Handmade Wednesday: Fabric Bookmark

Well, the day has finally come. Perhaps you guessed it. The day when I actually came up with a craft and made it myself! And here I am sharing it with you. How fabulously creative of me. I have always been a rather crafty person but have lacked the time and financial resources to make my own wonderful concoctions. So, I hope though I have not -in the past- been making the crafts I share here, that you can find it in your heart to forgive me and follow me as I begin a new journey of creating pretty things to inspire my life and yours.

This weeks handmade beauty was actually inspired! I have been in the mood for reading over the past few months. This is a new and noteworthy time in my life since I have never ever ever been a reader. Obviously, I can read so let's get that right out of your minds -I am writing here!! But as a child reading was so monotonous and boring to me that I just could not stand the thought of having to pick up a book. Even if it was suppose to be good. This terrible -in my opinion- habit has carried over well into my adult years. But as of late, this strange and insatiable desire has cause me to find myself at many a book store and library, wondering just what I was doing there. Okay, okay, so I'll get to the craft already. But I just had to preface this craft with a bit of a story. I am just so excited about this!!! Can't you tell? Needless to say I am reading and realized I have no bookmarks! I hate folding corners of pages if the book does not belong to me and so I decided to make one. And here it is:

I started with the only vintage-ish fabric I had, flipped it to the wrong side giving it a more worn appearance and cut two pieces for front and back. Cutting them 7' x 3' will give you room for sewing as well as a little edge when you're done. I also recommend using a piece of cardboard or sturdy poster board in between your fabric sheets to help the bookmark maintain it's sturdiness. I cut that piece to 6' x 2'.

I wanted a piece of fabric down the center of the bookmark for writing a word or just a little depth and color change. All I had was some ivory ribbon so that had to do! As you may notice in the picture, I sewed the two pieces of floral fabric together on one side. You don't have to do this to start, I just did so that I could be sure of the exact location my ribbon would go (based on the threading).

Next, I wanted to add a bit of interest to this bookmark of mine by adding a little more ribbon off to one side. I will be adding more detail below but wanted to make sure this pretty green thing stayed in place, so I hand stitched a quick thread through to attach it.

And here's that detail I promised you! I have a ton of silk flower arrangements that I never use and so I stole one itsy bitsy baby flower from one of them and took any plastic remnants off so that it would lie flat. Of course it was a tad tired looking and I have half a drawer full of buttons, so I thought one would be a nice touch. If you don't like the button idea, scrounge around your home for things you can use. Seriously! That junk drawer can be a crafters treasure trove.

This is just a photo of my sewing on the ol' machine. I threw it in here for fun and to see what my Finepix S1000 is capable of. Not much, unfortunately. I love photography and would die for a better camera! This one will have to do....

Lastly, you will probably want to add some sort of tab to your bookmark to help you open your book and see where you are. But it's not completely necessary. This is your bookmark and your craft. Be creative with it!

And walla! I wanted to do so much more, but with limited resources at home and a wallet that I've had to hide from myself in order to be able to pay the bills, this is what came out.

And right along side is the newest book I have been unraveling, Captivating. It is a book about women and who God created us to be. The Eldredge couple has written this book for anyone of any age and gender, for both sexes need to understand each other. I am only a few chapters in, but loving every page of it. I plan on passing it along to my husband Movie Star when I'm done. Then I'll pick up Wild at Heart (it' their book on men...) I am also considering blogging my way through this book because so many feelings and discoveries have been coming up. Would you all like that? Let me know.