September 4, 2011
1 comment
awesome
I just wanted to note that Jessica from ALLFREESEWING.com contacted me a while back about listing my book cover tutorial on their site. I gave permission and am thrilled with the amount of people checking things out!
Don’t forget to share your photos with the rest of us at http://www.flickr.com/groups/fabricbookcover/ :)
On a different note, grad school is kicking my ass so theCrafties is taking a side seat for now. I hope to get things worked out and back to quasi normal after I get caught up (boo for late shipments on books!!). Remember that if you would like to follow my grad school adventures, you’ll need to email me because I will not be linking the site here.
I hope you experience great crafting days ahead and continue to share so that I can live vicariously through the internet!
June 8, 2011
10 comments
Fabric Book Cover Tutorial
So…can you sew a straight line? Sew it six times and you’ll be on your way to reading in style! In fact, the Quick & Dirty version only uses two lines of stitching! I mean, does it get any easier than that? Download theCrafties Fabric Book Cover Tutorial, or continue reading:)
Fabric book covers are awesome – they protect your pages, hide your saucy titles, feel great on your hands, and look super. Make one for you or a gift for someone special – even guys can dig a smart black cover. But don’t stop there! Get creative – embroidery, embellish with beads, applique, whatever floats your boat. But be sure to add it to the Flickr Pool and share it with all of us :D It’s super easy to make, and what else is cool about it? The seams are hidden so it’s very clean looking!
I will show you how to make a book cover for a standard mass market paperback (tradeback books are a different size!). There are also directions at the end for the Quick & Dirty version.
You’ll need:
- Fabric (nothing stretchy – I prefer corduroys, linens, and soft canvas myself)
- Interfacing (I use medium or heavy weight, depending on how flimsy my fabric choice is)
- Ribbon (width is up to you and the ridged kind is great – oh! and a bauble if you like)
- Fabric glue (optional – see Step Two)
- Fabric marker
STEP ONE : Cutting
Outside Cover: Cut out a piece of fabric and interfacing measuring 18 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches
*Note: Super thick or super thin books may need adjustments in the length of the cover, but this is good for roughly 200-500 pages.
Inner Lining: Cut out a piece of fabric and interfacing measuring 10 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches
Bookmark: Cut a piece of ribbon 19 inches long
STEP TWO: Bookmark
Finger press the ribbon in half.
Attach your bauble – I slip on a circle shell bead, but you can sew a button on the end, or leave it bare, or whatever you can think of.
Pin the end of the ribbon (I found that miniature clothes pins work great for various sewing projects!). This will help keep the ribbon in line when you proceed to the next step.
Optional: Use fabric glue along the ribbon to secure the sides together (put a piece of scrap paper underneath!). Another option is to sew it, but I found that too tricky. Of course, you could also cut the length in half instead of doubling up and skip this part altogether.
STEP THREE: Fabric and interfacing
Lay each interfacing on top of the Cover and the Lining.
Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew the two short sides of both the Cover and the Lining. You know what else is cool? It does not matter what color thread you use because you’ll never see it:)
Reverse both the Cover and the Lining. But see how its real loosey-goosey?
Introduce your iron to the problem and voila!
Here is the point where you can add embellishments – ideas: embroidery, buttons, applique, fabric flowers – try something out! I added a simple ribbon at the middle of the Cover along where the book binding will be.
If you decide to do something on just the front cover, measure where the center is and then measure from that point (towards the right): half of the depth of your book, and draw a line. This will be the left side of the front cover. Then measure from that point over by the width of your book and that will be the right side of your cover. Also remember to stay within the seam allowance along the top and bottom.
STEP FOUR: Folding
Lay the Cover face down. Measuring from both edges, mark 1 3/4 inches. The mark itself will roughly give you 1/8 of an inch for the fold allowance, so you’ll then want to move your ruler and mark 2 inches in from that. Do not worry about the 3 1/2 mark yet.
Flip the Cover over and fold both sides in at the 2 inch mark.
Fold the sides back over themselves at the 1 3/4 inch mark. Have a go with the iron again. Now is the time to mark the 3 1/2 mark at the top, only on the left side (this will be for placing the book mark).
Pin your bookmark centered over the 3 1/2 mark. Be sure to leave 1/4 of an inch poking passed the cover just to be extra sure it gets sewn in well during the next step.
**This is really important!!** Make sure that you twist your bookmark out to the side because if you don’t, and you leave it poking down at the bottom, you will sew it into the cover and curse yourself as you rip the seams out! Trust me!
Lay the Lining facedown on top of the folded Cover. Make sure you see that bookmark poked out of the side, gosh darnit!
STEP FIVE: Sew it up!
Along the top and bottom, sew with 1/4 seam allowance.
Clip the corners and the 1/4 tab left from the bookmark.
STEP SIX: Flip it out!
Reverse the cover.
Reverse the pockets.
Use your finger to poke the corners nicely and then iron the sucker out.
ENJOY!
I would love for you to add your photos to theCrafties Fabric Book Cover Pool, or leave a comment here, or send an email. Photos are awesome but so are any issues you had when making the cover. I’d be glad to work out quirks!
QUICK AND DIRTY:
The Q&R version omits the interfacing and is best with thicker fabrics because thinner ones will feel flimsy and cheap (and may even be see-through!). Because of that, the side edges are raw but this really doesn’t matter since they ultimately end up in the very inside of the cover.
- Reduce the Length of both the Cover and Lining by 1/2 inch.
- Skip the talk about cutting out interfacing, and the part about sewing the interfacing to the fabric in STEP THREE.
- Follow all the other steps.
Quick, huh? :)
Do tell me if you enjoyed this, won’t you? And please remember to add your photos to theCrafties Fabric Book Cover Pool! :D
April 25, 2011
2 comments
Guinea Pig Pattern: Revised
So you may remember this post about making my bro a guinea pig, and then I posted again with a bit of a tweak here. Well, one of my readers, Marja, has added her own revisions to the pattern and I think you will like them! I would like to point out again that the original design is posted at KidsDomain.
Click here to view Marja’s revised Guinea Pig Pattern.
Her primary language is Dutch, but you can still check out photos of her cute crafts at In de Molshoop :)
Thank you Marja, this is a great revision!
