How to Make a Button-Embellished Notebook Cover

comments (9) February 13th, 2009     

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Anchor the pen holder in place by machine-sewing close to the edge of the slit, as shown.

The ends of the seam should curve gently toward the fold.

Here's a view of that short seam. The ends of the seam should gently curve back toward the folded edge of the felt, as shown. After sewing, trim all layers of felt close to the seam and press the pen holder flat. (Note: be careful not to press over any marks you made with the washable fabric marker. Often, pressing will make these marks permanent.)

Rummage through your button stash to find some pretty button embellishments.

Wrap the cover around the notebook again, with that pen holder in place on the front cover. Now it's time for the fun part—rummaging through your button collection to find some pretty ones for the cover! (Any time I can dump my buttons all over the table like this, that's a good day.)

I'd recommend that you use sew-through buttons for this project rather than shank buttons. The sew-throughs will lie flatter against the felt.

Paint small dabs of glue on the back of each button to tack it to the felt.

When you have a configuration of buttons you like, then it's time to attach them to the cover. It's actually pretty challenging to sew the buttons on one at a time and get them into a precise arrangement, so I like to tack them down first with glue.

Working with one button at a time, use a small paintbrush to paint a few tiny dabs of glue onto the back and then gently place it on the felt. I like Aleene's Tacky Glue for this step because it allows me a few seconds to reposition each button before it begins tacking up. Be careful as you're gluing—don't let any glue ooze through the holes in the buttons. This will make sewing them down much more challenging later. Try not to let any glue ooze around the sides of the button, either.

Tweezers may make handling tiny buttons easier.

posted in: fabric, embroidery, buttons, felt, accessory