Needlework Nutshell reader and fellow stitcher, Sisu, has come up with a pocket bookmark finishing technique that I love.

Just before Christmas, Sisu decided to make a bookmark for her son’s friend, Destiny, who was moving. She needed a finishing method that was durable enough for an eight-year-old yet didn’t require any special supplies since she “waited until the last minute, as usual.” (None of us can relate to that can we?)

What I did was stitch the design on an 18ct aida (sturdy).

I folded both long sides towards the middle and backstitched a tight border up both sides, one fabric thread from the fold, to make them flat. I cut off the excess fabric where it met in the middle and stitched the edges closed like lacing a shoe (over, under, over, under) all the way up. I stitched the bottom closed, but just blanket stitched the top edges. This left a long, open pocket. I fringed the bottom and the front edge only on the top.

My son wrote a note to his friend and slipped it in the pocket.

This method left no raw edges, still hid the back of my stitching, and made the whole piece only two layers of fabric thick. I liked the way it turned out, and will probably do more like it in the future.

And so will I! Sisu’s brilliant idea has spawned several ideas in my own head, and I hope it will do the same for you.

Naturally, I grilled Sisu about her technique, and she oh-so-generously made another one and took pictures of the steps. She wound up producing a tutorial for her project which was published in this month’s (today’s) issue of The Needlework Nutshell.

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Anywho, you’ll find info about Sisu’s tutorial in the Nutshell archives.