DIY Book Cover

This book cover was inspired by one that I purchased at Barnes and Noble.

When I got it home it only fit on my smaller books and I was currently reading a larger one. Not wanting to wait for my next book. . . I made one myself. (The best part-I only used scraps that I already had!) Here’s how it turned out.

I started by sewing the batting to the top layer. I did this so that when I quilted it, it would stay in place.

I drew the quilting pattern with a pencil and a ruler. I didn’t want it to be super perfect so I just eyeballed it. I wanted it to look like a homemade, done well, kind of project. (if that makes ANY sense)

Then I just sewed as closely to the line as I was able.

The fabric that acted as the stripes on the front, were ironed along the edges and stitched down the sides to the front piece of fabric.

(the piece with the quilting pattern on it)

I wanted a ribbon for a book mark, so I lined it up on the inside.

Inner flap or “pocket” that will hold the book in the cover.

I sewed the “pockets” to the fabric that will be the inner lining of the cover.

Once I had the stripes sewn to the front and the pockets sewn to the inside (or back) I flipped them so they were face to face and sewed around the edges, leaving a few inches to all it to be flipped right-side-out.

Then iron down that unsewn portion so it’s even with the sewn edges.

Top stitch the entire edge. This gives it a clean finish as well as completely sewing it shut.

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Blog Books

So a few weeks back my SISTER and I found ourselves talking about books that you can have printed through flickr or Snapfish etc. She told me about the greatest thing EVER! It's called BLURB. If you haven't heard of it, awesome: I'll be the one to let you know. If you have heard of it then you already know how ridiculously amazing it is! Using the BookSmart feature, it uploads you blog and puts it into a book for you. That's not even the BEST PART! If you had a post that you didn't add all of the pictures on for fear of driving people away or a 10 page post, you can add them. 

You can add text. 

You can edit the font. 

You can rearrange the pages. 

You can add page breaks where you want them. 

You can combine posts to one page. 

You can make a book of particular years (what I did) or a book that is a complete compilation of your blog to date. The list goes on and on!  It is such a great way to ORGANIZE your blog/pictures/stories/journal. The prices are really reasonable as well. I have been wanting to find someway to print my family blog since it has turned into my journal of sorts. Obviously printing it outright would take a lot of time and A LOT of money for the paper and ink. Plus it wouldn't be near the quality of a hard bound book. I am so excited about this new find and can't wait to finish my books! Head on over there and check it out!