Category: Kid Friendly

My daughter has been begging me to teach her to sew and these quick and easy bookmarks were a great first project for her. They are super simple to make and because you are really just topstitching it didn’t matter if her stitching wasn’t perfectly straight. If you are looking for a project to learn to sew or to teach someone these bookmarks are the perfect project. They are also a great way to use up scraps. Two sizes are included, the smaller one is better for small, paperback books, and the larger one is better for bigger, hardcover books.

What you need to make this project

Materials: Stiffen Double Sided Fusible Interfacing

Supplies: Small piece of fabric, large enough to cut 2- 2 1/2 x 8 inch pieces; Embroidery floss or ribbon (optional); Beads with large center hole (optional); Eyelet punch (optional); Sewing thread; Sewing machine; Rotary cutter, mat, and ruler; Scissors or pinking shears

Instructions

Step One

First you need to cut your fabric and interfacing. You will need one piece of double sided interfacing and two pieces of fabric.

For the smaller bookmark cut the pieces 6 inches x 2 inches

For the larger bookmark cut the pieces 8 inches x 2 1/2 inches

Step Two

Now you will layer your fabrics and iron them together.

Lay one fabric piece right side down, lay the interfacing on top of that and then the second piece of fabric right side up on top of that.

Press with hot iron until all layers are stuck together.

Step Three

Stitch around the outside edge, about an 1/8 – 1/4 inch from the edge.

Trim any uneven edges with either regular scissors or pinking shears.

You can stop at this point and have a plain rectangular bookmark or you can follow the next steps to add a tassel. I planned to stop here but my daughter insisted that her bookmarks needed tassels and beads so we added them.

Step Four

To add the tassel first use an eyelet punch (without an eyelet) to punch a hole in the center of the top of the bookmark, just below the stitching line.

Step Five

Cut lengths of thin ribbon or embroidery floss 10-12 inches long. Using ribbon I only cut one, using embroidery floss I cut about 4 lengths and held them together.

Step Six

Fold the ribbon or floss in half and stick the folded end through the hole to make a loop, I found a small crochet hook made this step easier. Then pull the loose end through the loop and pull tightly to make a knot.

Step Seven

If you want to add beads at this point to help keep you knot from coming undone simply slide a bead onto the tassel and tie a knot love it so that it stays on.

Step Eight

Now all you need to do is find a good book to read and use your new bookmark to mark your place.

Quick and Easy Bookmarks