One last tutorial to end the week on and this one is a funny kind of collaboration! Months ago, Miss EggVIP suggested making a book cover to use on the train. I pretty much stay in the CBD now so training places isn’t a huge thing from me but I have been wanting to make some kind of folder to keep letters you guys send in. Enter Hear Mum Roar who kindly donated an old filofax for crafting a long time ago too!

Add some scrap fabric I had and this was the result:

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I haven’t really decorated it yet but I thought I would show you how I made the basic cover and leave the rest to your imagination ^_^You need:

  • Fabric
  • Needle/thread or a sewing machine
  • Pins
  • Scissors
  • Iron/ironing board to make it nice and neat
  • Book to cover
First step is to lay out your fabric and place the book on top, you need to measure enough to cover the whole thing and still leave several cm on all sides to be the seams. I only had enough for a small amount of overhang on each side but if you want to have pockets on the inside I would suggest cutting it twice as wide as the book.

 

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Lay the fabric out with the bad side up and fold the top and bottom over twice to form a seam like this then pin it in place:

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You want it to be a little taller than the book so it will protect the edges a little and there’s enough room for the cover to side in and out.

Next flip it so the good side is up and fold the sides over the cover edges and pin in place like this:

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Fold the other side over and make sure it’s fairly snug on the book but not so tight so you can’t close it. You’ll notice all the seams are facing outwards, we’re basically making it inside out so the seams are hidden on the inside.

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Take the book out and fold the raw edge back on itself so it will be hidden at the end and pin in place.

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You should have something along these lines. In a perfect world you would fold the raw seam under twice so it’s completely incased but I didn’t have enough fabric to do that.

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Now stitch everything! Sew around the outside seams that you pinned so it’s all completely secure. Once you’re finished you can turn it right way out.

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My filofax had an elastic band to hold it closed so I poked a hole out the back to allow it through. DONE!

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On the inside you can see what I meant about leaving more fabric to turn the cover into a pocket on each side. Mine was much too thin but if you have enough fabric it can be very useful!

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Now you just need to fill it with letters! Or in my case, you need to sit down and reply to your letters instead of procrastinating by making a pretty folder to keep them in >_> The beautiful one you can see on top was written to me by the awesome Frolickings, she even drew this beautiful picture of me!! So freaking awesome!

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