Sugar & Spice Selvedge Bookmark Tutorial

Selvedge Bookmark Tutorial

Who else loves selvedges?! They are like a little piece of hidden treasure on the edge of every piece of fabric. Some have the sweetest and most adorable colour code pictures, as well as fancy writing telling us all about the fabric line and what designer has made it. many of you probably just throw them out, but I love keeping mine! I’m a bit of a fabric hoarder, even of tiny little scraps and I’m starting to build a neat little collection of selvedges.

You may think that they are too tiny to even use in anything, but here’s where your wrong. That sealed, non frayable edge means that on one side you don’t even need a seam allowance to use them. They can simply be stitched down as is. So please keep your selvedge’s. They’re amazing and make the best projects.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of sewing out of some great sewing books lately and felt a sweet bookmark was just what I needed to mark my spot, instead of a boring piece of paper. Here is a little tutorial to make a bookmark using selvedge’s so you can see just how fun and interesting they are to use.

Supplies

Small piece of scrap cotton wadding (slightly bigger than 3.5”x7”)
Piece of fabric for back (3”x7”)
Bakers twine or similar (5.5” long)
Cotton tape/ribbon (2.5”)
Selvedges for bookmark at least 3.5” long
Sewing machine and standard sewing supplies

bookmark Instructions

1.trim your piece of wadding to 3.5”x7”

2. Select your selvedges to use. I like to use pieces that have at least 1/2” of fabric above the selvedge, keeping in mind the bits of the selvedge you want featured on your bookmark, trim your pieces so they are 3.5” long.

3. Take the first selvedge and line it up level with the bottom of your wadding.

4. Place the next selvedge on top, about ¼” overlapping the first. I like to pick selvedges with at least ½” of the fabric above the selvedge, so I can also feature a snippet of the fabric as well. Stitch close to the sealed selvedge edge.

5. Keep adding selvedges in this fashion until you get all the way to the edge of your wadding.

6. I then went back and added extra quilting to the bookmark by stitching along the top edge of the selvedge. Press with a hot iron.

Tip: We all hate those pesky holes that can be present along the edge of fabric. If you run your fingernail along the small holes in both directions and then press with a hot iron using steam it will help them disappear.

7. Take your 2.5” piece of cotton twill tape and fold the raw ends in 1/4” from the end (wrong sides together) and press . Fold in half again with wrong sides together and press. You now have a tab.

8. Take a 5.5” piece of bakers twine. Slip the end ¼” into the end of the tab and stitch to secure. I like to go all the way forward and reverse to make sure it is well secured.

Tip: If you are having trouble holding the little tab and the bakers twine together neatly to stitch. You can secure it with a couple of small dabs of appliqué glue and then press with a hot iron to affix.

9. Secure the bakers twine to the top of the bookmark by basting it 1/8^”from the edge in the middle.

10. Take your bookmark front and trim it to 3 inches. Taking roughly ¼” off each side.

11. Take the backing fabric (3”x7”) and place on top of the bookmark front. Stitch all around the edge using a ¼” seam allowance. make sure you secure your stitching at the start and finish. Leave 1 ½” opening at the bottom for turning.

12. Turn bookmark in the right way and use a point turner or chopstick to turn out the corners. Press with a hot iron.

13. Top stitch all the way around the bookmark close to the edge remembering to secure your stitching at the start and finish.

Ta Da! You know have one super sweet selvedge bookmark to remind you of all your favourite fabrics.

If you have any questions or queries, please leave a comment below. If you decide you want to make a pretty bookmark too, please tag me on instagram @maandmedesigns so I can see and share your lovely creations!

Happy Sewing, Kellie. xx