About
How to make a Fabric Valentine Book
The premise
I love books, I do not mean I love to read( I like it just fine). I love holding books; turning the pages slowly and quickly. I love the intimate interaction demanded by a book. I love the historical references of books; the implications of freedom and equality that are aroused from ones mind when you think of the history of book making and the spread of knowledge to the common folk( my peeps).
I love making books. I have spent years keeping art journals and then making books; every art project was premeditated, inspired by and made record with the help of a book. I am sure my tactile fascination with books was born when I was a wee little Darling', of which I have no memory( I have a terrible memory). However I can remember how books became more and more involved in my creative process. .....This is getting too drawn out. Sorry book making brings out the art nerd in me.
It is all from journals, I believe, In the beginning of my " serious study of art" my journals were always more interesting (to me and to others) than the actual finished art piece. So I must conclude now in retrospect, That I started making books, as art, out of my desire to bring the viewer closer to me; to give them a more realistic and honest rendering of my view point.
When I was teaching a beginning design class at The university of Arizona , I assigned a very similar project to this tutorial. Each student was asked to write down four words describing something in there room at home. Then write one word for the thing. We then made pamphlet style collage books and used the words as the text for the book. I liked doing this project in the very first class because the result was so informative about the student; Like little visual autobiographies. I suggest you make the paper book first to get a feel for this.This is a great first run to hash out ideas and understand the folding method of the pamphlet. They are actually great to have around for making little memory books or we love making "comic" books out of them.
The project...these books are to be valentines. Choose who you are making the Valentine for. I made three(well I am still working on the third)I chose as my valentine : mother, lover, and burger. For the 4 words you can use almost anything. Just choose something that is relevant and fun loving for your recipient. The fifth word will be a term of endearment.
For my mother I decided to do the traditional 4 descriptive words...using her as my muse.I actually decide on the words by writing like 10 or 20 ideas and using a dictionary to help me decide on the words I liked best together.
For my lover I decided to use the title to a song by one of our shared favorite musicians, Allen Toussaint.His music conjures up such sweet memories of our courtship and we became engaged in N'orleans. For burger I chose a movie( star wars of course) and his favorite characters from the movie.( I am still working on burgers...so no photos yet)
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You Will Need
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Step 1cut and starch iron your base fabric. This 19" x 13 " fabric should be at least med weight. I chose one darker value one lighter value and one that had printed images. This will allow me to layer from dark to light and one from light to dark and on the third deal with the challenge of editing the printed images.
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Step 2cut, iron, and attach your back ground fabric.
Apply the heat and bond to all your back ground fabrics. I used translucent sheer fabrics that would help me create depth in my layering and help create a variety of values. -
Step 3Make your pamphlet.
a. fold in half vertically and Iron -
Step 4b. fold in half horizontally and iron
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Step 5c. fold both ends to meet in the middle creating four fold across
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Step 6d.unfold your ends and cut from the middle to the first fold
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Step 7.... creating a slit in the center.
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Step 8...
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Step 9Fold and iron you pamphlet . Hold on to the fabric on both sides of the slit,
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Step 10....pull open
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Step 11....and fold your pamphlet
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Step 12...
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Step 13into shape.
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Step 14...
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Step 15Iron the entire book
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Step 16shaping it as you go along.
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Step 17...
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Step 18...
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Step 19This book will be whimsical and loose don't worry if all your edges don't match up perfectly, because they will not; you can work that into your design.
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Step 20Create your lay out.
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Step 21Using pins and your memory start designing each page.
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Step 22Now it is time to dig into your creativity and have fun.
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Step 23This is when I establish the flow of my text.
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Step 24That helps me start working each page individually. Of course you want flow through the book you can use color
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Step 25and repition of shapes and fabric to help create continuity in your book,
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Step 26but before I deal with my final flow first I try to give each page an individual look.
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Step 27Attach your design elements. I used heat and bond on all my fabric pieces, some I then added stiching by hand
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Step 28...and machine. I used stamps, stencils and embroidery to illustrate my text.
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Step 29I suggest stamping on bits of fabric then attaching that to your book.
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Step 30This gives you another layer and saves your book from accidents.
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Step 31
Add buttons or other imbellishments that you will be wanting to hide the work in the interior of the book.
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Step 32Finsh your edges...or not. If this is an artist book not soemthing you will be laudering( like a kids book) you could skip this all together( just heat bond everything), but I just love stitches too much . One method is to topstitch about 1/4 to 1/8 from the edge.
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Step 33I actually sewed around my book several times
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Step 34...using the machine to draw some ephemeral lines of continuity throughout my pages. (speaking of machines LOOK!!! at my, new to me, necchi let me just say...whole new world lalalalalaalove it!)
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Step 35Another method for finishing your pages is to turn and press all your edges in about 1/8 of an inch then fold your pamphlet and top stitch the edges together.
I find the method slightly tedious looking for my aesthetic( but not my mothers so I finished hers like this).
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Step 36Whichever finish you choose from above ,
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Step 37Follow this sequence as you sew close your book up:
After you have chosen an edge finish
- fold your book back into shape and PRESS.-
Sew your edges together starting with the front pages -
Step 38-then iron- next the back pages -iron - then work the middle pages taking care to iron and keep the shape of your book all along.
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Step 39Press with Iron. one final shaping with the iron....nice and hot
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Step 40share your love
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"I love holding books; turning the pages slowly and quickly. I love the intimate interaction demanded by a book. I love the historical references of books; the implications of freedom and equality that are aroused from ones mind when you think of the history of book making and the spread of knowledge to the common folk"... I agree, been saying that same thing forever, Cheers!
I love this ! Cant wait to try this !
Your amazing, thank you !
Thank you for the ideas....
CO + K User