Tutorial ~ Diy Fabric Covered Notebook

I love love notebooks.  I use them for just about everything and rarely leave home without at least one.  They make perfect gifts too because everyone needs one, even if they don’t know it – make them a pretty notebook and I guarantee they’ll use it.  I made this one for the Mother’s Day gift I made my mom that has my favorite memories, but this can easily be given for any occasion.  For instance, do you have a graduate this May?  Put their favorite quote or initials on the front and they’ll love it.  This does have fabric but it is a no-sew project,  catch me after the jump and I will show you how to make one!

Diy Fabric Covered Notebook

Have you ever searched google for handmade books?  You should, there is some crazy talent out there; makes me want to start a collection.  I was looking for techniques and thought this tutorial for a Handmade Book from The Late Afternoon was closest to what I needed.  I however decided to use heat n bond because the fabric I was using was fairly thin and the hot glue would have shown through.  If you are looking for a larger sturdier book be sure to check out her tutorial.

You can embellish this book a bunch of different ways, so have fun and change it up.  I will give a supply list for how I made mine.

Supplies:

• fabric for the body of the notebook, details and lace for embellishment
• ultra hold Heat n Bond
• scissors
• cereal box or something of the like
• standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper (I used ten sheets)
• tack or push pin
• needle and embroidery floss
• hot glue, fabric glue, glue stick – I used all three, but you could easily get away with one
• hot iron and board

Notebook Assembly

Take the accent fabric and cut about 11 x 1½ inches, lace the same length, and heat n bond slightly larger.

Lay the heat n bond adhesive side up, place the accent fabric over that (right side up), and then layer the lace as shown in picture.  Press and fuse with the hot iron.

This will give you one piece, set aside to let cool.

Take a piece of the paper and fold in half and use as a template to cut out a front, back, and spine for the book.

I used a straight edge and rotary cutter to get nice straight edges, but scissors will work great.

Now lay them out on top of the fabric for the body and cut to be about 2 inches larger on all sides.

Cut the heat n bond to be the same size and then fuse with the hot iron to the wrong side of the fabric.

Once cooled, peel the backing off the heat n bond and lay adhesive side up on ironing table.  Arrange the book pieces on the fabric like shown.

Take and pull one side over, making sure it is smooth, and iron to the box making sure to only iron on the box.  Then cut a square along the bottom corner like shown to allow the bottom to fold seamlessly.

Fold the bottom up and press, then repeat on the top. 

Repeat with the other parts of the book, making sure it remains nice and smooth.  Then turn over and iron on the front. This goes quickly so be careful not to scorch.

Really you could be finished with this part and move onto adding the paper, but where’s the fun in that?  Let’s dress it up a bit…

Now take and peel the backing off the accent piece and center on the back of the book over the spine.  Fuse with the iron.

I took a little fabric glue and ran it right along the inside edge of the lace to make sure it stayed put.

Just fold the ends over to the inside and fuse in place.

Almost finished!

Page Assembly

• Take the paper and fold all in half.  Working with about five pages at a time, make pin holes using the tack down the center crease.  I did this on my cutting board, but cardboard would work great too.
• Then with the needle and floss, make a running stitch up the length of the crease.
• Now stitch back up to make a solid stitch.  Repeat on the other pages.
• Holding the pages together, sew them together with a simple whip stitch.

Now run a thin string of hot glue up the inside of the spine and press the spine of the pages onto the glue.  Once set, take the glue stick and give a good coat to the front and back pages and adhere to the inside of the front and back book flaps to cover up the cereal box.

For the cover I just fused two fabric pieces together and did a little hand embroidery and stamping for the title.  Then I used fabric glue to adhere it to the front.

I love how it turned out and am quite impressed with how sturdy it is.  You could make them any size, a little pocket book would be fun, or even a little fat one.  Lots and lots of possibilities!

Thanks for reading!

Destri

ps, if you’re getting this in your reader or inbox twice I apologize, we had some technical difficulties today..I swear it’s the full moon :)

Tagged as: Diy Accessories, gift ideas, handmade gifts