Covering your book comes as a great protection for your textbooks. One should learn how to cover a book using old maps, paper bags, cloth covers, sheet music, etc., that fit perfectly in your textbook. Additionally, after covering the book, you can enhance the look using handy accessories like name tags and pockets. So, in this article, let us explore useful ways to cover your book.
Preparing The Paper Cover For Your Book:
1. Select The Paper You Want To Cover The Book With:
Books without covers will not look good, and covering the book is the best way to protect it. Thus, choose a paper cover before going to cover your textbook. For books, you can use different paper covers, such as
- Old newspapers
- Sheet music
- Old wallpaper
- Old or new maps
- Brown paper bag
- Foreign newspapers
To cover the book, look for a paper size double the textbook’s length. The height should be three inches taller than the height of the book.
2. Cutting The Paper To The Required Size Using Measurements:
You need to open the book and measure the width using a ruler or measuring tape to get the width measurement. After measuring, you can add 6 inches, 3 inches further, to cover all sides of the book.
Next comes the height measurement, and then you can add 3 inches and 1 and a half inches to that measurement. This will help to cover the top and bottom sides of the book.
To mark the dimensions, you can use the ruler and mark a line using a pencil on the paper. After drawing the faint line on the cover, you can cut the extra paper using scissors.
3. Folding The Paper ¼ inch On Both The Top & Bottom Of The Book:
Now, close the book, place it on the paper cover, and mark the top and bottom edges. Add ¼ inch to both edges and mark them to fold. So, you can fold the edges from the extra to the original marked position of the paper.
You must repeat the same procedure for the top and bottom edges. After folding the top and bottom edges of the paper into the book, you can use double-sided tape to stick the folds.
4. Folding The Sides Of The Book:
You need to open and place the book on the cover at the center position. Now, mark the sides of the paper where the book touches exactly and mark a faint line. You will find some extra inches of paper beyond this faint line.
So, you can fold the sides of the paper from the extra sides to the exact point where it touches the book. Again, you can use double-sided tape or normal tape to stick the folds. Finally, your textbook is ready with a paper cover protecting the outside.
How To Add Accessories To The Cover?
1. Add Fancy Name Tags Or Labels Or Fun Stickers:
After covering the book, you can stick some labels on the front. You can get fun or fancy name tags or normal labels from stationery shops or craft stores. You can mention your name and class in a big font on such a label. Sometimes, you can buy fun stickers to stick on the cover of the book to create a theme.
2. Create Horizontal Stripes Using A Fancy Paper Tape:
Based on your book cover, you can choose some contrast patterns of paper tapes and buy them from the craft shops. Mark faint lines where you will stick the paper tapes using a ruler and pencil. Now, you can stick the paper tape to create horizontal stripes.
3. Use A Plastic Pocket On The Book Cover:
Another way is to use the plastic pocket on the book cover and put your school schedule and reminder notes into it. You can also use self-adhering business card holders or document holders on the book cover.
If you are looking for innovative ways to add accessories to the book cover, you can also create your own pocket. For this pocket, you can use any cover to create it at your home.
4. Create A Rubber Band Holder On The Textbook Book Cover:
You can use a rubber band holder for your pocket notebooks to give them a good look. This rubber band holder will help you keep the small notebooks in the bag. To do this, take two large rubber bands and wrap them around the length of the book cover. Ensure that the two rubber bands have some space between them.
How To Make A Fabric Cover?
1. Choose The Fabrics:
The process is simple: you need two fabrics to make the notebook cover. One fabric is for the outside cover, and another for the inside cover. Ensure you wash the fabric to avoid shrinks and iron them well before using.
2. Take Dimensions & Cut Them:
Now, you need to get the dimensions for the cover using the ruler and the measuring tape. You need to follow the same procedure as you did to cover the book using the paper cover.
While measuring, you need to take some extra inches for folding. For instance, if the height and width are 8 (height) x 12 ½ (width) inches, you should consider 9 x 13 ½ inches. Finally, cut the two larger fabrics for the outside cover and two smaller ones for the inner flaps.
3. Sew The Double Fold Fabric:
You need a sewing machine to sew the double-fold fabric for the fabric cover. Make a flap of around ¼ inch on the inner fabric and then double the fabric to make one more fold of ¼ inch. Now, you can sew the double fold after creasing it.
4. Layering The Fabrics & Sewing:
After checking properly, you can sew around the edges of the cover by leaving a gap of 3/8 inch on all sides. Place the smaller fabric over the bigger fabric where the print should face up. Finally, you can trim the sharp edges of all corners and flip the cover inside out, and it is ready to use now.
Conclusion:
Thus, you come across the different methods to cover a book in this article. To understand the step-by-step procedure, go through the article.
Also read: Make the Best Envelope at Home with Different Designs
