Fabric Valentine's Book Tutorial

I've put together a little tutorial in case you want to make a lasting Valentine to give your Sweetheart on Sunday.  The complete tutorial is in this post, or you can access it as a PDF in the sidebar.  Enjoy!

Materials:

o    2 pieces of fabric, 25” x 6”, for the front and back of the book
o    4 pieces of cardboard or book board, cut to 5 ¼” x 6”
o    Scraps of various fabrics
o    Fusible interfacing
o    Ribbon, approximately 1 yard
o    Fine point permanent marker, such as a Pigma Micron


Step 1:  With the 2 pieces of 25” x 6” fabric for the front and back of the book, pin them right sides together around all 4 edges.

You can see how your 4 pieces of cardboard line up nicely along the length of what will be your book.

Now, stitch a ¼” seam around the two long edges and one short end, leaving the other short end open.

Clip the corners, turn right sides out, and press.

Step 2:  Now, slide your four pieces of cardboard into your fabric tube; they should fit nice and snugly.

With the cardboard supports in, your book can be set up in an accordion fold arrangement, as above.

Take the open end, and carefully tuck the raw edges down into the book, and pin the seam closed. 

Fold your ribbon about 1/3 of the way down, and tuck this folded edge into the pinned end, centering the ribbon in the middle of the side.
Hand stitch the opening closed, incorporating the ribbon as you go.

Step 3:  Now the fun part!  With your fabric scraps, take pieces that are at least 4-5” square and iron them onto the fusible interfacing.  With the new fused fabric, cut out some freehand heart shapes of different sizes.   Layer the hearts to make two sets; you can include as many as you want; I did three layered hearts in each set.  If you own a pair of pinking shears, these would give a cute finished edge to your hearts.

Now, pin one set in the valley between the first two pieces of cardboard:

Pin the other set in the valley between the last two pieces of cardboard:

Stitch in the valleys between the cardboard to attach the hearts, going all the way from the top of the book to the bottom:

Also stitch into the valley in the center of the book without any hearts; you will have to fold the book up slightly and finesse it into your sewing machine because the cardboard makes it a tight fit.

Your book is complete!  Fold it accordion style and tie it closed with your ribbon.

You can now add other embellishments if you wish.  I wrote a poem for my baby son on the inside of the book around the hearts using a Pigma Micron pen.  The poem is Baby by George Macdonald.

Or, write a letter or other sentimental message to your sweetheart!  Enjoy your heirloom Valentine Book!

Comments

[Bri]

this is SO sweet!! I just might have to give this one a try! :)

[beverly]

That is darling!

[Jennifer]

Very pretty, what a great idea!

[Bibliosophy]

Cool!  Let me know how it works for you.

[Erin]

Bley, these are SO CUTE! Man...maybe next year...

You are pretty inspiring. And I love that poem. I hadn't heard it since I was a kid. I think we had a book that had it in it with pictures.

[Bibliosophy]

Thanks Erin!  An artist friend calligraphy-ed that poem for E. after he was born, and I thought it so beautiful.

[Petit Filoux]

That is such a good idea! If only I had a little more time, a sewing machine and some fabric i'd definitely give it a go!

[Mousy Brown]

That is so gorgeous! I can't manage it for valentines this year but I can think of lots of other times it would be perfect for - Thanks for the great tutorial! x

[Bibliosophy]

Yes, you could definitely use the concept for cards of any other kind: birthdays, holidays, etc.