Get your children off to a cheerful start this school year with some fun fabric covered notebooks. You can individualize them with all kinds of notions, and if you happen to have a home embroidery machine, you could even embroider their names or initials on the fabric before gluing it to the notebook! Too cute!
You'll Need:
- spiral or hardbound notebooks
- fabric: cotton or cotton blend, lighter weight fabrics are easier to work with
- trim, such as rick rack or grosgrain ribbon
- glue, fabric glue or polyvinyl white glue (devek plasti) or woodworkers glue which is inexpensive and good for working with fabric, that's what I used!
How To For Spiral-Bound Notebooks:
- Cut a piece of fabric that is roughly the size of the cover plus a 1 inch border all around.
- Brush an ample coat of glue onto cover
- Open notebook, such that cover lies by itself, and lay fabric on cover, checking to make sure it's straight where fabric meets spiral
- Burnish with your fingers, smoothing out any wrinkles or bumps due to too much glue
- Set aside to dry, at least a few hours
- Turn cover over and to prepare for wrapping fabric around cover, trim an even border on the three sides.
- Cut out squares at corners such that there won't be too much fabric overlapping, or cut flaps on the diagonal such that there will be no fabric overlapping
- Apply glue to fabric flaps, fold down over inside of cover and burnish.
- Do not close notebook until completely dry!
- Glue on trim to hide rough fabric edge at spiral
- For a very finished look on the inside cover, you can glue on a piece of card stock that's slightly smaller than the dimensions of the cover. This is how it's done with leather wrapped hard bound books!
How To For Hard Bound Books:
- Apply an ample layer of glue to entire outside of book
- Lay book down on fabric and starting at spine and working outword, burnish fabric such that it adheres to every fold.
- Place sheets of paper on the inside cover and inside back cover to protect from glue, and leave to dry in a closed position
- For the neatest finish, trim the portion of fabric that extends beyond the spine to about 1/8" longer than the spine, top and bottom and tuck under. (Sorry if that's not too clear)
- Once glue is fully dry, trim excess fabric to form an even border around cover and back cover, and trim fabric portions on the spine area up to the spine (there is no way to wrap the fabric here)
- Coat flaps with glue and fold over onto inside and back cover.
- For a very finished look on the inside and back cover, you can glue on a
piece of cardstock that's slightly smaller than the dimensions of the
cover. This is how it's done with leather wrapped hard bound books!
If you take the time to do a neat job, the results will be so great you'll want to make a whole set of these for yourself! And, fabric wrapped journals would make wonderful gifts! Enjoy!
