My little tatty book.

These are the first four pages of my Tree Ogham book. It is a little more colourful than appears in these photos and is taking on a character all it's own. It is nothing like the way I first imagined it. It was never going to be elegant - I can't do elegant - but it is quite a bit more rustic than I planned.

I am limited by the size of the pages, which started out as one very long strip cut to size for another project which didn't come to fruition. I need ten pairs of pages for this book so here again the size was determined for me.

The tattiness really took shape when I was looking for an edging cord or binding and found some sari yarn which I couched down. Originally I had planned to stitch a neat machined edging but with some of my more chunky embellishments there was not enough room for the foot of the machine to get all the way round, so I had to work by hand.

I have joined each pair of pages, wrong sides together, with buttonhole stitch. What a good job I like handstitching so much - it takes ages!

I have also discovered that I am becoming less nervous of drawing if I tear an irregular piece of paper to the size and shape I need, distress the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink, and then start to draw. I colour the sketches with water soluble pencils which blend beautifully and add a little water to bring out the colour. I always got better results from doodling on the back of an envelope than from trying to draw seriously and 'properly'.

The fabric I am working on is a firm calico which I painted while wet. I have ironed it many times to get rid of the creases, without success. They do however give an interesting visual texture and add to the general tattiness! I had plans for a rather grand cover, but need a tatty one now to be in keeping with the pages.

I am off now to finish work on the first chapter of module 2 of my online course, then I can post that on my other blog.