Making a removeable fabric book cover ...

A new year & I am always ready to start a new project. My visiting cousin suggested that she would like to make a fabric book cover for her boring new diary. 

She had seen inspiration for one in a book I had put out for her to browse - 

I had seen one done in a recent workshop, though I did not have the time to make one at that time so I suggested we make one together following the guidelines I could remember. It is easier to do than to explain most of the time. 

I found a length of cream calico fabric that was large enough for both our books that were a similar A5 size. 

The technique is to lay the book on the fabric so there is about 3 inches to the side for the flaps. 

The fabric to the top & bottom of the book needs to be long enough to fold over the book with extra to join it up. 

This folded up fabric will form the backing of the moveable book cover to cover up the reverse stitching once completed. 

It can be trimmed to size but better to have more than less fabric. 

We laid the book on the backing fabric with the extra fabric around & drew around the open book to get the shape of the cover that will be needed. This is the part that we will add fabric bits to & embellish. 

It is easier to work on a shape & not adding fabric to the flaps would make it easier to finish of the completed cover because it won't be too bulky. 

We used a box of my fabric pieces & decided we were not going to overthink the selections - I was drawn to the pinks that I have used in other pieces, placing a few pieces that went together & then decided on 2 different pink threads. We started stitching & did not do many photos of the early process.  

A simple running stitch is your best friend because it can be used in many ways by varying the length, the direction, the width of the stitches etc. It is a very useful starting stitch. 

I overstitched all the edges to keep the fabrics in place & to give it a form that would be sturdy for the next stage. 

Slow stitching is the term used to describe intuitive stitching, just letting the needle & thread go where it wants to, you relax. It is a known form of mindfulness, because there is no pattern to be followed, no right or wrong, just intuitive stitching. 

Slow stitching is just going where the creative process takes you, adding fabrics & stitching in any way you feel across the fabric.  It is often stitching purely for stitching's sake, it does not have to be useful or functional. 

This is a very good explanation of that slow stitching is ...

However, in our case the stitching will be part of our book cover - the stitches give it more regidity & structure so it is very useful.

After the stitching it is time to assemble the book cover.

I first trimmed the fabric - the backing for the main part comes from folding over the additional fabric to the middle & trimming it to size with a seam allowance for the joins. Iron to the centre, pin the two pieces & then machine stitched them. 

The tube shape is turned right way around & seams pressed flat. I decided that the side flaps were too plain so I stitched some vintage linen & lace fabric to make each flap. 

The completed cover - it is a snug fit but makes the notebook look a lot brighter. 

The inside slip in side sleeve with vintage trim. 

The completed cover in vibrant colours that will be well used. 

This has been an interesting project. I used limited colours because I was working with my cousin & didn't want to be bogged down in all the details. I love adding stitching & running stitch is very versatile, & seed stitch is useful for details too. I added a few French knots too. I chose to use only 2 different threads - pale & dark pink. 

Do let me know if you are tempted to make one too or if you need any further advice. Thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 🪡🧵📍📚