happy friday, sweet ladies! april here :] i’ve had lots of questions & requests for advice over on my instagram page on how to sew or stitch in your bible — and today i’m here to help!
let me first preface by saying IT IS OKAY TO SEW IN YOUR BIBLE. if you want to. if you don’t want to, that’s rad, too. the awesome thing about this illustrated faith journey is that it is YOUR journey with Christ. not your friend’s, sister’s or IG neighbor’s journey. so whatever form of art or journaling worship brings you closest to Jesus, you do that. since sewing is a huge part of my ministry for Christ, adding that extra layer into my bible just makes a whole buncha sense to me.
okay. let’s move on, hmm? :]
if & when you’re ready to start sewing some goodness into your margins, gather your supplies. today i chose to sew a couple of cardstock ephemera pieces to highlight a verse that spoke to me in titus.
i sat down at my machine & mentally outlined how i wanted my page to look. i wanted the stitches to stand out & add some stark contrast, so i switched my top thread to black. i first sewed the flower onto the pink card to create one joined piece. it got a little crazy & i really like that. you could also stitch in a matching color & just do a single line for a cleaner look.
next, i laid my bible out on my machine. i wanted this to be a sewn-in tip-in [all the hyphenations….] so i made a short set of stitches along the very edge of the ephemera piece. this way i can flip it out & journal underneath the next time i visit this passage. and that was it! easy peasy.
my biggest tip for sewing on these delicate pages is to GO SLOW. yes, shouty caps. if you go fast, the machine’s feed may just sweep your bible right out of your hands & it could rip the page. slow it down, give the presser foot a light push, and sew at a snail’s pace for just a couple extra seconds. i haven’t tried an automatic knot on the pages yet — i just backstitch a little to keep the stitches down.
other than that, you should be safe to sew in your margins [or any other paper book you want to spruce up]. it’s thinner than fabric, so if you want to test it out before you send your bible through the machine, try sewing a bit on one of the back pages of the bible or a plain sheet of computer paper.
most of all, don’t stress. just enjoy this time with God. tag me in your instagram photos so i can see your stitching worship, too! – April
Thank you so much April!!!! I get this question ALL.THE.TIME. so I am THANKFUL you took the time to photograph your beautiful process and answer this question for our community!
– Shanna
Love that you’re sharing about sewing on the pages! I just wanted to add to the post one thing: make sure that you have a longer stitch length…stitches closer together might create a perforated line of holes, possibly resulting in the page being easier to rip. Does that make sense?
Can’t wait to see what else you have still to come!
I love that look! I love sewing on paper but didn’t think of sewing actually on the pages. thanks for your nice instructions.
Lovely work! Handstiching in my bible is something I have been thinking of doing recently, as I ajve zillions of gorgeous very fine metallic threads as well as regular sewing silks. Thank for sharing!
What about sewing buttons or sequins by hand? Has anyone tried that?