Tutorial 2 - Recycled Small Journal Slip Cover

If your journal is a large one, you might have a small, piggyback journal that lives in the large journal when it's at home, but that you can take along with you when you don't feel like lugging the large journal.   This slipcover protects the paper cover of the small portable journal.  Since piggybacks are usually single pamphlets or at most a few signatures bound together as multiple pamphlets or a small Coptic book, they fill up quickly.  You can easily slip the filled journal out of the slipcover and put it in a pocket in the back of the larger journal, and then put a new, empty piggyback into the cover. 

This slipcover can also be used as a permanent cover for any small Coptic bound journal, piggyback or stand-alone.

The slipcover shown is made from a Kettle potato chip bag.  These bags are strong enough to stand some abuse, and they have a smooth finish that makes it easy to slide the covered book in and out of pockets.  You can use other material, such as woven plastic birdseed bags or even heavy paper bags, but much research has shown Kettle bags to be a truly superior material for this particular upcycle.  

 The photo above shows the materials you will need for this project:  a cutting mat, a matt knife, a metal ruler, the pamphlet or other small book that you want to put inside the slip cover, and a sewing machine, preferably with a leather needle, but a regular needle is okay.  (You can sew this cover by hand if you don't have a sewing machine.) You also need  polyester thread in normal sewing weight.

 Measure and cut the cover material so that it is 4 times the width of a single page x the height of the pamphlet plus 1 inch.

Make a 3/4 inch hem at each short edge of the cover material.

With the right side of the cover facing up, fold the two edges in to make pockets as shown in this photo.  Use small binder clips to hold the fold.  Measure the folds so that the opened-out small book fits in the center space with its paper covers tucked under the pocket flaps.

Stitch across the top and bottom of the cover as shown above.  Make the seam about 1/4" deep.

Turn the cover right-side out, using a blunt point, such as a broken pencil point , to poke the material into the corners.  The plastic is a little awkward to fold at first;  use your fingers to make the first part of the turn and then finish up with the blunt stick.  After you turn the cover , over-stitch all around the edges, as shown in the photo above.

This view shows the finished cover with a small pamphlet book inserted.


This photo shows the outside of the finished cover with a pamphlet inserted.

This shot shows a small Coptic bound book inserted into its cover.  The covers of the Coptic book are made of cardboard from a recycled box such as a pizza carton.  This larger piggyback can be a stand-alone journal, too.

For more materials ideas, see my blog www.weRpiecework.blogspot.com.