Monday Makery - Fabric covered books - 'my autobiography'

These are our new fabric covered scrap books. Our own personal books, covered with our chosen fabrics we love. Made to fill with our memories of the year. Be it flowers picked on a journey home, pressed and stuck inside, favourite drawings, photo's, stories, postcards of places we go and all sort of things we begin to treasure.

This is such a simple craft to put together and one I had intended to start at the very beginning of the new year. Its a tradition that I've kept going each year since the girls have been born, but  they've been more my involvement and choreography and enthusiasm than theirs. Now they're a little bit older I feel as though this is something they could now 'write' and enjoy as much as I have and it'll be all the better because this time for the first time they are their books; not the flowers I pick on the way home and stick inside or the ticket stubs from a theatre trip I chose. They are now the authors of their lives and so this should be the their autobiographies.

Here's what you'll need:

• Scrapbook - you can find these very cheaply in pound-shops and supermarkets
• Fabric - you can find old fabric in charity shops even if its just a nice print on a T-shirt or pillowcase
• 'Heat 'n' Bond' - an adhesive for fabric projects in principal double sided sticky tape.
• Scissors
• An iron

Here's how:

1. Spread your piece of fabric right side down so the pattern faces the table and open out your scrapbook on top.
2. Measure the size of fabric needed to cover the front and back of your scrapbook. I wanted the books to have a truly luxurious feel and so covered the inside of the front and back pages as well as the front. If you're intending to do it this way too fold over the fabric into the book and cut it where it meats the  inside spine.
3. Next you need to secure the fabric to the book. This is where 'heat n bond' comes in handy! Put the book to one side leaving your fabric (now cut to size) right side down. Place the sheet of 'heat n bond' over the top of the fabric and iron over the top to adhere. (instructions are clearly written on the packet).
4. Peel off the paper backing and line up your scrapbook in the centre. Fold the fabric over the front cover and on to the inside cover page. 
5. Iron over the fabric to adhere. Repeat the process on the other side.
6. Trim the edges of the book and you're done.

I'm looking forward to all that this year brings and now the girls can keep a record of the changing seasons and their ever blossoming selves. It'll be interesting to see what they choose to put inside, the things they deem 'treasure', the things that make an impression upon them and the days they don't want to forget. This is the beginning of a new chapter, a new year and a new adventure about to begin.

I love the feel the fabric gives to each book and how instantly it cheers me up see them. With more notebooks to cover (I never have enough pretty notebooks) and no more 'heat n bond' I went on to cover some notebooks using fabric glue. Though the finish wasn't as professional looking as it was with the magic 'heat sheet' they look just as beautiful. 

I think I've discovered a new habit and am now searching for more books in the house to cover.... any excuse; battered spines, gruesome covers, photo albums with faded covers they're all going to get the fabric treatment.

Happy Making

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This is part of our Monday Makery where each week we bring you a recipe to bake, a craft to create and simple ideas for fun things to make with children. We know that sometimes the craft isn't about the final finish but having created something together and we want to encourage everyone to have a go. I am certainly a 'newbie' when it comes to making things and trust me I'll leave all baking recipes to my sister, you see the thing is my girls love it, they feed me with inspiration and I love that our home is a constant and evolving state of creating and creations.

Our daily blogs offer you a sneak preview in our 'once upon a week' where we give you an insight into a week with Sisters Guild, a guide to whats on, with places to visit and things to do with all the family in our 'Art of Living', on Tuesday we bring you a little closer to our designers and why we chose them with 'The Story behind Our Collections' and a little closer to the bloggers, crafters and friends of Sisters Guild with our fun 'Tell us its Tuesday', whilst on Wednesday we show you new arrivals and inspiring discoveries in the Sisters Guild Boutique. To find where we get our inspiration from take a look at 'An A-Z of Sisters Guild' ; a collection of images inspired by the words which express the meaning of what we believe.