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Cloth Covered Sketchbook
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I
love all the different aspects of my job, from graphic
design to tutorials (maybe not so much the file
processing part ... but you know) but my real love has
always been in drawing. I love that I get to draw every
day as part of my career, and sketchbooks have been a
part of my arsenal for a long time. Today, I’ll show you
a fun way to combine a love of sketching and a love of
crafting – by sewing and embroidering a handmade
sketchbook!
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To
make your own embroidered sketchbook, you’ll need:
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Cover fabric (I used thick felt to add some
structure, but it’s not necessary)
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Lining fabric
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Double sided stiff interfacing
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Drawing paper (No printer paper! Bad! Get some nice
artists’ paper)
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Scissors
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Pins
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An iron
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An awesome embroidery design (and I just might know
where you can get one)
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You
can embroider just about anything you want on the cover
of your sketchbook, and you can also make your book as
large as you want.
I
picked our small
Celtic roses design, which will
make a nice purse size sketchbook, but you can make the
sketchbook as large as the design and paper you find to
put in it! It all depends on your taste. Just remember,
the paper you get will be folded in half in the
sketchbook, so it’ll be half the size of the full sheet.
Embroider the design on the right side of your fabric,
with enough room on the left for it to be folded in
half.
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Take
a few sheets of your paper and fold them in half. This
will give you the basic size and shape of your
sketchbook. I took my folded sheets and placed them
inside the folded cover.
Cut
your cover to match the size of your paper, but leave at
least 1/2” inch all the way around your paper for seam
allowance, and leave a little bit of room in the fold
for when we add our thick paper sections. You can make
your sketchbook as thick or thin as you like, depending
on how much paper you have and how wide you leave the
binding.
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Once
you’ve cut your cover to size, place it on top of your
lining fabric and cut a rectangle to match.
Pin
your cover and your lining right sides together.
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Sew
a seam around the edges, leaving one end open for
turning.
Turn
your cover right side out. Now it’s time for your double
sided interfacing!
Mine
is called Inner-Fuse. I used it before in my
felt
bowl project and delighted in poking fun at the
name. Today shall be no different. Dude, it totally
sounds like a superhero name, right?
Anywho...
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Cut
two pieces of your interfacing just a little bit shorter
than your cover. Make the width just short enough so
that when they’re both laid out on the cover there’s
about an inch gap in between them, like pictured. If
you’re making a thicker sketchbook, you’ll want to leave
even more room in between.
Slide your interfacing inside your cover, leaving that
same size gap between the two pieces. You can pin them
in place if you’re worried about them shifting.
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Time
to iron! Keeping your pieces of interfacing in place,
iron over them with a hot iron. This will flatten out
your seams and fuse your interfacing to your fabric,
giving you a nice stiff cover.
If
you’re using synthetic fabric, be sure to use a piece of
natural fabric on top of it to prevent it from melting.
Melty sketchbooks ain’t cool.
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To
seal your cover, pin the open raw edges in, and sew a
seam all the way around the rectangle. This will finish
the cover and secure the edges of any interfacing that
didn’t fuse in place.
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Ta
da! Your finished cover. OK, right now it’s mostly just
a somewhat stiff rectangle of fabric. But just wait...
we’re going to make our paper pages now!
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I
ripped my paper out of a larger sketchbook where the
wire binding had failed. I like recycling.
Start by folding a few in half, creasing the edge with a
bone folder or other hard tool. Add pages until you have
a bundle of about 9-10 pages (about 20 pages folded in
half). I made two bundles. You don’t want to make your
paper packets too thick or your sewing machine will have
a tough time with it.
You’ll find that after lots of folding the edges of your
paper packet will get some uneven edges. Use a scissors
or a paper cutter to even up the side.
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Depending on the size of your sketchbook, you may have
more than two paper packets to sew. Find the middle of
your cover (where there should be a gap in the
interfacing) and place the seam of the papers inside the
gap. Leave a little room next to the paper for the
second paper bundle.
Depending on how many paper sections you want to add,
you’ll have to adjust the placement to leave room for
everything.
Once
you find the right placement, you might want to tape the
pages in place so they don’t shift.
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Place everything under your sewing machine, and sew a
seam down the crease of your paper. I’d double back on
the seam at the beginning and end to make sure the pages
are secure.
Once
your first section is in place, carefully line up the
second section, tape the pages in place, and sew that
one in too. Repeat for any paper sections you want to
add to your sketchbook.
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Your
sketchbook is ready! Some fabric, interfacing, and nice
paper make a very cool unique sketchbook with some
awesome personalized embroidery. Pick whatever design is
personal to you!
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I
have that cool design on there cause I’m Irish. Or I
like roses. Or, maybe just cause it’s pretty. It doesn’t
really matter, it’s my sketchbook.
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Open
it up and sketch you masterpieces! Or a 5 minute sketch
of what was supposed to be your left hand but looks a
bit more like a monster claw with sausage fingers.
Meh.
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If you find your book isn’t staying shut like it
should, don’t worry, it’s just ‘cause the pages
haven’t settled yet. Put something heavy on your
book for a few hours and it’ll be right as rain. The
double sided interfacing gives it just enough
structure to work as a nice cover, but the flexible
fabric side makes it the perfect binding. And you
made it all with your sewing machine! These are
perfect quick gifts for that artsy person in your
life, or great to make when you run out of
sketchbooks but have lots of leftover fabric! Let
your crafty creativity show in all that you do, even
when you’re just sketching. You’re such a hardcore
artist, you MADE your own sketchbook. That’s crafty.
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Making a book from scratch can be so satisfying.
Here are a few more ideas to check out ... and maybe
even adapt to embroidery!
Susie of boygirlparty shows how to stitch up a
quick and easy sketchbook with pockets in the paper
covers.
Jamie Butler gives a basic bookbinding tutorial
that yields a really classy result, and
KaptinScarlet on Instructables shows another
method to make a slick hardback book.
Ruffled brings something old and something new
to a wedding with a handmade guest book wrapped in
an old book cover. Turn over a new leaf and stitch
yourself a book!
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Suggested designs for this tutorial:
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