With a new job comes the need for a brand new note pad. Oh the joys! After receiving a Barnes & Noble gift card for graduation, I invested in a few Moleskins. And though I do love a good Moleskin journal, they truly are very plain. So I decided to liven them up a bit with some simple embroidery.

My grandmother gave me some wool embroidery floss a few years ago. Since I do not have enough to use on a major project, I like it pull it out for smaller projects like this. But the basic cotton embroidery floss works great too. Along with the thread, you’ll need the journals, embroidery needles, scissors, a ruler and a pencil.

I started out by tracing a few lines on the inside front cover to act as a guide for my stitches. (It’s always important to stitch straight.)

Sewing through the cover is really easy. As you can see from the picture, the stitches do reveal some strain in the cardboard, but it is only noticeable close up. Most of the stitches I used were very simple, but for one row, I used a French knot.

Creating a perfect French knot might take some practice, but it is simple to remember once you get the hang of it.

Start by bringing the thread up into the space where the knot will be displayed.

Next, you take the thread and wrap it around the needle. I always wrap it three times.

Then, insert the needle back through the cover. Do not put it back through the original hole. But you want the second hole to be near the first.

Before you pull the needle through, tighten the thread to make a knot. Then keeping the thread taunt, pull the needle through to the other side.

In completely these steps, you have created a French knot.

Again, the other stitches are super easy because they are all straight lines. I was able to complete the project in the time it took to watch a movie. Though I took this one to work, I have a feeling I will pull this idea out again when I am in need of a good gift.