Tag Archive for: buttonhole stitch

Buttonhole Stitch Coffee Catch Up

After my OLLI Book Arts classes I like to meet with students the following week to check on their finished books. At this point we are all teachers because we’ve figured out some things and discovered other possibilities. We gather around a little table in Humboldt’s Coffee and Chocolate in Old Town Eureka, and enjoy the artist exchange in what can be a sunny location (we are getting there!). These are the books that were shared and thank you all so very much!

Buttonhole Five

From left to right: Charlene is ready to sew, Pat’s triangle opening is beautifully sewn, Edge decided to sew the middle section trying a Buttonhole Stitch rather than a longstitch, Donna used a bowtie to pull threads together and she added beads, and Dolly is ready to sew. In class I demonstrated a simple rectangular opening so they all headed off on an adventure with their books.

Buttonhole

Denise had seen this beautiful paper at the Art Center in Arcata and when she finished her first sample book she knew she had to go back and purchase this paper for her second book. She also did a very nice job of covering the inside of the book with a single sheet of paper! She’s very pleased!

Buttonhole inside

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Buttonhole Stitch Book Followup One

A group of local book art lovers finished an OLLI class last week and created some beautiful model books in preparation for their final book. Some had never made a book and I don’t think any had sewn the buttonhole stitch so there was a lot to learn.


The model had paper covers but the second book will have board covers and they chose the design for the spine openings.


The following photos are a review of the start of the buttonhole stitch. (Ignore the slit in the spine as I will unpick the demo and do the final sewing through the slit)

1) Insert the needle and thread into the valley of the leftmost section. Pull the thread through leaving a tail of about 3 inches. Pull the thread straight up and wrap over the top of the section to the inside.


2) Tie off near the original hole and then enter that same hole with the needle and thread.


3) Pull the needle and thread through and pull the thread behind the first vertical stitch, right to left.


4) Pull the thread through and over to the next section on the right. Enter the hole.


5) Pull the thread through leaving a bit of a loop in the thread exiting the first hole; come up underneath and through this loop and cross over the top of the thread before entering the next hole.



6) To finish off this stitch pull the loop snug before pulling the thread completely through the next hole in the next section to the right. Repeat these steps until the last section and after looping over the top of the last section re-enter the hole and tie off inside.

Hope this makes sense!

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Buttonhole Stitch Book

Please join me along with the OLLI Book Arts community as we make this fun little book. Students will pick one of the many variations available using this structure –  from beginning to more advanced choices! Show off some of your hand decorated papers from your collection and choose papers for writing, drawing, or watercolor.

OLLI HUMBOLDT STATE, SPRING 2017

Book Arts: The Buttonhole Stitch Book With Michele Olsen

Embroiderers use the buttonhole stitch to decorate fabric; book artists use it to attach pages to the book spine. The technique results in a open spine structure that reveals individual sections and provides many creative possibilities for the paper artist and book designer. We will explore variations of the structure — beginning to more advanced. All levels welcome.

Day & Date: Tues., March 28 & Thurs., March 30

Time: 1-4 p.m.

Fee: OLLI Members $65

Class #: 27649: REGISTER ONLINE

Location: Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center

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