I first found Alice’s Embroidery Journals in my very own Embroidery Journaling Facebook Group. Each time she updated the group, I was always wowed by the effort and skill that she puts into each and every one of her icons. I’ve adored watching her Embroidery Journal methods shift and change over the past few years and I thought it was time for her to finally be interviewed for A Stitch A Day!
Follow along as Alice reveals her favourite icons, display methods for her completed journals, and some of the materials that she uses to create her artwork!
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am Alice Machado, a retired Primary school Librarian and then a facilitator to High school for individual students in the classroom. I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
In primary school, I remember stitching various embroidery stitches on a tray cloth and a little apron, so I think that’s where my love of embroidery started!
What have been some of your favourite icons that you embroidered throughout 2025?
Some of my favourite Icons in 2025 (30 cm hoop) were the birds and my Mom’s red knitted coat that I chain stitched with the exact colour red embroidery thread, so it looked like it was knitted! But that colour was some random thread that wasn’t colourfast. It bled a bit but I am okay with that now as I have decided it is all part of the process, picking the perfect colour but not the perfect thread! I am also pleased with the “crewel work” Teddy bear!
What supplies do you use for your embroidery journal?
I used hoops I had at home, bought at a charity shop, 2023 (25cm), 2024 (26cm). Previously, I used vintage cotton serviettes as my fabric, but the weave was too loose, so I struggled to keep my threads from pulling too tight and leaving holes. I kept thinking I would get a tighter weave for next year’s fabric, but I kept using those serviettes!! In 2025, I stitched freehand and didn’t use the heat erasable pen until part way through the year. I had tried a water erasable pen but that left such wide lines for tiny icons so I went back to freehand stitching. That meant the sizes of my were more “organic” so my icons got quite crowded. I decided on a bigger hoop for 2025 and changed from the pie layout to a “Globe, equator and longitude lines” layout.
This year I am using a much smaller 21cm hoop. I am also back to the pie layout for my monthly highlight journal and I am using a tighter weave and I have backed it with Iron on interfacing. And I have used the heat erasable pen I bought at a book shop in Portugal (Legami 0.7mm). I am not convinced the interfacing is making much of a difference for me. The 2nd small hoop I am working on is also a tightly woven cloth. I am stitching creatures: butterflies, birds and insects on that without any issues.
How do you like to display your previous Embroidery Journals?
I am hanging up my journals in the hoops they were worked in, so I can take them down if someone wants to hold them and look at the tiny details. They have all been washed as I work on them, so they will be washed again when they get dusty!
What advice do you have for someone wanting to create an embroidery journal?
Sometimes I find that the DMC embroidery thread I used was too thick. If I wanted to outline a pale icon on my white cloth I instead used sewing machine thread. Metallic embroidery thread is mad and frustrating to stitch with! So I used metallic sewing machine thread to highlight metallic things.
My advice to anyone wanting to start embroidering their journal would be: Don’t be intimidated by other people’s work – be inspired by it. Do what pleases you. It is such a satisfying project. After all it is personal. In my daily hoops, I enjoyed stitching all the icons, simple things, like my favourite mug, a fried egg, a test tube for a blood test or a more intricate rendition of a bird or the 3D ones of teddy bears I had repaired. When I knew I was running out of space and was determined to record that day I used words!
I have often picked up ideas from other embroiderers on the group that I have used. It’s inspiring to see other people’s clever icons, for emotions, ways of using script, colours, busy and wonderful depictions.
Where can we find you online? (Website, social media accounts, etc)
I post my embroidery on The Embroidery Journaling facebook group.
Enjoyed this post? Then check out some of my other blog posts or purchase the in-depth embroidery journal guide. You can also join the free Embroidery Journaling Facebook Group to chat with others working on their own Embroidery Journals. You can also follow me on any of the following social media websites: