; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Other: buttons, embroidery thread
I began with a 12 x 12-inch page in my computer program (I’m using Adobe Illustrator) and typed up my journaling box. To create the stitched lines, I used the line tool, but applied a dashed stroke to it instead of a solid line. The dashes will serve as the template for stitching.
The result is a fun, stitched background that matches the lines and angles of the design. Not computer savvy? You can easily replicate the technique using a ruler and pencil to draw the lines!
Genius hack! Now I’m wondering if this could be done with Microsoft Paint, since I don’t have Adobe…
I never heard of this, but I think it is awesome. I don’t have a wide-format printer, so it wouldn’t work as well for me, but I generally just use a gridded ruler & make dots with a pencil, then pierce through those for my holes. I find 1/8″ spacing to work just fine. Thanks for sharing this tip, though! :) ~ Andrea