Hello all! I'm here again to inspire you to create something beautiful, something unique, something creative.
In a previous post, I stitched together fabric and paper to make a fabric swatch sample. Just for fun. Just because I LOVE beautiful fabrics! My fabric swatch creation may not have enchanted you - and I can understand that - but read on and see how I took that idea and created something worthy of keeping, showing, or giving to someone you love.
The accordion-style book idea came about recently when I stumbled upon a new website while searching for instructions on stitching handmade books. I'm all about books and writing implements, particularly fountain pens. I use one every day. I LOVE fountain pens!
I discovered a lovely English lady who makes her living teaching classes on stitching and creating handmade books and journals. She hails from England and now resides in my home state of Massachusetts! AND...she has a studio in Lowell, MA where I once worked many years ago in one of the mill buildings. Isn't that neat?
After perusing her website I signed up for her newsletters and joined her Facebook group (Crafting Handmade Books) where she and other crafters showcase their works of art. July's project challenge is to make an accordion book. If you're interested in books and paper and pens, I'll include her website at the end of this post and you can check her out.
When I made the fabric swatch sample (see post here), I gave suggestions on how you could take my idea and create a "book" to gift others. My accordion book is a "Book Quote" book. You may want to type out scripture verses, your favorite recipes, miscellaneous and famous quotes, other trivia you find enjoyable to read. How about poetry written by you? Be creative!
I must say that my accordion book of quotes came out so beautiful! So pretty! I love looking at it and reading the quotes again and again! I will be gifting this to my best friend, Janie, who lives in MA. She loves reading. She loves beautiful fabrics. My book of book quotes can stand displayed on a table for all to see and enjoy.
Tools and Supplies Needed to Make Accordion Book
Fabric remnants
Stiff cardstock (I used 140 lb paper from my sketchbook tablet)
Printer/paper for printing out your quotes, verses, poems, etc.
Ribbon or string
Paper punch
Scissors and/or fancy cutting edge scissors (see below)
Pinking Shears
Sewing machine
Decide how many pages you want your book to have. Choose your fabrics and cut them a little smaller than the cardstock you will use for the pages. I cut my fabric with pinking shears.
I collected a number of book quotes from PINTEREST that I really liked. I typed them in a Word document, printed them out and cut them with special scissors to make them look fancy. You can also handwrite your quotes on paper. I gathered more quotes than pages and as I wanted to use all of them, most of the pages have two quotes.
Here is the fancy pair of scissors I used to cut out the quotes for my accordion book.
Here's one quote I especially love! :-)
Here's the first page that's partially finished. Stitch the paper quotes onto the fabric pieces first. Then stitch the fabric pieces to the cardstock. It's okay if things get a little crooked. It's a creative work of art and we don't have to be picky all the time. Be wild! Be happy in your creativity! I also stitched my Lady Elsie Lee label to the front page. It's fun to stitch paper onto fabric!
Below are two photos of the fronts and backs of the cardstock with stitching completed. One side of each page will show extra stitching if you have fabric swatches on both sides of each page. You will notice the double stitching lines in the second photo.
Put your pages in order and determine which sides will be attached together to make it accordion style.
Now make two holes in the sides of the cardstock. I made a paper template with two holes so I could punch through the template making sure my holes were in the same place on all the pages.
Cut pieces of ribbon and tie the pages together loosely. If they're too tight, you won't be able to open or fold the book without tearing the holes.
Here's the other side of the accordion book of quotes.
Isn't it beautiful? I had so much fun making this book of quotes for my friend.
What a fun project! Let your imagination go outside the box. Add buttons or stickers to add more interest. How about creating a photo album? Then wrap it up pretty and present it to your loved one. Or perhaps your accordion book is too beautiful to give away and its new home is on your fireplace mantel or bookshelf. Then you'd have to make another one to gift!
As promised, here's the website for handmade books and journals: https://vintagepagedesigns.com/
I'd love to hear from you and see photos of your artfully crafted accordion book!
Have a great weekend!