Craft: Book Covers Explained

So I figured I may as well take pictures as I made this book cover for myself this past weekend. I must say I ABSOLUTELY love it as I never have to worry about loosing  my place (bookmarks hate me) or smooshing my book (I'm not very gentle with the contents of my purse). I picked up this fabric at the awesome thrift store that I got my suitcase from. It was only $1 so I was pretty happy! And it's so cute and so appropriate for the winter weather Calgary is throwing at us right now (4cm of snow anyone?). Here's a bit of an explanation of how I make these:

1. Roughly measure the book you want to cover (I picked a size that is the usual for the books that I read), and add a centimeter or two to each side
2. & 3. These go hand in hand. Basically wrap the fabric on the book in a "mock" cover to see if it all fits
4.  Fold the sides that the pages will slip into, pin, and sew in place (I hand-stitch so I go over these twice to ensure that it wont unravel)
5. Sew on a bookmark (this was elastic that I had in my sewing kit, but ribbon works nicely as well)
6. Make a closure by sewing a fabric tube (fold a piece of fabric over and sew one side) and attaching to the back of the cover. Attach a button to the front cover and fit a loop from the tube to the button. I used the elastic here as well incase some books are thicker than others.

That's about it. Because I am sewing machine impaired I hand-stitched this entire thing. I assure life would be so much easier if you used a sewing machine for these. Remember that measuring is the most important part. You don't want it too be too tight or too loose on your book. These make amazing gifts for those of us who still read paper books!