How to Make Book Cover Bunting
A few months ago when I published pictures of our book corner I had a number of readers ask how I made the book cover bunting hanging in the space. So here it is…
I scanned the covers of our favourite picture books and used an iron on t-shirt transfer paper compatible with my printer.
I set the images up two to a page in Photoshop and printed them on to the transfer paper. Choosing the ‘t-shirt transfer’ print option will reverse the image for you so that once it is ironed on it faces the correct way. I re-purposed some thick cotton curtain fabric (not rubber backed) to print the images onto. I chose the thick fabric and didn’t print them too large as I did not want the fabric to curl once it was hung. Alternatively, I am sure you could iron on some stiffener onto the reverse side to stop it curling.
Be sure to follow the instructions for ironing the transfer paper carefully to ensure that you have a clean transfer. Basically, lots of pressing down with a very hot iron is required!
I trimmed the fabric to size using pinking shears. Then it was simply a matter of folding over (in half) and ironing a length of bias binding. Tuck and pin the top edge of the book cover pieces into the fold of the bias binding, spacing them evenly, and run a zig zag stitch the whole way along. If you don’t have a sewing machine, then I am sure that this process for creating your length of bunting would work just as well.
I love that you can choose whichever books your child loves for this project. I can imagine hanging beautiful classics like Guess How Much I Love You (S. McBratney) in a baby’s nursery would be gorgeous.
What books would you choose for a book cover bunting for your child?
what a fantastic idea!
I just used this method to make a name blanket with heaps of different fonts for our 5th blessing arriving any day. It is fun and easy! The bunting looks great!
Lusi 🙂
What a wonderful idea, Lusi. Best wishes for the new arrival 🙂
I love these, they look great! So perfect for a reading corner.
This is fantastic. I’m currently reading Dr Seuss with my class and this would be a great way to record what we’ve read so far. Where did you get the transfer paper from? (I’m in Perth so Australian store names would be helpful – I’ve no idea where I would even start to look)
I got mine from Officeworks, Naamah 🙂
Young people today are so resourceful and I often regret there was nothing of this kind to be had back in the 1950s, only pencils and paper.
I LOVE this idea Christie! I am definately going to give this a go during the term break! So many projects, so little time! 🙂
Wow, I thought they were just on paper. Storybook bunting is such a lovely idea.
I love this, will be atempting to do this in the next few weeks. Thanks for sharing your ideas, so often people like to keep the information to themselves. Thanks again.
Wow. This is so pretty. And I love that there are so many possibilities. I’d probably choose some pretty fairy tale covers for my girls.
Love this! Hope to have time for it one day.
Ohhh that book “Oh, Baby, the Places You’ll Go!” would be a good one!
I really LOVE this idea! I have a Reading Corner I made for my daughter in her playroom. The walls are decorated with book covers. This craft would be perfect for that space. Thanks for the inspiration!
I love this idea, I’m working on a reading nook for my kids and this will move the eyes up.
thanks for posting!
You could even do it without the rather expensive t-shirt paper, if you use freezer paper and print directly on the fabric (loads of tutorial online) – I believe you cannot wash it very well than, but that would not be that important with a bunting, right?
Does this infringe on any copyright laws?
This is awesome!
I would love to try this….but fire codes in our town prohibit things hanging like this!! Dislike!! 🙁
Totally ace, now I just need to master my colour printer.
This is an awesome idea. So simple but the possibilities are limitless.
Thankyou for sharing.