Counterfeited Stitching

One of this month's kits-to-copy with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog included Studio Calico stitched journalling cards.  Regular readers will know that my sewing machine is set up and ready to go sew at the slightest opportunity, so I jumped at the chance to counterfeit these.

First off, I grabbed some scraps of ledger paper and cut them into rectangles that more or less matched some of the journalling cards in my March Counterfeit Kit.  As I'm not a pocket page scrapper I wasn't too bothered by the exact dimensions, but if Project Life is your thing then you need to measure more carefully!

For my first card I lightly pencilled in the word "happy" in a cursive script, keeping to the ledger paper lines.  I slowly, slowly machine-stitched along the pencil lines, exactly as I had drawn them, using a medium stitch length and stopping to rotate the card every few stitches.  A hand sewing machine would be ideal for this.  I alternated between careful pressure on my foot pedal and hand cranking!  When my pencil line reversed direction so did my stitching and I was very careful to match up the stitch holes when over-sewing to avoid shredding the card: paper is not as forgiving of needle holes as fabric is!

Not my normal sewing foot: this one gave me best visibility of the pencil line ... I think it's actually for cording!

The thread ends were pulled through to the back of the card and taped down to secure them.  Taping them down thread rather than knotting them means that they remain secure if you decide to trim down the card a little before you use it.

The next three cards were quicker and simpler:  a longer length stitch for a straight line (or two) across each card.  These lines were embellished by pre-piercing holes for triangles, a heart and arrow heads and then hand-sewing in the same thread (see photo below).

My final card started wasn't a resounding success: I decided to add shaped ledger papers to patterned paper from my March Counterfeit Kit and wanted to stitch around the shape using twine from the kit.  made stitch holes with my (un-threaded) sewing machine as that's quicker and more even than hand piercing.

Sewing with bakers twine started well, but as the twine got worn from travelling through multiple holes in the card, it started to fray ... and when I started filling in the stitches to make a solid stitched line, the card began to give way!

Not a good idea to sew with Bakers Twine :-(
{Sewing with fibres is even worse!}

If I'd stuck to (stranded) embroidery thread I'd have been fine.  Rather than carry on hand-sewing, I chopped my card in two, reloaded the sewing machine and quickly framed the arrow card instead.

Now of course you can go one step further and counterfeit the stitching as well.  So in the order to be completely true to my post title, here are a couple of fully counterfeited, counterfeited stitched journalling cards:

Simply lay your card over an upturned mouse mat, pierce regular holes in a line/around a shape and fill in the gaps with a fine pen.  I still prefer the real thing though!!

Lots more counterfeiting going on today at the CKCB - check it out!