I have to let you in on a secret addiction.....Journals!! I love them even though I never write in a journal...at least not like a diary. But I often need to write things down...lists, songs, poems, lists, sermon notes, measurements for a quick alteration for someone at church. I love planning on paper. I just can't do it on the computer. The problem is that I can't afford to buy one every time I want one. I'm just a sucker for a pretty journal.
One day a couple of months ago, I was feeling like I needed a little 'cheerer upper' and having no available funds to 'buy' something, thought...hmmm...maybe I could make something with all my scraps around the house.
I have a favorite journal that Kristy Bailey and her daughters made that is a composition book covered in chicken paper with an orange spine. (They know I love chickens!) Well it was falling apart and I needed a replacement.
And here it is... of course..one thing leads to another! I thought that one might be a little bright for taking notes at church on Sunday...so I made one that was a little bit more elegant. I used the scraps from one of my favorite blouses to make this one.
The pictures look like they aren't square but they really are perfectly fitting to the standard composition book. The bottom one doesn't have the book in it though. It stretches a little so the cover fits snug.
We made a all purple one for Rebekah's friend, Laura Strack, and a mini covered book to match. The little one is the perfect size to carry in a purse.
Rebekah's black journal cover is sleeker looking. She doesn't like floo-floo which is hard for me to comprehend. I plan to make quite a few with tapestry covers that have less floo-floo, but plenty of texture. With all the costumes I have made, I have lots of left over cloth like that.
This one really is a little wider at the end. I tried to do some top stitching per her request but it made it bulkier. I'm afraid I have to learn by doing and that was a mistake I won't make twice. :o) I also have made some fake leather ones in tan and plan to do some black velvet and brown suede ones as well. The rectangle that I cut for my journals was long enough to cover the outside and the inside (front and back) of the 5x 8 composition book. I made sure it was wide enough to leave a 3/8" seam allowance on the top and bottom.Then I folded the ends right sides together almost to the center (to make flaps) and stitched down the top and bottom edges on both sides. I embellished with ribbon and sewed things on while the rectangle was still flat.
I love the idea of doing quilted scraps for a cover, or tapestry. There are so many options! If you do a search on journal covers you will be amazed at all the tutorials available for sew and no-sew. Here are a couple of links to tutorials that I liked. I didn't make side pockets for mine. I just kept it simple and cut out one long rectangle and hemmed the short ends. I couldn't find the instructions that I followed when I made these. (I do know there were no pictures.) When I get home, I will definitely do a tutorial though, because I've yet to find one as easy as mine that is still reuseable. I can't find a really simple pattern that shows what I did, so I'll have to do my own tutorial sometime soon. For now, here are lots of options..both sew and no-sew. This is such a fun project, you will find yourself making lots of them!
Sew a Fabric Notebook Cover
Not Much Sewing Fabric Cover
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