Quick Stitch - Cork Appliqued Book Cover

Remembering my happy travels exploring Sardinian crafts has inspired me to experiment with stitching cork fabric.  I have long loved cork products and finding that I could purchase it by the metre was a very happy discovery.  It is a very stable fabric to work with and easy to stitch on a domestic sewing machine.  Plus it's natural colour works with any colourway and to make this applique book cover, I chose one of my favourite  colour combinations.

The first step is to measure the height of the book you are covering and the width of the front, back and spine added together.  Add 0.5" to both of these measurements and cut a piece of cork this exact size.  Then decide on a design for your cover - I'm in full blown flower mode this summer so my choice of inspiration was a done deal.  I decided that it was a great opportunity to use reverse applique and cut out petal shapes and placed a piece of vibrant Kimono silk behind.

Then a used an open zigzag stitch to secure the Kimono silk into place.  It was easiest to start stitching at the point of each petal and to manually place the needle when I was close to completing a petal to get the stitches to end in the most convenient place.

I repeated this process on the back of the book cover, reversing the design.  I allowed a good margin around the flower head design to allow for the book cover to be edged.  I also wrapped the work in progress around the book to be covered to check the final position.

Then to add a stem to the petal design by couching down a piece of plied wool.  Again I used a open zigzag and toning thread - this is a little more forgiving on stitching than a contrast.

Then to the inside of the cover which I first bonded with more Kimono silk. The sleeves for the cover were cut the same height as the cover and just short of half the book width.  One edge of each of the sleeves was seamed and stitched with a decorative stitch.  The sleeves where then pinned in place and the corners rounded off to reflect the book corners.

With the covers I have made over the years, I find that the best finish for around the edge is to zigzag with an open stitch and to encompass some kind or cord to cover the raw edges.  I used a plied wool for this cover and stitched around once to catch the wool and then stitched around a 2nd time to ensure that I had caught all the layers - it's really helpful to use an open toed foot to get the best finish to do this.

This was a very popular project with my students who completed on my Safe Stitching Saturday sessions by Zoom during the UK lockdown.  Online learning and teaching of stitch has been a whole new experience and I was glad to offer up these sessions at a time when we needed to stay indoors. This particular cover was created by Somerset stitcher Marie, who combined with a charming Viyella fabric.  Please do email me with any covers that this post inspires you to make - I would love to see and share.