Jumbo Junk Journal [Pt 3]: Designing a Fabric Cover

Project JJJ...

A few months ago, I ran across a list of "top n tips" for making your first junk journal. One of them was to embellish the pages before binding, because they are just easier to handle when they're lying flat.

It was something that I did instinctively when I made my junk journal, not only for that reason, but because I knew that I'd have to have a clear idea of how thick everything would be, before I could even think about a cover, given the style of cover that I was planning.

There was also only so much fabric to work with (a Tim Holtz fat quarter called Cigarbox), so I was quite pleased in the end that it all came together without issues.

The cover itself was a work in progress for several weeks...

Even after the cover had been realized, sewn up and attached, I was still able to add things to it. For example, I hand sewed on a couple of "belt loops" to keep the Eclectic Elements ribbon in place.

Speaking of the ribbon, it was longer than what was needed, but since it's only printed on one side, I folded the trailing end over itself and glued it together. Not only does it look better, with the end of the ribbon being manipulated through the closure repeatedly, having a double layer there – hardened by the glue – ensures durability.

This Tim Holtz ribbon was originally wrapped around the fat quarter bundle of fabric...

In the spirit of using things up, a small leftover remnant of the crochet ribbon became a flower decoration. And finally, I added a brad to the center of the flower.

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I had the idea early on that I wanted this junk journal cover to consist of two parts: an exterior piece that would wrap around the entire journal, and a spine that could be detached from the cover as required.

An early photo of the completed cover...

But before I could do that, I needed to get a good approximation of the width of the spine. This was where I needed to take time and actually decorate some – if not most – of the pages. (As I explained in a previous post, having to stay away from people between Christmas and New Year's gave me many moments of solitude for this activity.)

Signatures bound up to a removable spine...

After doing so, I decided that a two inch wide spine would accommodate the four signature "sections" that I had made. I would therefore need a sewn strip measuring 14" long by 2" wide. (The extra 5", since the book itself was 9" tall, would be an overlap of 2.5" on either end, intended to fold back out onto the exterior of the cover and secured via snap fasteners.)

But first I had to allocate fabric for the main part of the cover, since that was the most important piece. Considering that the width of fabric for the fat quarter was about 22" in this case, I cut a full width section by 9" high.

Top view of junk journal signatures attached to spine...

With what was left over, I cut the fabric required for the spine. (Before sewing it up, I inserted a 9" long piece of Peltex in the middle and some fusible fleece to the 2.5" at the ends.) Once sewn, the top half of a couple of snap fasteners were installed at either end.

To facilitate the binding, I made up a paper template marked with four evenly spaced rows and "points" along them for where holes should be punched. Each of the three large signatures had four holes to secure them; the three smaller (3" high) signatures have two each.

Once the holes were punched into the spine piece at the proper locations, matching holes were punched into the middle of the signatures themselves and then threaded through and bound with cord. (Speaking of the binding, it's apparent after the fact that I didn't do it in the most efficient way, but I've also resisted redoing it.)

Exterior view of the cover (inset: spine with attached signatures)...

The next sewing job was the cover itself. My plan was to use other scraps of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric for the inside, so I cut a piece of fusible fleece to size and overlaid it with the scraps. Each piece was then zig-zagged stitched into place. The main exterior fabric was similarly fused onto a piece of fusible fleece and then quilted with diagonal lines. (Finishing and securing both halves of this cover – which I did not do at this point yet – involved a tight zigzag stitch on the top and bottom edges, while the sides were bound with some of the same Cigarbox fabric.)

With both halves of the cover pinned together for now, I could position the spine of the journal inside so that the locations for the bottom part of the snap fasteners could be marked and later installed (through both layers).

A fabric pen holster...

My thoughts then turned to making a pen holster. For this, the base support is provided by some Peltex. The black elastic comes from one of my $1 belts.

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The finished pen holster was eventually secured to the cover by a rivet on top and some hook and loop tape underneath. The hook and loop tape allows the whole thing to be flipped out of the way if I'm writing close to the front pages of the journal.

Pen holster can be flipped out of the way for easier writing...

I had thought of riveting only to the interior half of the cover, but decided that putting it through both layers would provide more strength. In any case, having a rivet appear on the outside cover with this fabric is not a big distraction. (The bottom part of the hook and loop tape, however, is definitely only sewn to the inside layer of the cover.)

All that was left at this point was to put in the "harness" system for my notebook. For this, I had decided on a length of narrow ribbon to be sewn down the right hand side of the cover, that would then be threaded back up though the coil of the notebook and tied. Its location had to allow the notebook to open unobstructed by the journal pages.

Actual cover before spine is attached...

As you can see here in the next photo, the bottom part of the ribbon runs up the coil of the notebook and is tied at the top. The journal part to the left does not interfere with the notebook at all.

Inside back cover showing back of notebook...

And in this next photo, the notebook is flipped over to the right so that you can see the ribbon more clearly. (This strip was sewn only to the interior half of the cover, so the stitching does not show on the outside at all.)

Inside back cover showing front of notebook...

My junk journal now had a custom cover that met my every need. What I like most about it is that I have total freedom to swap out parts of it as necessary.

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As I indicated above, I eventually added a couple of belt loops to keep the Eclectic Elements ribbon in place.

Early photo of the back of the journal...

After embellishing the front pages of each of my signatures, I had a small scrap of the crochet ribbon remaining. I was fiddling with it when I found that it could be formed into a flower. Of course, I had to sew that onto the side belt loop.

Further embellishments added to journal cover...

My next spark of inspiration came when I remembered that I had a new set of brads that hadn't been opened yet. So of course I had to choose one to decorate the center of the flower.

Closeup of a "steampunk" brad that was later added to the crochet flower...

For something that's called a junk journal, I think I managed to make a decidedly non-junky cover for it. Oh, and of course, the visual impact of a Tim Holtz fabric makes it just about perfect... even if perfection is not an objective of junk journals!

As an aside, I came across a news story a couple of weeks ago about the challenges of recycling textiles. It mentioned that while linens are relatively easy for recyclers to deal with, clothing is more difficult. (Obviously; I was reminded of how complex it was to take apart two jackets to turn them into a duffle bag.) However, as a result of this recent experience, I can visualize lovely journal covers being made out of clothing. So if this series has inspired you to give junk journaling a go, perhaps there is something in your closet that you no longer wear that can be given a second life as the cover.

What's coming up in part four? Well, I'm sure you're on pins and needles to see what types of ephemera I made with the most basic of supplies... including fabric scraps.

'Til next...