Nature Journal in stitch

Nature Journals are just so beautiful

The simple idea of being outside and taking a closer look at what is around you can create some truly inspiring art journals that are not only a joy to create but also to look at. There are a whole host of different ones that have been shared online and they are incredibly inspiring.

Nature features often in my stitching and I love the changing seasons and so was excited at the thought of creating a nature journal of my own. Fast forward a couple of months of playing around with different ideas and techniques I finally have a plan and thought it would be great to share the process.

Rather than the conventional idea of using pen and paper, I am going to use needle and thread and can’t wait to get stitching. I’m not sure how this is going to look, what will be included – let’s just see where nature takes me over the coming months.

It’s all in the Planning!

This idea to stitch a Nature Journal started taking shape towards the end of 2024 so I have spent a lot of time experimenting with different fabrics and layout ideas since then. Now we are heading through March 2025, I thought it was about time I started putting my plans in to action!

Starting the Nature Journal

I made a conscious decision to start in January 2025! and decided to document anything that stands out or happens in the month – into a little notebook – so I don’t forget as I knew I wouldn’t have time to stitch things straight away! Here’s what I had at the end of January…

I’m so glad I did this – it’s so much more authentic when you have actually experienced everything with your own eyes and ears. Plus, no way I would remember half of that if it wasn’t written down!

Before even planning the page size and deciding how to arrange the pages I got carried away after seeing a fox on my morning walk one day, so went straight to the stitching bit! Ooops.

I wasn’t even sure at this stage what the layout of my page is going to be but I decided this was a fun approach and one I wanted to keep.

Let’s see how this goes!

I don’t have too many concrete plans at this stage but am excited to get properly stuck in. I have designed a front cover and stitched a few more little elements to add on to my first page. I am busy deciding what to include for January and how accurate I want to be with my interpretations. I think a more freeform approach will work best as I don’t want to get bogged down by precise details.

I am also excited to be able to use some new threads I haven’t tried before which is Aurifil stranded floss. So far the colours are beautiful and they are lovely to stitch with.

Here’s how the front cover is coming along…

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the start of this project – who knows – it might inspire you to start one of your own. I will be making regular updates on this as the year unfolds and can’t wait to see how it starts to look!

Happy Stitching!