Canvas Journal Cover

Hello Friends!

Happy to be here today sharing a Christmas Journal that I created. I am going to start with a post about creating the cover for the journal. I have had a lot of questions over the years about using Collage Paper over canvas or Duck Cloth. I buy mine at Joanns. It can be found in the back... the area that has ticking and outdoor fabric. You only need 1/4 yard to make a cover.

Lets get started so I can tell you how I created this one.

I cut a piece of canvas 6 1/4" x 10 1/2". I am going to use the idea-ology File Cards inside and they are 6", hence the 6 1/4" size.

I have added a good coat of Collage Medium to the canvas and have laid the Collage Paper image I chose over the top. You must have FULL coverage of the Collage Medium underneath the paper or it will never adhere to the cover correctly. So work quickly (so it does not dry on you) and methodically (so you don't miss any spots).

Then immediately add more Collage Medium over the top of the Collage Paper, working your way out from the center. This layer with allow the Collage Paper to become Transparent. 

*if by chance you have white spots, that means you do not have glue underneath that spot. To attempt to fix this, you can put Collage Medium on the tip of your index finger and rub it directly into the white spot, just beware not to rub the paper away.

So this is what it should look like when you are done. Don't worry about the edges of the paper, they will all be covered up later.

Dry the Collage Medium with a heat tool. Dry both the font and the back of the canvas. The canvas is porous so the back might feel cold or a bit damp until you dry it. You can continue to work on the cover after drying, but know that the cover will not be completely dry for 24 hours (even after using the heat tool). You will see and feel a difference the next day and it might shrink up just a bit where the Collage Medium has been added. If the edge curl up, I take it to the ironing board and just iron the BACK side.

NOTE: Once dry, you can color the Collage Paper with Distress Crayons or Distress Watercolor Pencils. I chose to leave mine as is since I am adding plaid binding around the edges.

I'm working on my ironing board for these next few photos:

Cut a piece of Christmas Clippings Fabric and Heat N Bond the same size as the canvas so you can add the Clipping fabric to the back of the canvas cover. The ironing will not effect the cover side (just don't iron the front cover directly...only the back).

Double check that the words are right side up before ironing the two pieces together!

Cut a 2" x 6 1/2" piece of Holidays Past Fabric (Berry Branch) to use on the spine.

Fold and iron the long sides flat so the piece is 1 1/2" wide. As you can see by the measuring guide - the spine fabric is 4 1/2" from the front edge.

Clip or pin fabric to the cover before sewing.

Go to the sewing machine and sew the two outside edges to stabilize the fabric.

Then sew a center line.

Then sew a line on each side of the center stitch line.

Trim off the top and bottom edge.

You can choose to bind the cover any way you like. I wanted a bias cut plaid (Lodge). Which means I had to cut the fabric across the grain (diagonal) to make plaid on the bias.

I stitched the plaid to the cover using a basic binding technique. The corners are challenging so I always watch this You Tube video to help me remember how to do it. Its not hard to do, just takes watching part of the video to remind me. and it works like a charm.

This is what it looks like once the binding has been sewn on. It's ready to be rolled over the the inside and stitched down. I still do that part by hand but many people sew it by machine.

And here is the finished cover!

The three middle stitching lines will be your guide when you sew the File Folders into place. So don't change that part of the project!

Here is a look at the inside cover.

There is our stitching lines on the inside.

I think the plaid edge really makes it!

Stay tuned! 

I will be back soon sharing all the interior signatures. As well as how I put everything together!

Now carry on,

paula