Fabric Journals

For a long time I have wanted to combine my love of paper with my love of fabric. Finally, my friend Heather gave me the motivation I needed. She wanted to make a journal for herself, and since she is also a quilter, I thought a journal with a fabric cover would be appropriate. One of the first bookbinding techniques I learned was the longstitch, so I thought this would be do-able for a beginner. She made the cover in advance, so we could focus on how to stitch the book together.

Here's what we came up with:

 

That's mine on the top, and Heather's below. I need to experiment with various materials to use to stiffen the covers. I used 2 layers of a heavy interfacing fused to the fabric with Misty Fuse, a type of fusible web that doesn't gum up your sewing machine needle when you sew through it. It worked well, but the pieces of interfacing were just scraps I had on hand, so I'll need to do some shopping for future journals. Mine has an elastic keeping it closed while Heather has used several strands of bright embroidery floss knotted together to wind around the button. I can see all kinds of possibilities for closures and vintage buttons!

We brought these along to the quilting retreat, and they got a lot of positive attention. Who knows, I may just have converted a few quilters to try bookbinding! I'll definitely be making more of these myself.