Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Bible Cover Tutorial

I have been dying to have a Bible cover for the longest time, but have never gotten around to making one. I always have a thousand things on my to-do list and never remember to make a Bible Cover until I am sitting in church. Well I finally took the time to make one during nap time. I already have one, but it's store bought, and boring. I wanted something a little more flashy...sounds like something I really need in worship...huh?;o)
Anyway, I thought I would put together a tute for any of you who might want to make one of these yourselves.
Here's what you need:
1/2 yard of fabric
Double Fold Bias Tape
Thread
Low Pile Batting
Velcro
My Bible measures at 15"x10". When I decided to make this cover, I wanted to make it as simple as possible. I only have a short period of time to work with since nap time is getting shorter and shorter these days:o)
Here's the break down of how to assemble the cover
Cut your fabric according to the dimensions of you Bible.
You will need:
 2 Large rectangles (front cover and inside cover) size will depend on Bible measurements
1 rectangle cut to size of covers from batting
2 straps measuring 4"x 22"
2 pockets. My pockets were 10 1/4" tall by 4" wide
2 -3 1/2"x10" rectangles for enclosure
You will need to sandwich the batting between the two large rectangles, right sides facing outward.
Now I never pin anything together b/c I am lazy, and I have lost a lot of machine needles from sewing across pins. But for this, I did pin. Only because when quilting, the fabric will move and nobody wants to take the time to pick out all those stitches:o) So starting from left to right pin the fabric in place, and make sure the fabric is laying flat, and that there isn't any bunching.
Now quilt. I kept my seams about an inch and half from one another. One tip to remember when quilting. Roll the fabric up, so that it's easier to feed the material thru so that you can keep a straight stitch.
When you have sewn all your squares, there will be some fabric that is hanging over, like the picture below.
Trim that off. You want all the edges to be the same.
Next you will want to prepare the straps, pockets and the enclosure. For the straps, just use your iron to press it into place.
Fold in half length wise. Press.
Fold the outer edges in and press.
Sew a seam as close to the edge as possible but making sure to catch all of the fabric.
The pockets for the inside of the cover will need some bias tape. All you do here is open the bias tape up, and slide the raw edge of your fabric inside and stitch.
The enclosure is simple. Place right sides together. Run a 5/8" seam around the two long sides and one short side, leaving the other short side open.
Trim corners off
Turn right side out and press.
Now it's time to put everything together. You will want to line everything up where it's supposed to go and use a basting stitch to hold it all in place. So much easier than trying to pin everything:o)
(A basting stitch is the one where the stitches are wider and further apart)

Time for the bias tape. Now I tried using a 1/4" wide tape,and boy was that a mistake. I ended up using a 1/4" tape on the pockets and a 1/2" tape on the outer edges. Do it the same way you did the pockets, just open it up and keep all raw edges inside the tape. The corners are a little tricky so go slow there:o)
And here is the finished product.
I didn't put the velcro on until the very end because I needed to see how far the enclosure would overlap. I used the bow and button to cover the stitches from the velcro.
I love that the straps are long enough that I can carry it on my shoulder...now I have my hands free to carry little ones or their treasures from Bible class:o)
Let me know what you think...I am really digging this:o)

28 comments:

Jessica said... Best Blogger Tips

I love it!!! I need to get busy and make myself a Bible cover. Thanks for the inspiration.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said... Best Blogger Tips

That is BEAUTIFUL! I love the pattern you chose. :) Thanks so much for the visit today!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

cute! One of my favorite things is my bias tape maker!!! They are around $5 and you always can have bias tape out of any fabric! It folds the fabric for you and all you do is run the iron over the fabic as it comes out. They make some that are much more $$ that fold and iron at the same time.

Rebekah Lindenmayer said... Best Blogger Tips

That is really cute! The store bought covers do the job but they don"t have the style that your new one does!

Aisling said... Best Blogger Tips

Cute! Now I need to find a bible cover for my bible that has fallen out of the hardcover, GRIN! Have to use one that zips up for now but it's my favourite bible with all my notes in it!

But this would be good for my other ones! and I LOVE that fabric!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Too cute! Bookmarking this! It looks like a good project for Christmas gifts! Thanks!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Love it! Beautiful fabric. I bet everyone at Chirch will want one.Saw you on One Pretty Thing.

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Oh my goodness... on saturday my 8 year old wanted to hand sew something and decided he wanted to make a bible cover for his buddy and then he wanted to "hand sew" his friends name on it! I totally failed at the bible cover for him :( so he will be thrilled! Thank you!

~Celeste~ said... Best Blogger Tips

Was Googling how to make a bible cover and came across your tute! It's great and just what I was looking for! Thanks! :)

Kimberlee, The Spunky Diva said... Best Blogger Tips

I love it! The fabric you used is sooooo cute. I really need to do something about the ugly maroon pleather case I have, LOL!
~Kimberlee
www.TheSpunkyDiva.com

Brenda said... Best Blogger Tips

I found your instructions after searching quite awhile. I tried a quilted version with strips and it came out pretty cool. It's a gift for a friend so I'm hoping the size I used works. I'm looking forward to making a few more as gifts. Thank you for such great instructions. I'd post a pic but not sure how to. Lol

Gisele said... Best Blogger Tips

I love it ! probably there will be one of this in a Brazil church...mine...

Gisele said... Best Blogger Tips

so cute ! Love it ! Probably there will be one of this here in Brazil.... mine....

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Parabéns por essa idéia da capa para Bíblia!!! Nada como adorar a Deus em grande estilo!!! Deus abençoe por tua generosidade em dividir conosco o tutorial!!! Bjks Ligia

Regime - a Luta said... Best Blogger Tips

Gostei muito da sua capa para Bíblia e, confesso


me inspirou a fazer uma .

Obrigado e um abraço ...

Começo a seguir você para não perder o contato.

Sheryl said... Best Blogger Tips

My poor bible cover is 15 years old and needing to be retired. I have fabric in mind. Now thanks to your detail instructions and the pics, I feel like I can tackle the project. Thanks again!

Anya said... Best Blogger Tips

What a cute bible cover (way better than store bought)! Thanks so much for the tutorial, I'm going to be making one soon hopefully :)

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

I love the Bible cover, I am going to make one for my daughters and myself. Thank you so much for posting, it was exactly what I was looking for! :) God bless you!

Sg said... Best Blogger Tips

I love it, i'm making it for my grandmother. I've started, and i've just finished the straps, but i'm confused with the next few steps, if you could please explain that would be great, thanks!

djjdjdjdjd said... Best Blogger Tips

@Sg
You stitch the straps and the pocket on at the same time, then run the bias tape along the entire edge. Hope this helps!

Lau said... Best Blogger Tips

I´m from Brazil and I loved this idea!!! And I´ll teatch that for women in my church!!! tks for posted!!

Lau said... Best Blogger Tips
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

exactly what I was looking for and such a fun fabric and pattern! thnx so much for sharing! Audrey

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for this great tut, however, I was lost when it came to putting everything together. Are the pockets sewn just over the edge with a 5/8 inch seam? for 1st time sewers, there was no mention of sewing the straps and turning. Again, thanks so much

Stevie said... Best Blogger Tips

This cover is gorgeous...and I am in need of one. Thank you so very much for sharing and posting the tutorial. I look forward to making one tomorrow. :0)

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Love love love! Very cute and you made it easy to follow! Well done!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

I love the cover but with no pattern and light on someci n instructions, it left a lot for me to try to figure out and calculate. However my "modified" version turn out pretty slick. I'm not a seamstress by any means and would say. This project is moderately difficult for beginners like me. I agree with others, there are definitely some "skipped" directions. Thank you for sharing .

Tasty Destination said... Best Blogger Tips

Thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial! Just followed it it make some gorgeous ones for our bible, replacing the custom ones that broke after the first 6 months... Thanks again! bridal fabrics