Atelier: Mini Sewing-Themed Album

Hello creative friends!  I have an Alpha Stamps project to share with you today, made with gorgeous paper and a wee 4-inch chipboard album.

There's a feeling of nostalgia and comfort that comes from vintage sewing artifacts and ephemera.  I've collected enough bits and bobs over the years to have a vintage-sewing-themed guest bedroom, including an old singer treadle machine as a side table.

I was thrilled to see Stamperia's Atelier paper pad, a beautiful nod to seamstresses everywhere.  I couldn't wait to work with it.

Don't get me wrong - I am NOT a seamstress.  Funny story - when we lived in Pennsylvania, my husband and I hosted an annual Christmas party for a few neighbor friends.  There were a total of 4 couples and we did a funny gift exchange.  One year I made fleece pajama pants for everyone.  We had the weekend morning habit of wandering to someone's house for porch coffee -- usually in pajamas --  so I bought a pattern and matched the fleece designs to their personalities as best I could.  I sewed for months.  I was relieved when the last pair was finished, and tickled when everyone put them on at the party.  Needless to say, I haven't made a garment again.  It was fun to walk out my door and see those jim-jams that winter, though.

I mostly use my sewing machine on paper now, as you can see on each page of this tiny album. 

I loved working with this Memory Hardware Tiny Chipboard Album.  Leslie, our fearless Alpha Stamps leader, knew I wanted to embellish the heck out of this paper so she searched high and low for the perfect base.  Thanks Leslie!

The spine is white sticky canvas with a few coats of matte varnish to give it more structure and keep from fraying.  I supplemented the sticky back with white glue, just in case...

Let's take a peek inside!

The dress form on the right is great on it's own, so I only outlined it with a silver star jelly roll pen to give it a little sparkle.

Once they can no longer be worn, my husband gives me his old silk suspenders to reuse.  The collection of fabric "shirting" samples are actually very old quilt blocks that came in a large vintage sewing auction lot I won a few months ago.  These are my favorite pages of the whole album.

This is a small sampler of crochet laces.  I found the celluloid thread cutter in that auction box, also.

The dress form and thread top are just a few in the Atelier paper pad.  I wrapped brown ribbon around the waist and sewed a blue button with a lace scrap onto it.

A few notes on construction.  I painted the album edges white, and added linen hinging tape between each page to give a fabric-y look without adding any bulk.  It coordinates with the white canvas I used on the spine.

To help pick out a specific part of a paper design, I cut a piece of acetate to fit my item (in this case, the front and back covers), then hovered it over different designs until I find the perfect one.  After the outside was done, I trimmed the acetate to fit the pages, then set it aside for the next project.

There is a fair amount of hand sewing here, including the large mother-of-pearl button closure.  I punched two holes in the chipboard before covering with papers and added the button at the end.  That message was appropriate since I poked my fingers a few times... ouch.

The suspenders were added before the page was attached to the book.  I sewed the buttons on and attached the suspenders part with a zig-zag stitch mirroring the one on the fabric.

The dress form charm dangles on a sturdy eye pin from the jewelry section of a craft store.  I used cream seam binding for the closure.  The other end is glued between the inside back cover paper and the chipboard. 

Thanks for your visit today!  A complete Alpha Stamps supply list for this project can be found HERE!

Cheers
Susan