Easel Cards

I was asked to make a couple of cards so I chose the easel style as they both required quite a few different pictures on them.

They were both for 50th birthdays.

Small Fabric Steampunk / Gothic Book

After I'd printed some images onto fabric and cut them up, I started to lay fabric and trims around them to start to build up a page.

I did the same for all of them and added a few emblishments.

Nothing is stuck down yet as I was still playing around with placement etc.

Ribbons, lace and ric-rak.

Once everything was glued down on the pages I played around with the placement of them and paired them up.

Then the pinkish set of pages.

And the next two pages, these are five and six.

And the last two pages.

I put the pages together in the same way I'd made the other two books sandwiching lace inbetween the layers. I laid out the pieces for the front and back covers. At this point, nothing is stuck down.

This is the front cover stitched and glued down with all embellishments attached.

And the back cover which I've left pretty plain as it needs to be flat when laid down.

And this is the spine which has been re-inforced with cardboard to give it extra strength.

And finally a view from the top with the book closed.

And this is the bottom.

This was a thank you gift for Sheilagh who very generously posted me a huge stash of fabric. I made her this because she showed an interest in the first one I'd made, but I couldn't give that one away.

This one is a little smaller and measures approx 6.5" x 9". I just hope she likes this one as much as the first one.

Steampunk / Gothic Fabric Book

I started off by sewing the pages in using upholstery fabric.

Found some images I wanted to use, printed them onto fabric, cut them out and mounted them onto a piece of fabric to then start to build on them.

Adding bits and bobs to create the page as and when I came across something.

Next I trapped lace trim between the pages and glued them together.

I glued lace on the inside pages.

And another of the inside pages covered in lace.

Inside pages covered in lace and lace trim between the pages. Book is now ready to be decorated.

So I started playing around with how I wanted the pages to look.

Close up of the flowers with the buttons sewn over the top.

Next set of pages. I decided to do some machine sewing in this book.

Close up of the metal embellishments. 

Next set of pages, again some elements have been sewn using the machine. 

This is a close up of the image which has been couched and the word has been machine stitched.

And the last two pages with buttons and more machine sewing.

Close up of some of the sewing and the buttons.

The silk rod has been machine sewn to hold it in place.

I decided to add some beads, chain and discs to the right hand page.

Close up of the metal embellishments. Cogs and clocks.

And the studs along the bottom.

I decided to change these two pages around and added a belt buckle and studs to the right image and organza fabric to both of them.

I added a skeleton skull to the right hand page.

This is the finished front cover.

Pages one and two, a bit more trim added to both pages to finish them off.

Pages three and four. Trim added to the left page and a black lace to the right. 

I think these two pages stayed pretty much the same.

Last two pages, seven and eight with a bit more trim added.

Back cover has just been decorated with a piece of navy lace and a doylie which I stained black. I wanted to keep the back pretty plain so the book lays down flat on a surface.

Front and back covers when opened out.

And finally a view from the top.

A huge thank you if you stayed with me all the way on this post, I know it was rather long, but it was a long process!!

Oriental Themed Fabric Book

I joined a brand new group on FaceBook last month, simply called 'Fabric Books'. After going to the James class and making a book with recycled materials including fabrics and envelopes and also watching Teesha Moore YouTube Videos to create fabric book covers using small pillows, I now want to make a totally fabric book. This is one of the reasons I joined the group as I needed a starting point. A lovely lady in the group called Katie Williams has been working very hard to create lists of information for absolute beginners including searching for YouTube tutorials. I was immediately hooked and loved the way a lady called Janette of ScrapinHappyxo Crafts created her Bohemium Gypsy books. She has lots of tutorials on the various stages, I watched them all and was totally blown away and inspired by her creations, so here goes.

The first thing to do was decide on a theme, so I went for Oriental. I printed the above images onto fabric using freezer paper and couldn't believe how well they came out.

On Sunday I paid a visit to the car boot and picked up some lacey clothing, some doylies and...

Some lovely trim on a scarf which I picked up for 20p.

I started to compile the pages around the images using trims, ribbons, lace and anything else I could find in my stash to be honest. As I came across more bits I kept adding to the pages.

I glued all the pieces down.

I experimented wth different types of glue.

I sprayed the white pieces with red bister to give them some colour.

Next I prepared the pages and the cover from a thick upholstery fabric.

And sewed the pages onto the cover using my sewing machine. Sew the middle page in the middle of the cover and then another page either side leaving about 1/4 of an inch of a gap.

I started to assemble the pages in the book. These are going to be the first two.

And these the third and forth pages.

I really wanted these two images the other way around so they were facing each other, but I needed to have the black lace on the right hand page or it would have got crushed on the other page. Something to think about for the next one.

And the same happened with these two pages, I've had to put them the opposite way round to which I would have really liked.

I then took everything out so I could add trims to the inside edges of the pages.

I glued the pages together using a glue gun.

The back page will get some trim added when I put the front cover on.

I then set about covering the pages with some lace.

And once glued in, I cut them down so you could see the trim between the glued pages.

The pages are now glued in, these are the first two with a few additions to fill up the page.

Pages three and four and some extra doylies.

The fifth and sixth pages, again I added in more fabrics to the bottoms of these pages.

And the last two pages. Again added more fabrics to both the bottom and the top and some beads on the right of the right hand side page.

This is what the book looks like from the top with the pages all closed.

Next I made a spine from corrugated cardboard and covered it in some scrap fabric.

I glued the spine to the book to give it extra strength. I also manipulated it so it didn't go really stiff.

I finally completed the cover of my book today and here it is.

And this is the back. I wanted to keep the back fairly plain and flat so it sat okay and I'm happy to say it does. I just need to go back in and stick that last flap down as you can see it's a bit flyaway!

These are the first two pages of my completed book.

The second pair of pages, three and four.

Pages five and six.

Back set of pages, seven and eight.

And the back and front covers which won't squish down flat as I put the corrugated cardboard spine in to strengthen it.

Sorry the photos from today are a bit dull but it's a really gloomy day! May edit when and if the sun comes out!

I really, really enjoyed making my very first totally fabric book and I love how it turned out.