Canvas "Pocket Book" Shelf

Around my house summer means kicking back with a good book. My 3 year old granddaughter loves books, but her bookshelf was a mess...books stacked and falling over and she could never find the one she wanted. So I took the bookcase out of her room and made a “Pocket Book” shelf that hangs on the wall. She can see the covers, books are easy to take out and easy to put back and it looks great in her room! It turned out so well I have been “commissioned” to make one for my niece’s daughter.

This project takes minimal carpentry and sewing skills.

Materials
4 pieces 1x4 pine
2 1/2 yds canvas or other heavy fabric
5 dowels—3/8' or 1/2”dia
wood screws - #6 x1 1/4”
wood screws -#8 x 2 1/2”
wood glue

Tools
sewing machine
scissors or rotary cutter
drill
drill bits
saw
stud finder

Step 1 Making the frame

Cut the 1x4 into 4 pieces...2 sides and 2 cross pieces. Mine is 33” wide x 33” long. I had a specific space in mind for hanging the bookshelf, so my dimensions match that. You can adjust the size to make your shelf taller or wider to accommodate more pockets...use your "Instructables" creativity  And it doesn’t have to be square. That’s jut how mine worked out.

Place the pieces on a flat surface and check for square. I set my cross pieces down a couple of inches from the top and up from the bottom so they don’t show. Mark on the sides where the cross pieces go and where you will pre-drill the screw holes.

Comments

[dbarton1]

I love how this one can be hung on the wall. All the ones that I've found sit on the floor. This would free up some floor space in my son's already tiny room.

[riku-riku-chan]

Oooh, I saw one of these in a catalog, but it was quite pricey. Maybe I can convince my dad to make this for his granddaughter for Christmas!

[10square]

These book shelves are so great and I have admired them for some time. Now I can make one without the store bought expense! Thanks for posting - looks beautiful (and your Babar is great too).

[irwincorey]

Great idea ! I've been looking for a project like this for my niece.

[luvit]

babar lives in my closet. your babar is fake.

[Winter-_-]

Thank you Thank you thank you for putting this up!! this is just what i asked my husband to make but i was too daft to draw it out well enough for him to understand my scribbles! this is perfect! now my 3 year old can look though his books without making a mess each time! Thank you!!! One step closer to an always clean home with kids!

[afterezra]

I always wanted to buy one of these for my kids, but they were too cost prohibitive. Thank you for taking the time to do this!

[angelabchua]

ooh this is very cool and a great opportunity to play with some cool prints in like a duck fabric or something. ima try and make this and repost to the comments!

[kelseymh]

This is very nice! Enough detail, and good pictures, for someone to reproduce it. Thank you for putting it up :-)