For the last few years I have sewn gifts for the children's teachers. I've tried to make useful items like tote bags, and make-up/pen rolls. Perhaps it would be a lot easier if I made the same thing every year, so I wouldn't have to rack my brain for inspiration!!!
This year the inspiration came from my daughters teacher who, at the parent-teacher meeting, was using a plain copybook where she had recorded notes about the students. I thought that a brightly coloured cover with ribbon bookmarks would be easier to see on her desk and more cheerful than the copy cover.
I had a look around the Internet for a pattern, but none were exactly what I wanted. I measured a standard copybook and drew up a pattern.
The pattern involves 2 large rectangles for the front and inside, 2 smaller rectangles for the cover holders, 1 rectangle for the pen holders, elastic and ribbon.
The front, inside and 'cover holders' are interfaced, but the pen holder on the front is just a double layer of fabric.
My favourite part are the bookmark ribbons. I used green and purple narrow stitched ribbons from JaneMeans for the blue/green cover, and red/cream vintage stitched ribbon for the red/blue cover. They just matched perfectly!
To keep the covers closed, I considered Velcro. It works very well, but can get raggy from a lot of use. So I went with elastic, and luckily I had some coloured elastic to chose from. White or black elastic would not have looked as good!
Most of the fabrics are Riley Blake designs from The Fabric Loft UK, with the blue floral from my stash. Ribbons are from janemeans, the purple stretch trim is from Abakhan Fabrics and the green elastic from my stash.
The biggest lesson I learned was to make the pattern pieces about 2.5cm/1inch bigger all around than the copy/notebook measurements, and sew with seam of 1cm. This allows for the depth of the copybook as well as the topstitching.
The first attempt wouldn't fit a copybook! But it was very helpful to have a practice version.
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Very nice idea, I'm sure the teacher's will love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Catja :-) My son & daughter said their teachers were delighted.
DeleteThese are lovely gifts to give teachers! The colors are bright and cheerful and the 2 bookmarks...so smart.:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindy, and they weren't too difficult to sew!
DeleteI love hoe bright and colourful these are. I really like the clever idea of including fabric bookmarks with these.
ReplyDeleteThat should have said "I love how bright...". I have to start proofreading my writing :-)
DeleteHello Stephen, thank you, they won't get lost on the teachers desks!! And thanks for having a look :-)
DeleteWhat fantastic teacher gifts, and I'm sure many other people would love your covered notebooks too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lucy, I was glad I thought of sewing them. They would make great personalised gifts, as there's so many fabric & ribbon choices and combinations!
ReplyDeleteAmazing idea, very eye catching and creative. Must give this a go for my sketch books. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteWhere can I find your pattern?
ReplyDelete