Fun and Easy Bookmarks – Tutorial

I always have books piled everywhere and, well, you can never have too many bookmarks!  I made these up using scraps and I see a lot more in my future: they’ll make great stocking stuffers.

Supplies:

• 16 different fabrics: 3" by 4 1/2"
• Backing fabric: 9" by 11"
• Light weight fabric cut 9" by 11" (I used batiste, but a lightweight muslin would also work)
• Steam-a-Seam Lite 2: 16 pieces cut 3" by 4 1/2"
• Fast2Fuse (a stiff double-sided fusible interfacing): 8 3/4" by 10 3/4"
• Ribbon
• Dritz Fray Check
• Decorative thread

1. Lightly press to fuse the Steam-a-Seam onto the backs of the sixteen fabric rectangles

2. Peel off the paper and slice the rectangle into little pieces. (Tip: I used my rotary cutter and sliced them one by one with the fusible side up). 

3. When you have a pile of little pieces, begin to randomly position them, fusible side facing down, on the lightweight 9" by 11" fabric.

4. Keep going until the entire underlying fabric is covered. (Tip: Hold it up in front of a light source to find "holes" you may have missed).

5. Press to set all the little pieces in place.

6. Using a decorative thread, stitch the fused pieces down using random swirling stitch lines.

7. Iron both the fused section and the backing fabric onto the Fast2Fuse. (The front and back fabrics will slightly overlap the interfacing).

8. Trim to 8" by 10".

9. Cut to create 5 bookmarks, each 2" by 8".

10. Create ribbon holders for the bookmarks. I cut my ribbons between 17 and 20 inches each. Slice the ends on the diagonal and apply a little Fray Check to keep the ribbon ends from unraveling.

11. Peel a little of the backing fabric away from the Fast2Fuse. Fold the ribbon in half and place inside the opening. Press to close again. (Tip: If the fabric resists peeling away, you can also open up the Fast2Fuse itself).

12. Satin stitch the edges. You can leave the edges squared off or, what I prefer, slightly round them since that makes it easier to turn the corners. (Tip: Using an Overlock foot – a  #2 on my 1530 Bernina – helps create a smooth edge).

And that’s it!  Time to make up a cup of tea and settle in for a good read . . .