The Simple Things

Taking time to live well
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Taking Time to Live Well

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Photography: Josie George

How to | Make a Thread Journal

Iona Bower February 15, 2022

Keeping a record of your days doesn’t have to mean picking up a pen and paper; you can be as
creative as you like

If we say so ourselves, we loved the weather scarf in our February issue (pictured above by Josie George). It seems like an ingenious way both to keep a small record of each day as well as to keep up a hobby. But if you aren’t a natural knitter, you might like to try a different sort of thread journaling.

Look up ‘thread journaling’ on Pinterest and you’ll see hundreds of examples from people who’ve kept an embroidery record of their year. Here’s how it’s done. 

What you’ll need
An embroidery hoop
Some cloth (a large napkin is good)
A good collection of differently coloured embroidery threads
Needles, thimbles, embroidery pen and other notions

How to do it
* Think about how you want to record your days. You can do a year (you don’t have to start with January, of course) or just a month or a specific period in your life.

* Sketch out a few ideas on paper for how you’d like your design to work. You could set it out like a calendar grid, present it as a wheel or just go completely higgeldy piggeldy and stitch each day or week’s motif wherever you please.

* Pop your cloth in your hoop and get started. You might like to stitch a motif to represent each day or each week. What you stitch is up to you. You could do a castle or a hill to represent a relevant day out, a cake to represent a party you went to, a pair of curtains for a theatre trip, a flower or vegetable for something you’ve grown in the garden. If you prefer, and have the chops, you could get quite specific - perhaps embroidering something to represent every book you read in a year, or everything you grow in your veg patch this summer.

If you’d like to read more about Josie’s Weather Scarf you can find out all about it on page 108 of our February issue. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our February issue…

Featured
Book Club new Emma Croman.jpg
Feb 12, 2022
Food | Fictional Feasts
Feb 12, 2022
Feb 12, 2022
istock brain fog.jpg
Feb 6, 2022
Brain fog | And how to beat it
Feb 6, 2022
Feb 6, 2022
Rachel Lees view from bed.jpg
Feb 5, 2022
How to | Have a Proper Lie-In
Feb 5, 2022
Feb 5, 2022

More journaling inspiration…

Featured
Nature Diary.jpeg
Feb 22, 2025
How To | Keep a Nature Diary
Feb 22, 2025
Feb 22, 2025
Jennie Maizells journal.jpg
Jul 30, 2022
Project | Ideas for a Summer Journal
Jul 30, 2022
Jul 30, 2022
weather scarf.jpeg
Feb 15, 2022
How to | Make a Thread Journal
Feb 15, 2022
Feb 15, 2022
InMaking Tagsembroidery, journalling, project, make, knitting
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  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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