Yards and Yards Original: Fabric Notebook Cover

This one was a super fast and cute project to do. I'd say it took about 30 minutes start to finish, and that includes my kids "helping" out.

One neat thing about this is that you can easily adapt it for a boy or a girl, depending on the fabric choice.

It's also an awesome gift because it costs a grand total of $3 dollars (or less since you have leftover fabric). I'm going to give you maesurements for the one I made, but it is super easy to adapt this tutorial. Here we go...

1. Gather your materials.

You will need:

Fabric A: 22"x 12"
Fabric B: 22" x 1.5"
1 Notebook (I picked mine up at WalMart for $1) I wanted one with a stiffer cover.


2. Center your notebook on Fabric A on the wrong side. Trace it lightly.




3. Iron in 1/2" on both ends. Then sew along the 2 shorter sides.

4. Make your ruffle. Cut your fabric 1.5" wide if you haven't yet.

Now for the fun part. Sew down the center of your fabric. about every inch or so, fold a bit of the fabric under itself to form ruffles. Do this to the whole piece.




5. Attach ruffle to your notebook cover.
This is the trickiest part and it's easy! Fold your fabric around your notebook right side out. Place it where it will be when it's all done. Then place your ruffle when you want it. Go ahead and wrap it around the back and it can go on the inside flap as well. Pin it in place.


6. Sew that ruffle.

I sewed my ruffle on about 1/8" away from my first seam. It just added that extra detail having the two parallel seams. No tucking or edge finishing necessary.


7. Sew the pockets.

Fold in your side flaps, right sides together. Fold them along your tracing line.

Now sew along all 4 openings. (2 on top, 2 on bottom). I put some lovely black dashes to show you where. Remember that those stitches should also be right along your original tracing lines.

8. Clip your 4 little corners.


9. Turn right side out and iron.


Notice how I just iron the loose fabric along the top and bottom too. You can tack these down by sewing right along them, but I don't think it needs it.

10. Insert your notebook. You can make a cute little pen to go with it or add a flower and a name. Whatever you want.


Enjoy! These would make a fun Idea Journal for you, a birthday gift for a friend, or a back to school gift for a child. I love these things!

PS. Thanks to these great party hostesses!

No Sew: Fabric Covered Storage Boxes

So, I finished a fun little project I wanted to share. Step One: I bought these really not so cute boxes on Christmas clearance in December. They are really heavy weight and super nice. Apparently they are reusable gift boxes, but I didn't love the pattern so much as I did the price.

Also, a little disclaimer here-- this takes some time, but it's truly easy. If you can wrap a gift, you can make these boxes.

I have been wanting some fancy storage boxes for the bathroom closet... enter lovely reindeer boxes.

Step Two: I found some beautiful fabric at JoAnn fabrics. I think I needed about 3/4 of a yard for each box. I wish I could remember who designed these fabrics. If you know, pass it along so I can give them credit for this lovely fabric.

Step Three: Wrap them. For my dimensions, it was more "fabric efficient" to wrap all the way around the long sides, bottom and inside bottom with one piece. Then I used a separate piece to do the short sides and 2 more pieces to do the inside sides. Sorry about all the "sides".

I piled on the decoupage (LOVE that stuff!) and wrapped away. I didn't do the tops because I wanted easier access to the contents of the box.

Also, I simply double folded on the corners so I would have that finished look. So easy when you use decoupage in the quantity I did.

Step 4: Embellish!! I glued some ribbon and added little label holders to the fronts of the boxes.

Step 5: Organize away! I have one for First Aid, one for Toilet Paper, one for Rags, one for Hygiene (you know, extra toothpaste and shampoo), and one for Soaps (yep, I stocked up on soap at the Bath and Bodyworks holiday sale.)

And there you have it. Hindsight, I would have used only one fabric for all of them. But they were all so pretty and I couldn't pick just one.

So, go ahead and enjoy! I hope you can find some ugly boxes to cover as well. How about covering them in this:

Josephine Kimberling

Now that would make a room! You can see more of this amazing fabric right here.

PS. And no, I'm not getting paid for advertising any of this. I will only ever pass along what I love and what is true to my dream of bringing the love of fabric to a level where the everyday people can enjoy it as much as you serious crafters.

PPS. Linking up to a few amazing inspiration parties.