Here is my completed Journal from Sue B's Journal-Making class, Lesson 2.
April Showers ... Bring May Flowers. As the weather outside this week has been frightful, I know Spring is not far away ...
The outside cover is made from a pole-wrapped Shibori I did a few years ago when I had an Indigo dye pot set up. This Shibori pattern is also known as "rain." I think it would make excellent flames if done in oranges and reds. Something else to experiment with!
[Aside : My undergraduate degree was in African Literature & Languages with a healthy dose of African Arts and Culture thrown in. One of my favorite topics was the Indigo Dying industry of Yorubaland in Nigeria, West Africa. My most prized possession is a starch resist Adire Olokun ...]
Inside the journal, I used some leftover fabric from this quilt :
The satin stitching at the edge used a dark (black and blue) thread, with a varigated rayon on the spring inside. I went around twice for more complete coverage, and a cleaner edge.
I had some trouble with the grommets--especially the middle two holes. My grommet-setter is more like a pair of pliers. There was no good way to do the middle set with my equipment. Now I wish I would have just done the button-hole method--or purchased the more versatile set in Sue's PDF tutorial. I did do a few practice ones ... Any ideas on how to remove a grommet gone bad? Or is a grommet forever?
The closure is a hint of things to come -- a pink shell cut into a flower with some ribbon yarns. The flap reflects the "rain" streaks of the Shibori pattern. I sat there for a while letting the fabric "speak to me" about what the flap should be like. This is what it told me to do ...
If you want to see a sampling of the other creative journals people in the class have made, check out our Flickr group, Sue B's Journal Making Class Mar 08.
6 comments:
Michele, your journal is gorgeous! I love the way you cut the edge of your flap. And I love the texture of the Shibori print.
I bought my grommet set at Ace Hardware. After reading all the posts about grommets, I was a little worried, but they installed very easily and neatly. The set, which included a hole punch, a wooden block, an anvil (to hold the grommet in place which hammering it closed), a setting tool and 48 grommets, was very reasonable.
Thats a gorgeous piece of fabric you have used for the cover - and I love the wavy edge you have created, its worked really well.
I am LOVING seeing all these journals.......will have to think about taking Sue's next session.
For grommets, you should seriously consider buying yourself a CROP-A-DILE. Makes setting eyelets and grommets (depending on how big) so easy!
I love the shibori fabric cover and the closure edging is a great touch!
Beautiful shibori fabric, none of mine turned out like this this well done
Really beautiful, Michele! I'm taking a Shibori class soon and am looking forward to creating more fabulous fabric for journals!
Btw, I haven't had to remove any grommets since I had pretty good success with those (a cheap Dritz kit I found at the local Walmart with 1/4", 2-piece grommets and a little metal setter), but I did have to tear out a failed eyelet--that wasn't as hard as I thought and didn't destroy the fabric, thank goodness!
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