Erin FoxEveryone needs a book mark
There’s nothing more infuriating than losing your place in a really good book. A book mark is something everyone needs; using an old receipt simply won’t do and turning the pages down just ruins the book. To avoid unsightly doggy ears and losing your place during a really tense moment in a book, make your own personalised book mark.
You will need: felt in colours of your choice, embroidery thread, needles, cereal card, measuring tape, pencil, ribbon, beads and buttons.
First make your template. Draw a rectangle measuring 7.5 x 3 inches on the back of a cereal box. You can later use this as the padding in the bookmark.
Cut out the template and pin to the felt. Cut around the card and then repeat on another piece of felt. If you are using one colour for the whole book mark, you can fold the piece of felt in half before pinning the template and cutting it out. You should now have two panels.
Cut out the shapes you want and sew these to the panels. Use the book mark template as a guide for the shapes. They will need to fit within the rectangle. Take a length of ribbon and sew this to the back of one of the panels. Sew your shapes onto the panels. Instead of shapes you can experiment with embroidery and stitch your name onto the bookmark. Sew shapes onto the back as well so you can flip it over, or stitch your name on one side and leave the other side for shapes.
With your pencil, draw a margin 5mm from the edges of the bookmark template. Trim this and then place to one side. Take the two felt panels and face both down on your work space. Lay the card on top of one panel and then place the other panel on top so the card is wedged between both panels. Pin together and then tack all around. Remove the pins and then use blanket stitch or running stitch to piece everything together, leaving the ribbon hanging out at the bottom.
Find yourself a good book to read and place your homemade bookmark inside.
You can personalise these to the tastes of someone in your family or a friend and wrap it up with a book they might like for their birthday.