"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly"

Personalised Butterfly Journal

Last week, whilst at a local carboot sale, I found a lovely butterfly duvet cover made by "Their Nibs", an online company similar to Boden and The White Company et al.  I decided that it would be perfect for a journal that my sister had requested for a friend of hers.

 The linen is from the same pair of upcycled curtains that I have been using for my tea cosies.  Once you get used to the dirt and pushing at a car boot sale you'll never find a more economical way to purchase fabric.

The pink polka dot wings look quite pale in some of the photos, but the picture below provides a better representation of just how bright it really is!

I used the butterfly print as a starting point to chose the rest of the fabric, it was then simply a matter of creating a complimentary applique design.

  

I drew in the details to be stitched with a 'Frixion' pen as the marks disappear when a warm iron is run over them.  These pens are now widely available in most supermarkets and stationers and they're much cheaper than those sold specifically as quilting pens.

  

I also use these pens to create a guide when stitching letters as my own handwriting is not all that great.  Just open a font on your computer, place your fabric over the screen and trace directly onto it.

However, when I attempted this method with this project the linen was too thick to see through, so it was back to the tried and tested 'tissue paper' method. 

Trace the font and wording of your choice onto tissue paper, embroider, then tear away the paper.

The back of the cover is decorated with an appliqued butterfly, cut from the duvet, which I then free-motion embroidered in black to really make it 'pop'

The back also features a 'SewforSoul' label!

After I had finished sewing up the cover I remembered that I had intended adding a ribbon border between the two contrasting  fabrics.  So I had to grab my unpicker and have another go!  This one glitch aside it all went pretty smoothly :)