Vinyl Notebook Cover

My niece received this vinyl notebook cover for her birthday last year. I thought it was adorable. For Christmas I decided to make my own and give them to the girls in my Primary Class. I found this great tutorial that helped me make these covers a reality.

Vinyl Notebook Cover Supplies:

-Vinyl (I get mine at fabric.com)
-gluestick
-binder clips
-sewing supplies
-old sewing pattern
-composition notebook (I got mine from Dollar Tree)

First thing you want to do is to measure your composition notebook and add .5" to each side. The final measurement for my cover is 16.5" x 10.5". My two side pieces measure at 4.5"x 10.5"

I wanted to add a heart on the cover, so I cut a stencil with my Cricut, traced the heart on the back of the vinyl and then cut it out.

I found a great tip on another tutorial that said to use a glue-stick on the back of the vinyl in order to get the cutout to stay in place while you sew it onto the cover. Obviously, I followed the tip and it worked great.

Before I placed the heart onto the vinyl, I folded the vinyl cover over the notebook, lined up the vinyl edges and clipped the vinyl to the notebook like so. Once I had the cover lined up, I glued the heart to the vinyl in the place I thought it looked best.

Next, find an old pattern and cut a piece and place it over the heart. **Take it from me, you CANNOT sew on vinyl. You can either use this old pattern method, or you will need a walking foot for your sewing machine. I did not have this special foot, so I had to find another way to sew on vinyl. I happened to watch a youtube video that suggested using an old pattern. My mom suggested using tape on the bottom of the foot, but when I tried it, it didn't work.

I sewed around the heart with a zig-zag stitch.

I wanted to personalize each notebook, so I printed their names on a sheet of cardstock and "laminated" them with clear contact paper.

I then sewed the name-tag onto each cover.

You will also need to cut a pattern piece for the cover and two side pieces.

I sewed around the cover with a straight stitch.

This step sucks... ripping off the pattern tissue.

Lastly, I inserted the composition notebook into the cover.

So Cute! I also bought some cute pens from Oriental Trading to go with the notebooks.

The girls were so excited to get these. I hope they enjoy them. With the new year, they moved to another class, and I got a new calling, so this was a goodbye present as well as a Christmas present. I will miss them.