In April 2020, right around the time Covid started, Moda asked me to develop a canvas line with 2 fabric panels and uplifting quotes on them. So I came up with a couple of quotes about how sewing can make us happy and give us good vibes. I also created a couple of coordinates and the complete line was called Sew Happy. It will arrive or should have already hit stores these days.

The Sew Happy fabric line

We will introduce the Sew Happy line in more detail during the next upcoming blog posts. This includes the introduction of a couple of sewing patterns for bags because this canvas is ideal for bags or anything that need a bit more of a sturdier fabric.

This week I couldn’t help but start sewing with the materials to make myself a notebook cover. The colors of the cover of the book, The Bullet Journaling Method by Ryder Carroll, and the colors of my fabric collection are just a good match so always when I pick up that book, I was reminded of my fabric line and vice versa.

Organizing by Bullet Journaling

So I thought, why don’t I make myself a nice cover for my notebook (or BuJo) with daily notes? I don’t know if you have ever heard of Bullet Journaling, but it’s quite a big movement and community which Ryder Carroll started on his website.

Basically, it’s a method of self-organizing on paper. I use this method to structure my workload. I give myself an overview of what projects I want to accomplish. I divide my projects into weekly overviews and from there I develop daily to-do lists to get my project done. I just love the handwritten paper organizational activity. Sometimes I switch back to the digital version of time management, but usually, the paper version is easier to handle for me.

A cover for my BuJo

I found an older silver notebook laying around and it really deserved to look pretty. So I did a little bit of research on Pinterest for a free tutorial and found one which is perfect. It makes it easy to calculate how large the cover has to be for every kind of notebook, no matter what size you start out with.

It has a little pocket on the front to carry a pen plus this elastic strap to hold the complete notebook together when not in use. These are some of the things I like to have with my daily notebook. In the free tutorial which I’ll share below, Amy also included a ribbon bookmark, but since my notebook already had one, I didn’t add that to my cover.

A lovely gift

Sewing a notebook cover could also be a very nice gift to make for Christmas. You could personalize the cover by stitching the receiver’s name on it. Or you could choose a fabric that represents the interest or hobby of the one you’re making this cover for and give the complete thing a very personal touch. I would truly appreciate receiving such a gift.

Now here’s the tutorial to make a notebook cover using the new upcoming fabric line Sew Happy. Amy did a great job explaining to you how to cut your fabric pieces and she provided photos to make it even more clear. 

Are you going to sew a notebook cover? If so, I would love to see how it turned out. You can send me an email or tag me on Instagram (@zenchicmoda)

Have fun sewing!