Relax and Stitch: Making a Scrappy Fabric Book from Scratch
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Why not take all those fabric scraps that you have been keeping, just in case, and turn them into a scrappy fabric book? This project is all about the making. Settle into this project, relax and practise mindfulness.
This project is also an excellent opportunity to bust through your fabric scrap stash. Those coordinating pieces you’ve been saving, the remnants from previous projects, and even fabric samples can all find new life in a beautiful book that will be treasured for years to come.
The point of making a book like this is to enjoy the process and quieten your mind but it is also great to explore your creativity and make something pretty.
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You will need:
- Fabric for pages (old bed sheets are great)
- Scrap fabric to sew on
- Embroidery threads
- Needle
- Scissors (pinking shears if available)
- Heat erasable pen (Optional for marking fabric)
Hints & Tips
- Let go of perfectionism – this is a project for you, not for everyone else.
- A heat erasable pen is really useful if you want to embroider details or mark up anything.
- Iron-on transfers are great for embroidered pictures
- Use up any scraps of fabric and embroidery threads from other projects
- Ribbon is a great way to add new textures
- Bondaweb (or similar) can be useful for holding fabric in place while you sew it
- Fray the edges of fabric pieces for a rustic look or use pinking shears to prevent fraying
- Try making a memory book using special fabrics from events or people.
Video for a Scrappy Fabric Book – Slow Stitching
This video is also available on my YouTube channel.
Book Cover & Pages
Cutting out the fabric
Select a fabric to be your book cover. Now, I chose felt as it is quite resilient and makes a lovely soft cover but you can use any fabric you like. I cut mine 9″ by 6″ and this is a great size to handle and work with. Plus, it makes a cute sized book at the end.
You can make your book any size you like! This project is all about you, your supplies and your creativity.
I chose to hide all my messy back of fabric knots, etc so I also cut a piece of fabric to line the cover. This is the same fabric that I used for the pages. These all came from an old bed sheet – fabulous source of cottons for crafting! I cut the lining piece 1/8″ smaller so that it did not show outside the cover.
Then, cut out your pages. I cut mine 8″ by 5″. This allows for the book to close and the pages not stick out. The number of pages is up to you but I have 3 pages in mine. However, as I don’t want to see the back of my work I cut out 6 pages, completed them all and then sewed 2 together, back to back.
So, you should have a book cover, a book cover lining and an even number of pages.
Creating the Scrappy Fabric Book Cover
Take the book cover that you cut out and start to lay out a design using your fabric scraps. Now again, this how I do it. If you don’t like planning let your cover develop organically by sewing a piece of fabric on and then looking for another. I rather enjoy planning and then accepting that I will develop it as I sew.
You can cut the fabric scraps with ordinary scissors and perhaps fray the edges or you could use pinking shears and get edges that do not fray. Whatever suits your vibe!
This is what mine looked like before I sewed it.
If you want to, you can use Bondaweb or similar to secure the pieces of scrap fabric in place before you sew them in place. I didn’t as I like the development of the design as I sew it.
When you start sewing you can use any stitches that you like. You can do everything using a simple running stitch as it is undoubtedly very relaxing. Or, you can explore the world of embroidery stitches and expand your skills. Throughout this project I used relatively simple stitches and sewed a great deal of it using running stitch which you can learn how to do here.
If you want to learn some more embroidery stitches then check out the slow stitching section on this website.
Sew your cover design.
Then, repeat the whole process with your book cover lining.
Then glue or sew your book cover to its lining. Throughout my book I sewed pages together using blanket stitch and I think it gives a wonderful effect. You can learn how to do blanket stitch here.
Creating your Book Pages
Take a look at all your fabric scraps and start designing your pages. I love this part! Combine fabrics that match or clash. Use them in interesting ways and at interesting angles. Add in some embroidery! Do whatever makes you feel good.
I also use a heat erasable pen to mark up anything I want on my pages. You will also notice that I have a line where the centre of the page is so that I design on either side of it. Obviously I iron the completed pages and the lines disappear but you may see them on some of these pictures.
Here are my pages for inspiration but you really can do anything you like! You will see that I have photographed some before I started sewing and some after the pages were completed and sewn together.
Video showing Round Flowers
In my book I embroidered some circular flowers and you can see how to do those in this video. It is also available on my YouTube channel.
Assemble your Scrappy Fabric Book
Now you have your cover and your pages it is time to assemble them into a book. I have two main ways I do this. You can simply clip everything together and then sew down the middle (the spine) either by hand or using your sewing machine.
Or, you can use a pamphlet binding technique like I have with this book. It is really simple to do and is explained in this infographic.
Now you have a really cute, secure scrappy fabric book that you can enjoy handling and looking at. These can be really special if they are made using special fabrics that have significance to you. You could use one as a memory book.
What else?
If you enjoy sewing this website has loads of great projects for you to enjoy. How about this selection of scrap fabric projects? From Christmas decorations to scrunchies, it is all here!
If you are interested in larger projects then you can also check out the whole sewing section too.
Slow stitching is about embracing your creativity and relaxing. So, enjoy your scrappy fabric book journey and please share with us all below any ideas you have for us to develop our slow stitching further.
