JOURNAL COVERS

Posted by Handmade Canberra on Jun 20, 2011 in HANDMADE LIVING | 0 comments

Customise your child’s journals, notebooks and art books with this gorgeous fabric cover…and watch their imagination take flight!

Michelle Williams from poppy bean and bloss shows you how!

Create!

what you need

24 x 34.5cm external fabric
24 x 34.5cm lining fabric
two 11.5 x 24cm pocket pieces
23 x 33.5cm lightweight fusible pellon
1 x A5 notebook.

what to do

STEP ONE. Centre and fuse pellon to wrong side of external fabric, leaving 6mm of fabric around perimeter.

STEP TWO. Make a 6mm fold down one long edge of each pocket piece. Press then fold same edge under another 6mm to enclose raw edge. Press and top stitch in place.

STEP THREE. With all right sides facing upwards, line up pockets with outer edges of lining piece, matching raw edges. Sew along top and bottom edge only of each pocket, with a 6mm seam.

STEP FOUR. Place main fabric face down on top of pocket piece (with pockets still facing up). Stitch all four sides, leaving an 8cm gap at the bottom for turning.

STEP FIVE. Clip corners close to stitching and turn cover right side out. Push corners out with a blunt pencil. Press, turning raw edges of opening under, ready for top stitching.

STEP SIX. Top stitch around all four sides, 3mm from edge. Insert notebook.

To cover other sized books, add 25mm to the height. measure around book––from edge, around spine & back to other edge, then add 25mm. This will give you the width.

This is an extract from handmade living: a designer collective, a unique and stunning collection of projects and inspirational ideas from some of Australia’s most talented handmade artisans, designers and craftspeople. This gorgeous collective features over 70 projects that will have handmade aficionados everywhere firing up their sewing machines and melting chocolate.

Featuring seven sections from homewares to children and food, handmade living is not only a visual delight, its collection of beautiful projects and articles will suit anyone keen to create something whimsically precious and simply wonderful. Handmade Living (Handmade Press, 2010) by Tania McCartney, with Julie Nichols and Tina Snerling, $39.95. Available at bookstores around Australia or online.

Handmade Market attracts handmade aficionados from around the country and features the best of Australian quality and design, along with a brand new Small Business Summit and Designer expo. Shop Handmade Canberra has become a permanent space for divine handmade wares, with over 120 designers in a dreamy setting. In December 2010, Handmade’s first book handmade living: a designer collective was released to much acclaim. Handmade Canberra––the market, the shop, the book.