Instructions for Making a Reversible Journal Cover

Much as I hate to reinvent the wheel, or talk in cliches, sometimes I need to put in the time and effort and solve a design challenge for myself.



I'm sure there are a dozen places on the net where I could find a pattern for making a reversible journal cover but the lovely site I found this morning did not provide the exact instructions I needed.


I threw out the version I made using Alexandra's instructions and then spent the rest of morning happily cutting and sewing and ripping and scribbling notes in my journal and now I know how to do it.


Let's see if I can explain:

You will need three different fabrics for this project. I used scraps from my (enormous) decorator fabric stash. The fabric you use for the flaps should coordinate with each of the other two fabrics.

Measure the width (W) and height (H) and thickness of the spine (S) of the book you want to cover.

I'll use the measurements of the book cover I made this morning as an example.

W 8.5
H 11.25
S 1.5

When cutting your fabric pieces you will need to add a seam allowance of half an inch to the width and 1.25 inches to the height.


1. Cut one piece the size of the entire outside cover plus seam allowance from each of your fabrics.

I cut my three pieces 19 x 12.5 in


2.  To make the flaps cut the piece from your coordinating fabric in half

I ended up with two pieces 9.5 X 12.5 in

3. Press the flap pieces in half along the shorter side WRONG sides together and press. Next time I make one of these covers I will top stitch along the folded edge.

4. Layer all of the fabric pieces.

i) first cover face up
ii) one flap on each end, folded sides towards the middle
iii) second cover face down

5. Secure the layers with pins

6. Take the pinned layers to the sewing machine and sew them all together using a scant quarter inch seam. Leave an unstitched section on one long edge to turn the cover right side out.

7. Cut the thread and clip the corners before turning.

8. Turn the cover right side out. Use a capped pen or the end of a pencil to push the corners out completely if necessary.

9. Top stitch the long edges between the flaps closing the hole you left open for turning.

10. Put your cover on your book and enjoy!

11. Reverse it and see how it looks the other way!

Next time around I will experiment with decorating, painting, embroidering or otherwise embellishing one side of the cover before I sew it all together.

I'm linking this post to Creative Every Day and Art Journal Every Day.

Thank you so much for visiting. I hope you'll leave a comment. I love to hear what you think. Please let me know if you make a cover and how it turned out.