The Maker's Stash - Slow Stitching Soothes the Soul

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Floral Patches Needle Book

Posted on 8th July 20268th July 2026 by missleela83 — Leave a comment

I recently finished my fifth needlebook in my growing collection. This one is full of lovely little interactive elements that I was inspired to create after watching Amity Bloom and her wonderful Junk Journaling tutorials on YouTube.

For the cover I created a collage of pretty floral fabrics, some modern, some vintage and some liberty and I used my patched and stitched cloth method to sew them all down. Some of the fabric scraps are small and some larger, all collaged together to create a pretty patched piece of cloth in bright pastel shades of pink, green, yellow, aqua and mauve.

For the inside of the cover I used a lovely brown gingham that I think contrasts nicely with all the bright pastel colours and gives a bit of a grounding feel to the needlebook. It also adds a bit of a nostalgic retro feel, especially when paired with the sunflower vintage sheet hem piece I used to create a pocket to the inside front and back cover.

The first page has been made from a beautiful appliqued hand towel that has just the right amount of warn faded patina. To this I attached a piece of vintage sheet fabric to make the page the right size. On the reverse side of this page I used the same brown gingham. I patched on small fabric patches, the little duck is from a favourite Poppie Cotton fabric, and added a little dyed crochet motif.

I folded the vintage sheet fabric over to create a little tuck spot, into which I made a removable felt pocket that can be used to keep needle cards in. I added some more fabric patches to the felt pocket as well as a little pull tab, and decorated the gingham page with another dyed crochet motif.

For the next page I folded over a vintage hankie and sewed the two halves together along the edge. The cotton is quite fine and I love that you can see the butterflies through the hankie.

The next page I used a piece of favourite Ruby Star Society Strawberry fabric and to the other side stitched a piece of brushed cotton fabric harvested from a bed cover. To this I patched on more scrap pieces of fabric, and kantha stitched across the whole page. I then appliqued on a hexie flower and another dyed crochet motif.

I added a piece of lace to the strawberry fabric side, creating another little tuck spot for a hexie flower I stitched to a piece of felt which could be used to keep pins safe.

The next page I used a piece of vintage sheet and plain cream linen, stitching with blanket stitch around the four sides. I added more fabric patches to the vintage sheet side and stitched down a doily to the linen side, folding it over and also creating a pocket perfect to hold some threads. I created another tuck spot by folding the vintage sheet over to the linen and in here I have tucked in a sweet little fabric tag.

The next page is a piece of lovely wool felt. To this I appliqued a pretty mauve crochet motif I harvested from a doily. I added some French knots to the center, some applique leaves and stitched in a stem to create a pretty flower.

I also added a piece of vintage sheet hem to create another tuck spot and in here I made a small little needlebook (yes a needlebook inside a needlebook!) from vintage sheet scraps for the cover, a gorgeous liberty cotton fabric for the inside lining and two pages, one felt and one a yellow gingham. I blanket stitched the edges and then did a double crochet stitch in to the blanket stitch. I used a pamphlet stitch to connect the cover and pages together.

At the very center of the needlebook I used a lovely embroidered tray cloth. The colours of the embroidery match in perfectly with the variouse colours and floral themes of the needlebook.

Lastly I decided to create a mini little pouch and pincushion to tuck into the inside cover pockets. For the little pouch I used a piece of off cut quilt batting and patched on some fabric scraps as well as a harvested piece of embroidered linen. I added some extra embroidered flowers to the linen and also added a scrap of crochet doily. For the lining I used a different Liberty cotton fabric, kantha stitching it in place. I then blanket stitched the open edge and up the sides and flap to create the pouch.

For the pincushion I used a couple of fabric scraps, adding in some little embroidery details and blanket stitched it to a piece of felt. I like to stuff these pincushions with all of my tiny fabric and thread scraps.

Flip through the pages below…

To stitch my pages into the cover I used small stitches to attach each page separately, sliding my needle into the cover but not going all the way through. I wanted a seamless look and didn’t want to see the stitches on the front of my pretty patched cover.

When I got to the felt and embroidered doily page I switched and did a pamphlet stitch to secure them in place. Again, I was careful to not have my stitches go through to the cover.

With all of my elements tucked inside the needle book it turned out quite chunky and I decided it would need a closure of some kind. I chose a sweet yellow floral vintage braid and stitched it to the outside cover with invisible stitches to make a pretty tie closure.

I am delighted with how this needlebook turned out. I think it’s really playful with all the bright pastel colours and zingy little pops and having the little interactive elements makes it just a little bit special and surprising.

Will I actually use it as a needlebook? Maybe or maybe not, in all honesty I didn’t necessarily make it to use as its end product, but rather I just wanted to play with pretty fabrics and experiment with different ways to make fabric pages. It was fun to create all of the little interactive pieces that can be popped in and out.

I hope seeing all of the little techniques and tidbits I squeezed into this needlebook has given you some ideas for ways to create your own. Needlebooks really are a great way to play around and experiment and they are super fun if not a little addictive to make!

You can watch a flick through of this needlebook in the below Slow Stitching Vlog on my YouTube.

Until next time, I hope your making and stitching is bringing you peace and joy.

Happy Stitching friend,

Miss Leela x

Scrap Happy Patched Pouch Pattern - Slow Stitching - The Makers Stash

Keen to have a go at my Patched and Stitched Cloth technique? Learn the ins and outs of this method and make yourself a sweet fabric scrap pouch with my pattern Scrap Happy Patched Pouch.

Each pouch is completely one-of-a-kind, shaped by the scraps you choose and the stitches you add.

It’s a relaxing, creative project and a beautiful way to turn your smallest pieces — including special vintage textiles like lace, linens, and embroidery — into something both useful and meaningful.

Get the pattern in my shop HERE or if you are from the US, UK or EU get the pattern in my Etsy Shop Here.

Vintage Sheet Fat Quarter Bundle 6 - The Makers Stash

Vintage Treasures

DMC Mouline Color Variations - The Makers Stash stranded embroidery cotton floss thread

Threads

Wool Felt

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Blue Bird Patched Collage

Posted on 25th June 202625th June 2026 by missleela83 — Leave a comment

Like many pieces, this little fabric collage started with an afternoon playing in my studio. I had no real plan, just a desire to experiment further with my patched and stitched cloth method.

This is my favourite way to create, no pattern deadlines, no size restraints, and no clear outcome of what it’s intended purpose will be. Just my hands, fabric scraps, little vintage treasures, threads and needles.

It’s such a calming way to create, just you and the rhythm of thought as your hands touch textiles, admiring their colour, pattern and texture. It’s a type of mindfulness completely unique to working with textiles, a feeling of productivity in a beautiful way, a connection between hands and fibers that calm the mind and bring joy to the heart.

For this piece I started with a piece of peachy pink solid cotton fabric. I went to my little scrap box and pulled out a few pretty fabric scraps that just kind of spoke to me. Then I went to my embroidered linen boxes and found a few sweet pieces I could harvest – some flowers and the sweetest little blue bird. I also pulled out a vintage piece of lace and trim and some colourful buttons.

I arranged all of my pieces, playing around with the composition, laying them on top of each other and shifting them around until I was happy with the layout.I made sure to take a photo so I would remember where everything went incase things shifted during stitching.

I used my favourite clover applique pins to hold the pieces in place while I invisible stitched them down. I then did an overcast stitch around the raw edges of fabric patches using Superior Threads Bottom Line Thread in Silver. I love this thread for invisible stitching and overcast stitching as you can barely see it.

For the decorative stitching on top I decided I wanted to focus solely on straight stitch and Kantha Stitch and experiment with different threads and ways to make the stitches.

I used 4ply yarn and perle threads to create different short and long stitches, sometimes overlapping them and varying the length of stitch. I then decided to sprinkle some french knots in a wool colour similar to the background fabric to add some contrasting texture.

With the collaging and stitching complete I now had to decide what I was going to do with the piece. I am really happy with how it turned out and think it’s just the sweetest little thing!

I put a call out on Instagram for suggestions and had lots of great ones such as turning it into a bag, cushion, stitching it to the back of a jacket and framing it in a frame.

I really like the idea of putting it in a frame, but I need to find the right one, something a bit shabby/granny chic, maybe timber with chippy paint. Until I come across that, for now I have just blanket stitched the edge in a soft pink that blends in to the background fabric and I have hung it on a vintage peach knitting needle.

I’ve created a little wall vignette in my living room, hanging it alongside my Blooming Stitches Textile Art piece and an artwork by Sophie McPike.

I hope this little piece inspires you to go to your scraps stash and have a little play. Remember we don’t have to create for an end purpose or item, we’re free to stitch and create just for the pure joy of it. What you make doesn’t need to be big or time consuming, this piece was worked on a couple of hours at a time over a few days. I picked it up and put it down when I felt drawn to it.

I see this piece as a bit of a loose sampler style project. A project like this is great to practice a particular stitch and experiment with different thread types and how they perform as different stitches.

So don’t go throwing out those little scraps of fabric, lace and textiles. Instead give them new life in a sweet little fabric collage and enjoy them.

Happy Stitching my Friend.

Miss Leela x