simple stitch journals

Here's a reason to love a sewing machine: a sweet little journal that takes less than a minute to make. I sewed these up to give as favors at my sister's bridal shower last weekend. They were so easy and looked really pretty - eye candy for paper lovers.


If you have a sewing machine, I highly recommend trying this out. Sewing a journal is so easy and satisfying. For the covers, I bought pre-cut 4 x 6 cardstock that comes in a deck for scrapbooking. The designs were varied and eye catching, some raised, some with a touch of glitter, none that needed anything more than to simply be folded in half. Then, I used a paper cutter to chop some recycled paper for the insides that was slightly smaller than the cover size. I used 10 sheets in each, which when folded, made 20 pages. For each journal, I folded both the cover and the stack of pages in half. Then, I aligned them and stitched along the fold. I thought it looked best to stitch on the cover rather than on the inside fold. I backstitched at the top and the bottom so I could trim the thread flush with the journal. And that's it. I think bundled in sets with a good pen, they'd make a nice little birthday or graduation gift. I plan to make many more.