Cheetah Fabric Covered Notebook

Alya, my daughter loves animals and she likes to watch the show "Wild Kratts" on PBS.  It is a wonderful show about two brothers, the Kratts, who help animals while exposing kids to Biology, Zoology and Ecology. Alya has been fixated for a while on cheetahs and she loves animal prints in general. She has been begging me for a while to use my little zebra notebook that I keep in my nightstand to write down ideas for my blog that strike me in the middle of the night. It is a cheap notebook with a zebra print cover. I am not attached to this notebook as such but I don't want to rewrite all the notes in another book. She keeps asking me if I really really need this notebook. So I decided to make her a cheetah fabric covered notebook!

Material:

• Any hard cover note book. I got mine for 25 cents from the clearance section at Michael's.
• Fabric of your choice, I got this from Jo Ann, it is Corduroy. 
• Glue (Modge Podge or any permanent glue) I used adhesive spray
• Ruler
• Scissor
• Clips
• Card stock of your choice that complements your fabric

Instructions:

Trace the perimeter of the book on the fabric

Add around 1 inch for the cover folds 

Cut your fabric according to the new measurement, if your fabric has a direction or a motif that you want, make sure to cut it accordingly. Make sure to cut the selvage too.

Press the fabric. I am using corduroy so I used a pressing cloth

Intersect the length and width measurement of the perimeter of the cover

Measure out around half an inch or more and make a 45 degree angle, this will help you miter the corners

Cut the fabric along the angle, make a tiny fold to cover the raw edges and use clips to secure the fold. Repeat on all sides.

Clip the fabric section that coincides with the bone of the book. Just trim it.

Work on one side at a time, spray the adhesive glue or any glue you wish to use. I highly recommend that you test the glue with the fabric before you use on the book. My adhesive spray kind of left very tiny blotches that were camouflaged by the animal pattern.

Spray one side, stretch the fabric to cover it, then when it is nicely secured and glued, spray the cover folds. Notice the red clip hold the fabric to the opposing side of the fabric that I am working on. Try to be careful as much as possible not to make a mess. I did all my spraying on top of a paper bag that I did not need anymore. Make sure that you protect your work surface. 

You will notice that the corners will be automatically mitered. Please try the mitered corners before you actually spray or glue and adjust accordingly. 

Secure the glued folds with clips. Repeat with the other folds then the other side.

Now, cut Magenta yardstick to fill in the center of the pages. I did left out a little less than than a half of an inch. It depends on how big or how small you want the fabric to show on the inside.

Glue in place and let it dry.

I noticed that some glue was sprayed on the fabric, so I damped a cotton ball and neatly cleaned the fabric and let it dry. it worked perfectly.

I also noticed that the first and last pages were sticky from the adhesive spray so I used an exacto knife to tea them out as neat as possible. Some parts were stubborn so I just left them.

And there you go! You can use any fabric to cover any notebook with hard cover! Imagine the possibilities!

Alya loved this special handmade present and I was satisfied to finish a project under an hour! Everybody needs instant gratification every now and then!

Nadine