Fabric Covered Journal - Tutorial and Giveaway

This is one of my favourite things to make for gifts, and it doesn't involve any sewing!

Since 'Sew, Mama, Sew' is having a Giveaway Day, I thought I'd join the bandwagon and have one too... except mine includes a tutorial as well

Materials:

1 x notebook/journal (I'm using a retro notebook bought from a thrift store)
fabric to fit notebook
batting to cover notebook (polyfill)
1 x multi purpose glue (UHU)
1 x A4-sized paper (coloured or patterned - the size of the paper actually depends on the size of your book)
scissors, marking pen (air-erasable)
acrylique stencil paint, stencil design & stencil brush (all optional)

Cut a large enough sheet of the batting to cover the notebook. Allow about 0.25" to extend out from the edges of the book.


Put glue along the edges and fold the batting over and on the book.


Do this for the other side as well. Trim any access batting.


Place the book on the fabric and mark out the corners as a guide for the stencil placement.


Cut out the stencil - I've printed a pattern on manila card.
You can also use a ready-made one.


Some examples of home-made stencils (on manila card) which have been re-used a number of times and ready-made stencils.


Using the marked guidelines, place the stencil in the centre and hold down with tape.


Fill in with colour. Use the stencil brush and 'stab' the paint on. Do not overload the brush with paint or it will bleed under the stencil.


Wait for the paint to dry before peeling off the stencil.


Test the placement of the motif on the notebook.


Without shifting the fabric, open the book and let the fabric lay on the table. Put glue along the side edge of the inner cover ONLY.


Fold the fabric over and paste down. Let it dry.


Do the same for the other side.


Make 2 cuts on the fabric down from the spine of the book. Stop the cut just at the batting line.


Put glue on the bottom edge of the inner cover.


Fold the fabric over and paste down. Use a pointy tool like an awl to hold down the inner fabric while folding over. Let dry.


Repeat on all 3 remaining sides.


Fold in, and under, the excess fabric at the corners. Paste down the corners with glue.


Tuck the strip of fabric at the spine into the hollow between the bound pages and the hard cover.


Squeeze glue in there and close the book to let it set.


To cover the mess on the inside, cut the A4-sized paper into 2. I've printed the same motif to carry the design on the inside as well.


Trim the paper to fit.


Put glue on the back of the paper.


Fit it to the first page and paste down on that side first.


Make a crease down the centre with your fingernail and paste down on the hard cover side. Repeat same for the inner back cover.

At this point, the project is basically done.



You can continue to embellish your cover design if you wish. I've used relief paint to 'draw' out the leaves which were earlier omitted.

The completed journal.

I'd love to hear what you think of this tutorial :)

For a chance to win this very same fabric-bound journal, just leave a comment here or create a link to your own blog or other online pages. I am happy to ship internationally (free) so just jump right in!

Last day to enter is May 31 and the winner by random drawing will be announced on June 1st.

Thanks for looking!

**At the point of writing footnote, it is 9.54 am, 1 June 2009. The contest is officially closed, but I will accept the last few entries that came in the early morning hours because I realize the time difference was not made known :)
Results out shortly!