How to make a …… Bookmark

This is another in our series of tutorials from us Love Me Sew girls to help you be thrifty with your fabric! A simple little tutorial to use up a tiny piece of fabric……..

Make a lovely gift for your favourite bookworm! This bookmark is great to make as it doesn’t need much fabric; so is perfect to use up scrap pieces of material.

To make this item you will need:

• Paper to make template (greaseproof paper is great)

• Iron on vilene

• Fabric (Scraps or one piece 20cm x 20cm)

• Ric rac or lace (optional)

• Felt or scrap of fabric for applique (optional)

• Co-ordinating thread

• Needle and thread

• Pins

• Scissors

• Sewing Machine

• Iron and board

To make these cute little bookmarks we used Micheal Miller’s  Tiny Gingham Red and Tiny Gingham Yellow all available for £3.00 per fat qtr from Love Me Sew’s online fabric shop.  

Cut out fabric

1. Draw the template for your bookmark – approximately 19cm x 6.5cm. Create a point or curve at the bottom.

2. Using the template cut out 2 pieces of iron on vilene. 

3. Iron the vilene to the wrong side of the fabric and cut out, giving you a front and back to the bookmark. 

Making the loop

1. To make the loop take a scrap piece of fabric approximately 15cm x 4cm.

2. Iron the strip of fabric in half lengthways with the wrong sides facing each other. Open up the fabric and iron each fold in half again towards the pressed centre line. 

3. Press the folded tab along the whole length. Pin to hold in place. 

4. Top stitch the two long sides of the loop. 

Decorate your bookmark

1. To add decoration pin & tack a continuous piece of ric rac or lace along the two long sides and curve/point of one of the pieces of fabric approx 0.5cm from the edge of the fabric. (This will be the back of your bookmark) Remove the pins.
   TOP TIP: Use a contrasting coloured thread to tack with to make them easier to see when it comes to removing them.
   TOP TIP: See http://www.lovemesew.co.uk/tips-techniques/ for a great video to see how to tack.

2. To personalise the bookmark draw an image or letter on a piece of bondaweb.
   TOP TIP: Remember to reverse your image or it will appear back to front when you stitch it to your bookmark.

3. Iron bondaweb to wrong side of scrap of felt or fabric. Cut out image. 

4. Remove paper backing. Iron to the remaining piece of fabric, the front of the bookmark. Stitch to secure the image to the fabric in zig zag or straight stitch. 

Sew your bookmark together

1. Take your prepared fabric for the loop. Create a loop, then pin and tack to the centre of the back piece of the book mark with the loop pointing towards the curve. Remove the pin. 

2. Pin right sides of bookmark together. 

3. Using a 1cm seam allowance, sew around the edges of your bookmark. Make sure the stitches sit just inside the tacking thread to ensure the ric rac of lace is enclosed in the seam. Leave a gap in one of the long sides of approx 3 inches to enable you to turn the bookmark inside out. Use a stay stitch at the start and end of the gap to hold the stitches in place whilst you turn it inside out. 
   TOP TIP: See http://www.lovemesew.co.uk/tips-techniques/ for a useful video to see how to sew a stay stitch.

4. Remove the tacking stitches.

5. Cut notches in the curve at the bottom and snip the corners from the top of the bookmark. 
   TOP TIP: See http://www.lovemesew.co.uk/tips-techniques/ for a fab video to see how to notch your curve.

Finishing touches!

1. Using the gap in the side, turn the bookmark inside out. Press and pin to enclose the open seam. Top stitch the whole way around the bookmark. 
   TOP TIP: See http://www.lovemesew.co.uk/tips-techniques/ for a fab video to see how to top stitch.

Ta da! Your finished – happy reading!