How to make a Book Sleeve

I have long been admiring the book sleeves created by the company Book Beau, their pretty patterns and practicality. Book sleeves protect your books especially when taking them in bags and travelling, so that your books can stay in good condition. As much as I wanted to purchase a book beau, I soon found that the postage alone would cost $50 to get from the US to Australia. In the end that didn't matter, since I figured out how to make one myself. 

The instructions are pretty straight forward and you can hand sew it if you like, but I found it much quicker to use a sewing machine. Please pay close attention to the direction that the fabric is facing when sewing and read the instructions carefully. It is easy to sew the fabric the wrong way (I have done it many times), but my advice is to read the steps several times and think before you sew. Also, if you do mess up, just unpick your stitches. The measurements that I have recommended are for fitting a regular, small novel. If you want yours to fit larger books, feel free to use your own measurements instead. Happy Sewing!


Materials:
  • 2 rectangles 26x19cm of Patterned material
  • 2 rectangles 26x19cm of felt
  • thread (as required)
  • sewing machine
  • a large button
  • elastic (approx 20cm)
  • scissors

How to make it:

Step 1:
Cut two 26cm by 19cm rectangles out of both the felt and the patterned material so that you have four rectangles of equal size. (The felt rectangles can be slightly smaller than the patterned material)


Step 2: 
With the right side facing inwards, sew the top of one patterned material rectangle to the top of one felt square. Try to sew relatively close to the edge of the fabric since the seam allowance is quite small. Do this to all of the rectangles.


Step 3:
Open up the rectangles and face the right sides inwards. Sew around the outside of the patterned material (which should have its wrong side facing out. DO NOT SEW ACROSS WHERE THE PATTERNED MATERIAL MEETS THE FELT. 




Step 4:
Sew along the long sides of the felt. DO NOT SEW ACROSS EITHER OF THE SHORT SIDES.


Step 5: 
Gently pull the patterned material through the hole at the bottom of the felt so that the right
 side is now facing outwards. 


Step 6: 
Sew the bottom of the felt rectangles together


Step 7:
Put the felt inside the patterned material as a lining


Step 8:
Cut a length of elastic roughly 20cm long and hand sew the ends neatly to the inside of one side of your sleeve.


Step 9: 
Sew your button on the front of the book sleeve in a place where the elastic will reach it.


Step 10:
Place the book you are currently reading inside your book sleeve and admire your work!

I hope that this was easy to understand and you decide to make yourself a book sleeve. If you do end up making one, let me know in the comments of this post! Thanks for reading my blog, I appreciate it when people take the time to read my work. 

~Inkpot Blogger

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