DIY Zippered Book Pouch

I am a bibliophile. It’s a term used to describe someone who loves books; either looking at them or reading them. And while I enjoy reading them, looking at them gives me the most pleasure. I have two large bookcases in my living room stuffed to the max, one with fiction and the other non-fiction. In my mind I’ve even given each bookcase a sort of persona that they inhabit. My fiction bookcase is whimsical, spontaneous, and the life of the party. While my non-fiction bookcase is a bit of a know it all and wouldn’t be caught dead reading some of the books on her sister’s shelves.

And while I receive quite a bit of joy from gazing at my beautiful books, I’ve realized I need more ways to be reminded of my lovely paper friends.

Pinterest, while not made of paper, has been a good resource for ideas. One idea took old hardcover books and transformed them into zippered pouches, ready to be filled with anything from candy to pad and pencil.

The idea of this craft seemed quite fun, until I realized that it required my sewing machine and the use of zippers, which you should know are arch enemies.

But then I got to thinking, there has GOT to be a sewing-free way to make this cute little pouch!

Finding the book was tough. Real tough. There are plenty of options for finding old books. Thrift stores being at the top of the list. I wanted to find one that not only was the size I was looking for, but also the color and possible the title as well. I decided to shop on a sale day at my local Goodwill and got my book for all of $0.15!

Then I was off to my local fabric store, excited to find a pretty fabric to match my perfect book. It didn’t take long; the fabric spoke to me. The right fabric will speak to you too, if you listen. 🙂

Then I found my way to the notions aisle, where all the confusing things about sewing find themselves. In this aisle I found many varieties of permanent fabric tape and glue. There were plenty of options and I even found them to be fairly economical, even without the coupon I wish I hadn’t thrown away.

Then off to the dreaded zipper aisle. I hate zippers, and they hate me. But I agreed to put our differences aside for the sake of my book project. I actually found a cute little number that matched the fabric I found beautifully. All in all the supplies at the fabric store cost less than $10.

Here’s what you’ll need –

• hard cover book
• ¼ – ½ yard of fabric
• zipper – length depending on the size of your book
• adhesive – I used two sided fusible tape
• utility knife
• iron

1. Cut the pages of the book out, following the edges of the spine.
2. Measure your fabric for both the front and back cover’s leaving an inch to fold over the edges. Using the tape secure the edges of the fabric on the inside of both the front and back covers and then iron them into place.
3. Cut 4 2”x2” squares of your fabric to cover the ends of the zipper, tape and iron them into place.
4. Measure and 2” strips of fabric the length of your zipper. Tape and iron the strips on either side of your zipper.
5. With the zipper open tape and iron the fabric on either side of the zipper to the book. Start at the top of the zipper in the center of the spine of the book and work all the way around. Work in short distances, stopping to iron and set each section along the way.
6. You can cut and tape or glue a piece of fabric to cover the center of the book.

I’m thinking a mini legal pad and cute gel pen would look nice inside, or maybe making a cute ipad holder.

Happy crafting!