Soft cover Book Protector- with Tutorial! (and LOTSA pics)

[bethntim]

My friend LOVES to read and takes a book with her everyday to work.  She also hates carrying a purse so I made her a book protector with a small pocket on the front to carry ID, money, etc...  She LOVES it!  I thought I would share with you guys!
You will need:
2-2" X 12" strips from outer fabric for straps
2-3" X 8" rectangles from outer fabric and lining fabric each for the flaps
1-10 1/2" X 8" rectangles from outer and lining fabric for main piece
10" of 3/8" wide ribbon for bookmark



Sew 2 flaps together with one outer and one lining along 1 long side.  Fold over so right sides are out and topstitch 1/8" from edge.  Make 2 flaps


Make straps by folding the 2" X 12" strips in half long ways and ironing to make a crease


Fold raw edges up to creased line, fold on crease and press to create straps

Topstitch 1/8" along both sides

Layer lining fabric right side up with one flap at each short end, lining fabrics touching and raw edges meeting



Then layer the straps 2 inches from each side and pin in place


The place outer fabric on top with wrong side up.  Pin in place and stitch around all edges, leaving a 3 inch hole in the middle of one long side to turn


Clip corners, turn and press seam allowances from hole inside.  Insert ribbon in hole 1/4" and topstich along all sides of cover


Insert book cover inside flaps


Voila!  One softcover book protector.  Now go make 7 or 12 of them!

Oh yeah I almost forgot the "action" shot

[ttchica78]

Oooh... Thanks for the idea.
My mom and her sisters are very religious.  They would love these for their bibles.

[bethntim]

That is a great idea, just be sure to measure the Bibles first and make sure they fit, this is for a regular soft cover book some Bibles are bigger.  It does make a great gift though!

[KaedeHikari]

pretty interesting!!!! I should do it one when I have a bit of time    Thanks for the tute!

[AliBeachGrl]

Great tutorial!  

Great bag as well.  Thanks!

[Mimi055]

Awesome idea and beautiful fabric!!!!!!!!!

[Pinkaholic]

Great tutorial, great idea, great fabric

[Strutter]

I would love this.

[KiwiDragons]

What a fantastic idea! Thank you for the tutorial as well! 

[aquagoddess]

I need one of these!  I will begin tomorrow...for my journal!  I hate a purse too, but must carry a cell phone...what a great idea.

[Sweetttart3]

My baby sister starts her senior year of high school in the fall, and this would be a great gift. Thanks so much for the tute!

[bethntim]

If you want to customize the size of it to fit larger books simply measure the front, back and spine then add one inch and measure from top to botttom and add 1 inch.  These will be your new dimensions for the main and lining pieces.  The flap will still be 3 inches by whatever the short measurement is.  The dimensions I gave were for the smaller paperback books but this would work for larger books as well.  The handles would stay the same.  I also put a pocket on the front of this one before I sewed the main piece and the lining piece to hold ID, money, debit card, etc.  Good luck to everyone I would love to see them when you make them.

[spinelli320]

Could you possibly use some type of spandex so that it'll stretch over different sizes of book?  This might not work for softcover but I bet it would for hardcovers...  BTW I've seen these at craftshows and they charge an arm and a leg... it's great that you posted this for everyones use!

[bethntim]

An arm and a leg really?  I had no idea, my friend's mom brought me one that she had and said can you make me one like it so I just copied what I saw.  I was thinking about making them for a craft show I have coming up next April but I didn't think they would go over well, I thought about charging $5 for them.  They were easy peasy to make.  I bet a stretchy fabric would work great and you could get  a lot more sizes out of them instead of having to make a new one for every single book.  Good luck to everyone, I'd love to see some pics!!!!

[Eveel]

I have been looking for this tutorial for weeks now. I have a few books that are the larger size paperbacks but I only have one for large and one for regular sized paperbacks.

I have one suggestion, look into vinyl material, something waterproof (or line it).  That way they don't have to worry about being caught in the rain without a coat to hide it under.

[LNsGirl]

I love this!  I really want to make one for my books that I do read.  I may have to make several in different sizes though.