That’s notebook as in one of those old skool ones, with paper and lines and stuff, as opposed to the laptop type, does anyone remember them? 
I churn through notebooks at a furious pace, I have lists constantly on the go and a different notebook for every topic. I drool over the beautiful ones you see in the stationary stores but always hold myself back, notebooks are for me to scribble in, I know I would feel guilty defacing a perfectly clean page in one of the $20 leather lined and gold encrusted books that you can buy at Paperchase, so instead I just stock up on $1 books from the dollar store and make them my own!
What’s great about this is that if you always buy the same brand and size of book you can just keep on transferring the cover to the new book. And the pockets on the inside are super handy for notes of paper and the scraps that I tend to carry around.
You will need
- A notebook!
- Enough fabric to cover the outside of your notebook - even for an A4 size the most you’ll need is a fat quarter.
- A small amount of fabric to line your cover with.
- A small amount of fabric to create your pockets.
- A ribbon
There are more precise measurements below, but it depends on the size of notebook you’re covering, I’m using an A6 spiral bound Spirax notepad.
Tutorial behind the jump, I apologise in advance for the poor quality of the photos, it’s not a particularly sunny day in Sydney!
Cut down your fabric! Measure your notebook whilst it’s closed, all the way around from the front to the back. Add an extra 1/4 inch to all sides for your seam allowance and cut your main outer fabric.
Cut a second piece of the same size in your lining fabric, fold it in half and cut 1/2 an inch to the side of the fold, this will leave you with two pieces that when joined are an inch smaller than your outer fabric.
Confused yet? Cut another piece the same size as your lining pieces, fold and cut in half, this will form your two pockets!
Pictured is all my fabric cut up and ready to go, the outer was 11 x 6.5 inches, the lining was 5 x 6.5 inches and the pockets were 5 x 3.25 inches. I hope that makes slightly more sense, this is far too close to algebra for comfort!
Take your pocket fabric, fold over the top edge and top stitch along it to hide the raw edge. Place the pocket fabric on top of the lining fabric, right sides both facing upwards. Fold over the side edge of both fabrics and top stitch once again to hide the raw edge. Do the same with the other piece but on the opposing side. You should end up with two pieces mirroring each other.
Place the lining and pockets on top of the outer fabric, right sides together with the raw edges matched up and the top stitched edges facing inwards. Sew along the red lines marked with a 1/4 inch allowance, back stitch at the start and beginning of your stitching - where the blue circles are marked. Trim off the corners with scissors so they’re neat when turned the right way out.
Flip your cover the right way out! There’s a trick to getting it onto your book, open the book cover as far as you can (obviously much easier if you’re using a spiral bound book) and slip the cover over it, close your book and the fabric will tighten and be firmly attached to your notebook!
To attach the ribbon I simply ran a thin line of PVA glue along the centre of the book and stuck it down. I didn’t make the ribbon long enough to tie a neat bow, so I would recommend making the excess longer than you would imagine and just trimming it down after you’ve tied it for the first time!
This pattern (or formula!) can be applied to any size notebook you choose, it’s also great to make covers for reading books to protect them in your handbag or so you can read dirty stories on public transport without anyone knowing.
Feedback is very much appreciated - particularly as I have a feeling that nothing I just wrote made sense to anyone but me! The simplest tuts are always the hardest to write!
If you made it up and want to share it with us feel free to upload it to the CraftBlog flickr group!
28 Responses
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You must be psychic as this is exactly what I need! The tut seemed really clear and straight forward to me. I’m off to go find some notebooks to cover….
Thanks for the great tutorial…I’m going to try that one out for sure!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I saw this and though ‘Now that’s something I can do’ until after the jump and I saw sewing was involved. I HAVE to learn to sew RIGHT NOW. If I don’t I thin I will burst. So many beautiful fabrics, so little skill.
I’m sorry Leah! I promise, once you get started it’s the easiest thing in the world, do you want me to come over and give you a sewing lesson?
I’ve done a project similar to this for a book cover and love it to death - I love the pockets on this one, and the I was just wondering if you have any ideas or thoughts on how one could make an *adjustable* cover like this…one that could fit notebooks or books of different sizes.
Ooo, Leslie, I love a challenge, give me a couple of days to think about it and I’ll see if I can work something out
This is a great tutorial, I don’t think I am going to be able to wait until Christmas to get a sewing machine…. There is so much more that you can do when you can sew!
Fabulous - what a great way to get rid of:
a) my goregous but not very wearable fabric scraps
b) the scary number of notebooks I have knocking around
I know what my friends will be getting for their birthdays this year!!
PS - “or so you can read dirty stories on public transport without anyone knowing” genius
Sew simple! Thanks for the great idea.
I love this. Thanks so much for the great tutorial–I’ve been pondering notebooks lately and love the idea of making a fabric cover. I’ll definitely be trying this.
Too nice! I cut-in a strip of fake leather to go along the “spine” (e.g. - the spiral wires). It looks fabulous! Thanks!
Gorgeous notebook covers. I love your tutorial.
I hope you dont mind if i put a link to your tutorial on my page.
Laurie - That sounds wonderful! Feel free to show off some photos
Hannah - I don’t mind in the slightest!
Thanks for this! Very clear instructions! I just made one this afternoon for a blank art book with an embroidered front- to be paired with a packet of crayons for the pocket. It’s for a little girl on her 2nd birthday.
Thanks so much for the clear tutorial. I am making this the first project in my High School Sewing class in Washington state. I think the kids will love it. I know I plan on making some for my sisters for the holidays.
Joyce
Oooh so cutee…!!! This one will definitely be my next project!! Thank you
I lovvvve these!! Thanks for sharing!!
Love this idea, I’m also a list writer and so can never have too many gorgeous fabric covered notebooks lying around.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thanks for the tute - it worked great!
Thank you for this layout and how to sew. Excellent project, I will try it. When I was much younger I bought notebooks and other nice and lovely things like this. I LOVE it, and would like to see more.
Beautiful fabric. Who is it made by?
Melissa - It’s actually just from Spotlight, part of their summer range, I can’t remember the name of it now, but they should still have some forthe next couple of months.
Thanks Fern! Have a great day
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