Jytte's Tulip Book
 
To make the complete book and wrap, you will need: - 
  • Cardboard – quite thick
  • Any kind of paper to use for pages
  • PVA glue
  • Craft knife
  • Scissors
  • Tissue paper
  • Paint brushes – a large, wide one will be useful
  • Paint – acrylic, guache or poster paints are fine
  • Small scraps of calico or plain, pale cotton
  • Linen thread and needle to fit
  • Awl
  • Hammer
  • Heavy books or items to use as weights
  • Rule
  • Cutting mat
  • Clips – I have discovered that the plastic clips on shop hangers for trousers are great. They usually have a soft ‘pad’ on the inside, and are fairly strong. Snap the hanger and slide the clip off. Clothes pegs or paper clips can be used too. Bulldog clips are ok, but can leave sharp marks.
  • Magic tape
  • Cotton wadding

The Wrap

This method uses cotton wadding.

Cotton wadding comes in different weights and some are quite thin. They will all give different results. I have never tried the manmade fibre ones, I'm not sure the glue soaking would work on them.

Measure a piece of the wadding large enough to wrap around the book with an overlap
 
 
 
For a book made from A4 folded, use about 23cm by 42. For a book made from A5 folded, use about 18cm by 32. These may or may not shrink once treated with diluted PVA glue, according to the strength of it. If you think the wrap is too big, just adjust by cutting it down a bit.
 

 
Dilute some PVA glue with water. It should be as thin as milk. In the photo you’ll see that I have used a juice bottle cut down.
 

Use tepid water to mix. It’s easier. I can’t give you exact measures, because PVA glue brands are different in strength, and some require more water than others.

Place the measured piece of wadding in a flat container. Pour over the diluted glue and work into the wadding with your fingers or a brush. Leave to soak for about 1 hour.

Lift the wadding out of the container and squeeze any excess glue out.

Place the wrap on a flat piece of plastic; a shopping bag, bin liner or something similar and rub the glue in further, at the same time stretching and shaping the wrap to its original size. This also helps to smooth it out a bit.
 

Wipe away any further excess glue. Gently lift and reposition the wrap on the plastic and leave to dry completely. This can take 24 hours or more. It will peel off the plastic.

You can also lay it on a bin liner, brush the glue onto one side, turn it over and brush it over the other side. If you try this, you need to check it from time to time over the next couple of hours to see if it has absorbed enough glue. Add more if needed. Lift it occasionally which ever method you use.

When dry, the wrap should be stiff enough to stand up by itself, but at the same time bendable. It will look a little crumpled.

 
 

The stiff wadding wrap after the glue has dried
 
Decorating the wrap.

As with the book, it is up to you how you decorate it. Here are some suggestions - paint some shapes or a pattern, perhaps using a colour to match the book cover. I usually use acrylic paint. For the tulip book and wrap, I knew I wanted to use the same motif as the tulip on the book cover, so I ‘glue prepared’ the wrap beforehand and used the shape to print onto the wrap before fixing the card shape to the cover.

Use paint to fill in around the shapes, or patterns. Stitch with matching or contrasting thread onto the shapes as well as all around, either by hand or using the machine. You can also use your favourite quilt pattern. I often stipple all around the patterns, but anything will be fine. Add beads or buttons or anything you else you like.

The photos show a wrap I made to go with the brown book, which is A5 folded. The large glass button came from my mother-in-law.
 

 
I made a stamp from card and using a dark orange stamped the shapes over the glue treated wadding. I then added gold paint to the shapes as well as around them, and dark purple lines to which I added beads, using invisible thread. This can be threaded inside the wadding so it doesn’t show.
 

Finishing off the Edges

I like to finish the edges with a blanket stitch, which I nearly always do by hand, using some of my lovely silk threads. You could use machine satin stitch, leave the edges ‘raw’ or bind with some ribbon, bias binding or matching/contrasting fabric strips – these can be left frayed.