Book Marks (last minute Mothers Day or Teacher Apprec. idea)

I am hosting a House Party this weekend for Singer and JoAnns and wanted to pick an additional sewing project besides the assigned one.  This house party is for beginners who want to learn to sew, so I decided to make some super cute book marks.  These are made out of scraps and super easy!

My 10 year old made a couple all on her own.  Didn't she do a great job?  If she can do this, so can you!

Project time:  15 minutes (for me, that is GOOD!)

Step 1:  Grab a couple of scraps and cut them out.  Mine were 11" by 3".  The third piece of fabric was just enough to make a little stripe across for embellishment.  You could also use ribbon.  The purple strip on my daughters was just ribbon that we gathered.

Step 2:  Embellish one of the pieces however you want.  I took that little scrap and folded down the edges and ironed it.  Then I sewed straight across.  (It helps that Singer is lending me their super cool sewing machine.  If I didn't have it, I would do a straight stitch with my boring one.  In this case, however, I chose a decorative vine stitch.)  Fold and iron the excess over the sides.  I also added a button so it wouldn't slip down the book, but you can see my daughter added pearls on one of hers.

Step 3:  Sew 3 sides, right sides in.

Step 4:  Snip the edges, being careful to not cut the thread, and flip it ride side out.

Now I wanted mine to be a little thicker, so I cut a small strip of batting and just gently placed it inside.

Step 5:  Fold the unfinished edges in and iron the whole thing so it looks nice.

Step 6:  Top stitch around the entire thing.  If you wanted to add ribbon to the top (like my daughters), stuff a couple pieces of ribbon between the unfinished sides before you sew.

That's it!  A great (and easy!) present coupled with a favorite book!