How to Actually Use the Embroidery Journal Weekly Template Without Losing Your Mind
The Embroidery Journal Weekly PDF isn't magic, but it will save you roughly forty minutes a week if you set it up right. Most people complain it doesn't work for them, and the problem is almost always that they're printing it at the wrong scale or trying to use it like a planner instead of a project log. I've been running mine since 2019, and I can tell you exactly where the design falls apart and how to patch it. You'll find the free PDF on the author's website under the resources or downloads section. It's a multi-page printable sheet with weekly grids, thread inventory trackers, stitch logs, and a notes area. The file is usually around 2.4 megabytes. Print it on standard A4 or Letter paper depending on what your region uses. Do not print at 90% or "fit to page" — that throws off the alignment of the grid lines and makes the whole thing unusable for actual writing. I use a small desk printer with a fine-tip gel pen. Works fine. The pages are thin enough that ink bleeds through if you press hard, so don't press hard.
What It Actually Does
Each weekly spread covers seven columns for daily tracking. You note what project you worked on, what stitch you used, how long it took, and any problems you hit — skipped stitches, tension issues, thread breaks. The thread inventory section at the bottom tracks what bobbins are left in each spool. This is the part most people skip, and it's the part that prevents panic when you're two weeks into a piece and realize you're out of a specific DMC shade. The notes column is deliberately blank because different people need different tracking styles. Some want to log hoop size. Some want to log fabric type and count. Leave room for that.
A Problem That Took Me Three Weeks to Fix
Here's the edge case nobody mentions: the weekly grid lines are too narrow for standard pens. I learned this the hard way when I filled out four weeks of entries and realized I could barely read my own handwriting because the ink bled across the printed lines. The template assumes either a mechanical pencil or a very fine ballpoint. Gel pens, which most embroiderers prefer because they flow smoothly over paper texture, are essentially lethal here. My workaround was simple. I opened the PDF in a basic editor, scaled each weekly page up to 105 percent, and reprinted. The extra five percent widened the writing area just enough without distorting the layout. If you don't have access to editing software, just print the pages individually and adjust your printer's scaling setting to 105 before it renders.
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Where the Design Fails and What to Do Instead
The thread inventory tracker has a fatal flaw. It lists threads by DMC number in rows, but it doesn't account for equivalent numbers in other brands. If you use Madeira or Aurifil alongside DMC, you'll spend more time cross-referencing than actually tracking. I solved this by adding a second row of equivalent numbers next to each DMC entry, but that requires rewriting the template every time you get new thread. A better long-term solution is to maintain a separate simple spreadsheet for thread equivalences and just reference it when filling out the journal. Another issue: the daily columns don't have space for date or project name. You have to write both into the same cell. By month three, the entries become a blur of DMC numbers and stitch names that are impossible to parse later. I started writing the date vertically along the left edge of each day's column and the project name horizontally across the top. It takes ten seconds per page and makes the whole thing readable years later.
Should You Use It at All?
Yes, if you work on multiple projects simultaneously and need to remember what went wrong with each one. No, if you only do small pieces once a year. The template is built for regular practice, not occasional crafting. If you find the grid layout too restrictive, there are blank alternatives online that give you more free-form space, but they lack the structured thread tracker which is the real value here. The thread inventory is the only part that justifies using this specific template over a generic notebook. For everything else, you're better off customizing your own version in a tool like Google Sheets or even a Word document with tables. The file is free, so downloading it costs nothing. Print two test pages before committing to a full batch. Adjust your pen choice or printer scale based on what works for your handwriting and you'll probably get value out of it for the long run.
