“A house without books is like a room without windows.” – Heinrich Mann
We know what you’re thinking – YES we could have chosen a more attractive fabric! HAHA!!! So funny, but oh well! It was mostly for demo anyway.
Another thing, we would never deface a copy of Gone with the Wind for this project so it’s good if the book is not a collectable or rare in any way.
We got the idea from retail stores and the way they use decorative books as props on their furniture displays. You can make your own decorative books and we’ll show you one way (of many, many ways) you can do this using old clothes.
Helpful Tools & Supplies
- Book(s)
- Cloth (we reused old clothing)
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Tacky Glue (and a rag for wiping excess glue)
*As always, read through all instructions before beginning.
Step 1) Cut Fabric
Exact measurements will depend on the size of the book you are covering and how much of the book you want covered. Cut your piece of old shirt larger than you will need to give yourself the option to trim away unwanted length – it’s better to cut too big than too little.
Step 2) Preview Fabric Over Book
Place fabric over book to determine how you want it to look and give yourself at least ¼ inch extra on each side so you can give the edges a finished look (in step 3).
Cut off excess fabric after you have measured with your ruler. A pencil will usually leave a visible mark – chalk works well too. I would avoid ink as it can soak through fabric.
Step 3) Glue a Hem
Give each side of fabric a hemmed or finished appearance by running glue down the edge of fabric and folding it over. We used “Tacky Glue” because of all the glues we tried, this worked the best!
On the last edge, cut a little bit of the corner off before doing the last hem – it will make the folding easier and give it a better decorative look.
Step 4) Glue to Book
First place cloth over book to test placement before gluing. Once you are sure you have it in place, lay book down with fabric centered and apply glue to fabric – firmly press onto book. Turn the book over and do the same on the opposite side.
Step 5) Decorative Book Finished
Now you wait for the glue on your decorative book to dry. You can also go into you local thrift store and find loads and loads of cheap fabric in the form of old clothes, sheets, curtains, etc – and they will even have books if you don’t already have some to use.
Remember to reuse things that already had a life and give them new life in another form!
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