2012 Covered Diary

Diary or Book Cover…

A quick and easy method!

Please excuse the awful picture by the way...I could not get a picture without reflection on the photos. Bother. It looks better in real life!

First of all, make the base fabric. This year, I am not going to use paper fabric as it is fragile and needs to be covered with tulle for protection. Instead, I have come up with this idea. It does need some drying time but hopefully you can get on with another project or get the dinner cooking while you wait!

Choose fabric large enough to wrap around your diary. I’m using hand dyed and printed fabric but pretty commercial material is fine. It is a good idea to use avoid white or light fabrics as the diary will get grubby in your handbag during the year! Well…..mine does!! Choose material that will compliment your photos too.

Lay the fabric onto polythene and paint it with a watered down PVA solution. Leave somewhere warm to dry flat. (Once dry, the material can be cut without it fraying.)
Iron a sheet of Bondaweb onto the reverse of the fabric. Peel off the backing and then iron it onto Pelmet Vilene, to bond the two together, making sure you use a silicone sheet to protect your iron.
Wrap the cover around the diary to find the exact size required. Make sure the diary is CLOSED first or it will not be large enough! I use a rotary cutter and mat to cut it accurately to size

Laminate some tiny photos…your family, pets, craft work. I have used little pictures of my card designs 3” x 2” and smaller
Add any appliqué you want and the year too, if you are making a diary cover. First of all, work out where the photos are going to be placed and avoid having them over the spine!

For appliqué, iron Bondaweb (Wunder-under) to the back of it. Draw the shapes on the paper backing and then cut out and peel off the backing. Iron the shape onto the front of the cover making sure to use silicone paper over it to protect your iron and iron it to hold it in place securely. Machine-sew around the shape. I like to use black thread and a straight stitch with the feed dogs down and with a free machine embroidery foot. I sewed around the photos first and then added the flowers.

When you have finished the appique, zig zag around the outside of the cover to prevent it from fraying.

Add beads and hand stitching at this stage. I Added vintage buttons and seed beads 

I use hot glue to attach the cover. I never make my covers removable as they get worn out and grubby and you wouldn't have the fun of making a new one next year!

I like to glue the front on first, lining up the front edges of the cover and the diary. Turn over and repeat. I always sit on it for a couple of minutes to make sure it is well and truly stuck down!!!

Idea....

I love covering little books and diaries and Claire gave me a couple of free tall slim diaries I have yet to cover. One of them will be used to record meals I cook for friends so I don't give them the same thing next time they come round!

Think about pictures of friends and food for the cover.This is my homework and I'll post when they are done. Oh so many things I want to do and so little time. I shall be busy working on new designs for my card business after Christmas so won't have time to play!