Magnetic Planner Bookmark {Tutorial} & Book Suggestion Request
You know I love my planner, it keeps me organized {which seems more and more important these days} and it is a fun visual record of my family’s life too. Although I have a few different planners with different purposes, my go-to for everyday planning is my Erin Condren planner. The one thing that disappoints me though, is that it is spiral bound and I can’t clip cute cards and things into it easily. However, I recently made a magnetic planner bookmark for a swap, so I’ve made another for my planner, so I can use and enjoy a bit of fabric every day!
Here you can see how there is a little flap that folds over the top of the page to keep the bookmark in place. Let’s get started:
Supplies
- Small Sew-in Magnetic Snap {if you haven’t used Sew-in magnets before, read about them in my previous post}
- (4) 2 1/2″ squares of fabric for patchwork
- (1) 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ rectangle of fabric for back
- (1) 2″ x 4″ rectangle of fabric for flap
- (1) 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ rectangle of interfacing {I used Pellon® 931TD Fusible Midweight}
- Coordinating Thread
Read all directions before beginning. All seam allowances are 1/4″.
Fold the 2″ x 4″ rectangle in half to 2″ square and sew along the two sides, perpendicular to the fold. Clip corners, then turn right side out. Slip the sew in magnet into the flap, then sew 1/8″ and 1/4″ from the edges, catching the plastic part of the magnet in the stitching {always be careful not to hit the magnet with the sewing machine needle…yes, I have done this before!}. Set flap aside.
Double checking polarity, center the second magnet 1/2″ from one short end of wrong side of the 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ backing rectangle. Sew the magnet in place.
Sew the four 2 1/2″ squares together to make one 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ rectangle. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the patchwork piece. Then, sew stay stitching 1/8″ from the long edge to reinforce the seams before turning.
Place the magnetic flap on the back of the bookmark. Then place the back of the bookmark, right sides together, and sew around the edge, leaving a 2 1/2″ opening along the side with the stay stitching.
Turn right side out and top stitch 1/8″ from the edge, this sews the opening used for turning closed. I also stitched 1/4″ from the edge and 1/8″ from each patchwork seam, just for decoration.
I love quick and easy projects, and I hope you do too! I think this bookmark would be great in a planner or a school notebook, or with thinner interfacing, maybe even a regular book. And it won’t slip out either.
Oh, and on the subject of books, I was talking with my mom about reading more, so I’d love some book suggestions. I really enjoy classics like those written by Jane Austen, but appreciate well-written modern fiction as well. So, if you’ve read something lately or have a favorite standby, I’d love to hear it! Reading is a love I’d like to share with my children too, so I should spend more time reading myself, so they see me doing it, not just reading books to them!
A quilted magnetic bookmark…who would have thought. I love it! I do believe I will have to make a couple or three. I recently read “Sycamore Row” by John Grisham and enjoyed it a lot. I also enjoyed his “A Painted House.” I found both to be quite thought provoking as well as a good read.
Have you ever read Northanger Abbey? I can’t think of the author and I’m afraid I’ll get it wrong if I try to guess, but that was one I really enjoyed back in my English major days. I mostly read science fiction these days. There was an e-book I read that I really enjoyed that was basically a retelling of a fairy tale, and I don’t know if that’s something you might like. It’s called “Entwined” by Heather Dixon. It’s a retelling of the 12 dancing princesses, and I thought it was pretty well done. I wish I could recommend more; I mean I could, but they’re not the kind you’re looking for. If you decide to try sci-fi or similar genre, let me know because between my mom and me, we can probably recommend 1,000 books. 🙂 My mom reads voraciously.
And your bookmark is super cute!
What kind of books do you like? I loved Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible. Also loved her non-fiction Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If you garden at all, the latter is super inspirational and it’s the right time of year for it. Sonething kind of fun to get started is The Hirl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing. It is easy non-fiction,
I’m going to suggest Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life. It’s a modern classic of literary fiction, but easy to read and just lovely. Set in England, of course. (It’s on Amazon’s 100 list, so it’s not just me who loves it!). It’s a family saga, but explores the idea of déjà vu and multiple ‘tries’ at life. Once you’re into it, it really works.
If you like a classic, then I also suggest Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier. I loved that too, but it’s probably best just to read it, not to read what it’s about first. That’s my thought, anyway. It’s beautiful and horrible. But great.
Charles Dickens is easy to read and a marvellous storyteller. So start with David Copperfield or Great Expectations and prepare to fall in love.
Hope you find something lovely xxx
Have you read Cranford? If you love JA you will love this. And The Home-maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. Brilliant.
Love this blog and thank You for sharing this tutorial on the bookmark.
I am making one for each of the ladies in my OBS, Online Bible Study.
I am reading What Happens When Women Walk in Faith by Lysa Terkeurst