Journal

Making a Quilted Envelope Bag: A Slow Stitching Project in Vintage Linen

Last year I spent a week on the west coast of Scotland with the Australian textile artist India Flint. One of the projects we worked on was something she called sashiko felting — sandwiching sheep’s fleece between layers of silk, hand-stitching into the cloth, then felting it by slamming it against rocks and washing it in hot water. What emerged was dense, soft, textured. The piece I made became a vessel, now on my sunroom windowsill, where it holds the small leftovers from knitting socks.

A container made of memory and wool.

A few months later, on a quiet evening, I came across the quilted envelope bags of The Red Embroidery on Pinterest. I was drawn to their simplicity — softened corners, visible stitches, a sense that they had been held and handled and loved. They felt like letters to oneself, sewn instead of written.

When it came time to shape the final project for Stitched, the seasonal stitching course in The Studio, these two ideas began to converge. I wanted to end the journey with something both tactile and tender — a project that brought together skills handed down, fragments of old materials, and the quiet comfort of making by hand.

What emerged is this: a quilted envelope bag, stitched slowly from vintage linen, wool blanket offcuts, and leftover threads. It’s a soft, handmade pouch for carrying small essentials — or simply to hold special things. You might use it as a stitched wallet, a fabric keyring pouch, or an envelope for letters, notes, or threads.

It’s worked using the simple, steady hand-stitches we’ve been exploring together. This is a slow stitching project in every sense — designed to be picked up and put down in pockets of time. There is no rush, no perfect outcome. Just cloth, thread, and intention.

For those who’d like to work with the exact materials I’ve used — a vintage linen base, soft wool felt, lace-making thread, long darning needle, and carefully chosen fixings — I’ve created a small batch of supply kits. These aren’t mass-produced; they’re assembled slowly from things I’ve gathered over time. You’ll find the Studio Companion Kit here, if it feels like something you’d like to bring into your hands.

What would you place inside your envelope?

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