Thursday 5 January 2017

How to make a tartan book cover

Here's an easy way to make a boring loose-leaf binder a lot more interesting!  If I can do it - anyone can!



This is the time of year when we start to think about making lists or keeping a journal.  I've decided to make a sort of photo-journal of all the Scottish castles and Outlander locations I've visited.  Of course I wanted it to look suitably Scottish - so decided to cover a plain old loose leaf folder with tartan fabric.  It was really easy and, I think, quite effective.


The cover is basically just a big rectangle of fabric.  I measured from the inside of the front cover of the binder, around to the inside of the back cover and cut fabric accordingly.  I wanted it to have a bit of weight, so sandwiched a piece of wadding between the tartan fabric and plain lining.  I sewed the three layers together - the big rectangle.


Then I centered the fabric and made front and back folds and slipped the book inside.  Cover made.


To hide what was left of the folder, I cut some different tartan fabric to size and stuck it to the folder with double sided sticky tape, folding it down over the top and bottom of the folder to hide the ends.



Now the middle ring-binder bit looked a bit bare, so I just got a piece of lace, attached it with double sided tape and took it all the way through the rings from the top to the bottom.


Tra-la!  What do you think? This could be used for so many different types of journal especially if you were planning a Scottish vacation or wedding.  Other ideas could be white fabric, broderie anglaise and lace for a wedding planner or cute gingham for a baby book.  Wouldn't this make a great cover for a school project folder too?  There are so many applications.


I printed some pictures and words onto fabric to be sewn on the front cover.  I blogged about how to do this here.


Of course plain old card subject dividers could be covered in gorgeous scrapbook papers or gift-wrap matching the purpose of the folder. 

Now I can start putting my photos and castle guide-books in place.

Love, Liz

6 comments:

Julie said...

That does look lovely. DH and I watched the second series over the Christmas holidays.

Frances said...

Liz, that's a very bonnie cover you've created! xo

Vix said...

What a great idea for using up scraps of fabric leftover from other projects.
Nice work, Liz! xxx

mamasmercantile said...

Such a great idea, inspirational for lots of uses.

Lilly's Mom said...

Thank you for such a great tutorial. I love the look of this notebook cover. Have a great day! Pat xx

Polyester Princess said...

That's such a great idea. I've got a couple of boring binders which could do with a spruce up. Now if only I got the time ... xxx