Texture can be created in all sorts of ways. Different threads and blocks of stitches works well. It doesn’t need a lot of planning, just a few basic stitches under your belt.
Start by laying out some lines, so you have areas to fill. I’ve used thick and thin yarn and couched it down with a shiny contrast thread into swirls inspired by the waves of the sea.
The piece above is my book cover for my next stitched journal. I’ll fold this in half so I have a front and back.
On one side I’ve filled in the shapes I’ve created with some basic embroidery stitches. Using different threads gives me an eye catching design with the minimum of effort, and some peaceful, mindful stitching.
The second half of the cover I’ve filled in the shapes with beading. Most of the beads are sewn on using the back stitch method. Each shape is covered with a block of beads and the spaces outside left blank, as a contrast to the heavy beading. The threads you use to stitch your beads can make a difference to the effect. A contrast thread used to stitch beads flat to the felt has a different look to beads clustered together with invisible thread.
Both the above methods don’t take a lot of planning, or a major trawl for inspiration. Gather a mix of threads with a vague theme in mind, in this case the sea (see the previous blog post for ideas on how to choose threads). Make a few lines to create shape, either by stitching or drawing or couching threads down like I’ve done above. Infill the shapes and/or spaces with stitching, beading or both. Voila, you have a beautiful freeform book cover!
