Fabric Journal Tutorial –Scrap Buster ProjectI just love these journals. They are great to pop into yourbag for shopping lists, to do doodling while your out andabout or just jotting down reflections on your day as you sitin a cafe enjoying a coffee. And they make great gifts forfamily and friends.

They are great scrap busters as you can use odd bits of fabricleft over from other projects.

Materials used in this tutorial:Cardstock (we used 110lb) – 8½” X 11″Fabric for cover (we used cotton quilting fabric) – 10″x 12½”Fabric for liner – 8″ x 10½”Fabric Glue – I used Creative Craft Fabric Glue but I dohave Aleene’s Fabric Glue which is excellent. ( I justhappened to pick up the nearest glue on the table)10 pieces of printer paper trimmed to 10½” x 8¼”. You

can use tea dyed paper or any other paper (not toothick) that suits your purpose.Sewing thread to match your projectRibbon – about 40″Doll Sewing NeedleAwlTwine

Watch the video tutorial below orscroll down for writteninstructions(Can’t see the video? You may have an ad blocker installed.)

Method:Start by applying glue to the card stock, spreading itall over the sheet.

Place the cardstock onto the fabric leaving approx ¾” ofthe fabric, extending all the way around the cardboard.It’s not critical that its absolutely even but it doesmake it easier when you come to do the mitered corner.Turn the piece over and work out any bubbles or wrinklesthat may have formed on the front. Once you are happythat the fabric is nice and smooth, turn the piece overto the card stock side again.

Place a dollop of glue on each corner of the cardstockand fold over the corners of the fabric.

Place a line of glue along the bottom edge of thecardstock and fold up the fabric edge.

Repeat this on all four sides creating your mitres asyou go.

Add glue to the edges of the fabric as shown below.

Now add more glue to the rest of the card stock.

Now place the inside fabric piece down on top of theglue and gently smooth it in place.Work out any bubbles and wrinkles.

Note that at this point, you can leave it to dry beforemoving on to the next step.

Once you are happy that the fabric is nice and smoothit’s time to sew the liner in place.I used a width of 4.5 to zigzag around the edge, You cando whatever size stitch suits you. Just don’t have ittoo narrow or the paper may just tear away. You can usea decorative stitch if you want to.

Fold the journal in half, lining up the edges, and pressdown on the folded edge firmly. You can use a bonefolder to do this but a good finger press works just aswell.

Take the 10 pieces of 10½” x 8¼” paper and fold them inhalf.Place the paper into the journal.Find the center of the paper and mark with a pencil.Measure a ½” from each end of the paper and make a markwith a pencil.

Keeping a firm hold on the cover and the paper, push theawl through each of the holes, making sure to go throughall the papers and the cover. I generally start withthe center hole. Make sure to keep you fingers and handsout of the way of the awl as it comes through. Gettingthe awl through does take a bit of pressure and youcould do yourself a nasty injury as awls are very sharp.

Once the holes have been made. Take the doll sewingneedle, threaded with the twine, and push it through themiddle hole, from the inside of the journal.

Take the needle up to the top hole on the outside ofthe journal and push it through the cover and thepages.

Now on the inside of the of the journal take the needleright down to the hole at the bottom and push the needlethrough.

Bring the needle on front of the journal, up to the holein the centre. This can be tricky because you now havetwo threads coming through the hole in the center.

Try not to split your twine.Adjust the twine so that it is firmly in place. Not tootight as you don’t want the journal to buckle.Cut any excess off to twine.

Place one end of the twine on one side of the centrethread and one on the other.

Tie a double knot.

You can trim the twine again so that it is shorter oryou can leave the ends long and add some dingly danglybits to add interest.And there you have it, a nice easy project to use upsome of your scraps.