Hand Stitching + Diamonds w/Sasha Farina

Hey everyone :) I'm here to show you how to add some simple stitching to your layout. I'm sure you know that I love to handstitch on my layouts. This time, I used the Handpicked patterned paper from our Farmhouse collection as my inspiration piece.

After sketching roughly how I want my layout to look like, I use my metal ruler and pencil to draw some lines to guide me. I wanted to stitch diamonds on my layout, so I drew lots of squares, then drew x's inside them.

Now it's time to use your paper piercer and poke holes for stitching. You can try stitching without the addition of holes, but I find that the stitches are neater when the holes are created in advance. I realize there are a lot of lines, so just ignore the squares and concentrate on the diamonds :)

When you're done piercing, erase all the pencil lines - this is what you get!

I use DMC for all the stitching I do. Usually, I separate the skein and use only 2 ply. If you've never separated a skein before, afraid not! It's actually easy to get them apart without tangle! Just hold the floss as shown and pull out one ply at a time with your other hand's thumb and index finger.

My favorite part, stitching! Leave a tail of thread at the back and tape it down with some washi tape. I use washi because it holds the thread without adding bulk. And, I try to use my least favorite washi so as to save the nice ones for an actual layout!

All done! You can see that I changed the washi from Black to Green. This is my usual washi for stitching. I just couldn't find it when having started - and wouldn't you know it, the whole time it had been right in front of me!

Yes, the back of the layout is rather messy. I've been stitching for 21 years and still can't produce neat backs on paper, or linen. You shouldn't let the messiness bother you, or at least that's what I've been telling myself. ;)

Now it's time to finish the layout...

I cut squares from the Handpicked patterned paper and adhered them inside the diamonds. Love how they look nestled inside like that. The rest came together pretty quickly using papers from our Paper Heart Collection, and stickers from the Pretty Party collection.