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For my niece's 14th birthday I made her a travel notebook using our Journal Cover Kit. She is planning a road trip to Utah to see Arches National Park with a friend when she's old enough to drive. It's fun to have something to connect with her. I love a good road trip and I've had the privilege of exploring a bit of the Southwest and it's National Parks.
So I put together a map of the area and labeled the spots I think she should see with page numbers from the guide book I got her.
Instead of just putting a notebook into the pocket of the journal cover, I actually sewed paper into it. I added a few notes and messages to get her started but left the majority of the notebook blank for her to fill in on her travels.
I put 3 sections in the notebook. Section one the trip, section two the planning, and section three collecting.
I added envelopes for saving money and for collecting things. I also added two sheets of wax paper for her to press flowers in.
I've heard a lot of people talk about bullet journaling. I haven't personally gotten into it but after looking for ideas for this notebook I think I'll start! I love the idea that I can make my own custom notebook to fit my needs and day to day life.
Ready to make your own? Here's what you need:
Our Journal Cover Kit, which includes instructions, chipboard cut to size so your notebook has a nice hard cover, three Modern Textiles notebooks, and clear plastic for a pocket.
1/3 yard canvas for the outside of your notebook
1 fat quarter for the inside pocket
Some fun scraps to personalize it
Modifications:
Cut the following sizes: (this adds an inch to the width)
(2) 15 x 10-1/2” Outside Journal piece and Inside Journal piece
(1) 15 x 12-1/2” Inside Pocket Piece
Since we will be sewing in paper to the cover, you can skip the step that marks the pocket divisions according to the diagram and top stitches.
Once you've completed the steps of the Journal Cover as written it's time to add the notebook paper. I gathered up printer paper, drawing paper, graph paper, and any other fun papers I could find. Depending on the thickness of your papers make packs of approximately 10-12 papers thick and fold them in half. Make three to four packs, just make sure they fit into the binding of your Journal cover.
Now it's time to sew them in. Open one paper pack and lay it flat. Position it in your journal cover so the fold line is in the spine of the cover. Put an old needle in your sewing machine (this is like cutting paper with your fabric scissors), set your stitch length to 4.5, and sew down the middle crease of the paper backstitching at the beginning and the end. Close that pack and open the next pack and place the center fold right next to the sewn in pack. Repeat the steps to sew it in place. Repeat all of these steps until you have all of your packs sewn in.
Easy as that! I hope you give this new twist on our Journal Cover kit a try.
Happy Sewing!
Connie
