I read a lot and because I also travel a lot I was always afraid how to keep good care of the books I take with me. To avoid dog-ears and further damage resulting from carrying books in my suitcase, I was thinking of how to protect them in an easy and aesthetically pleasing way.

That's how I got the idea of this easy-to-build protective bag for books, which I want to share with you.

I'm not a native speaker, but I hope my language is understandable :-)

Enjoy!

Step 1: Gather the Materials

You will need:
- Thick felt, mine was 1/5" (18 x 20")
- utility knife
- ruler
- magnetig button
- tailor's chalk
- thread

- A sewing maschine
- A needle

Optional for the design:
- pinking shears
- 40" elastic band (for underwear)
- T-Shirt Transfers. If you want to print sth. white, make sure its for dark materials. Otherwise, it will become transarent.

Step 2: Mark the Pattern

Mark the pattern as shown in the picture by using the chalk and the ruler. If you want, you can copy it to paper first, but because of the thickness of the fabric and because it's a very simple pattern, that is not necessary.

Make sure to square all the lines. You dont need to add a seam allowance, because the edge of the felt going to stay the way it is after cuttig.

*Because I'm not from the US, the pattern inits originally form is measured in centimeters. I put the measurements in inch on, I hope you don't mind the odd numbers.
Of corse, you can make the bag any size you want, just make sure you think of the thickness of the fabric.

3_Plan.tiff
Download

Step 3: Cutting...

Cut out the fabric by using the knife and the ruler (or sth. similar with a straight edge).

For the round part, I used the pinking shears, but that depends on your taste.

Try to cut as straight as possible.

Step 4: Sew the Elastics

If you use the elastic, cut it in four pieces and sew it on the edges as shown on the photo.
If you dont want to attach any elastic, just sew the edges, so they become more bendable.

Step 5: Bring the Pieces Together

Sew the two side parts to the middle part, with two seams per part (marked in the pattern dashed). This was the moment, were my sewing maschine gave up, so I had to sew it with a needle per hand.

Make sure, the side parts are sewed to the inside of middle part and that the longer borders of them are shifted.

Step 6: Attach the Magnetic Button

To attach the magnetic button, mark the right position as shown on the pattern. I did it by visual judgment, just make sure ist in the middle between top and botton.

For every half of the button you have two pieces: make two small cuts and put through the parts of the button-half which stick up. Then affix it from the other side with the provided disk by bending over the small clams.
Its a bit hard to describe, I hope you get it with the button in front of you, it's actually very simple.

If one half is done, mark the right position on the opposite side and attach the other half.

Step 7: Add Design

Now you can add further design improvements to give the bag any appearance you want. I printed out the white letters on the t-shirt-transfers, cut them and attached them with the iron.

If you use the transfers, check the instructions before printing, whether or not you have to print mirror inverted.

After ironing, remove the protective foil.