OAF HACKS: Make a Trinket Journal with SpeedOnWeedd
If you’ve got a collection of nic nacs from the summer that don’t have a home, this is the hack for you. Bhani aka @speedonweedd is here to show you how to craft your very own trinket journal. From the pieces you collected whilst jetting off somewhere new to your favourite pens, you can make a place for all your keepsakes to go.
STEP 1
Plan Your Trinket Storage
Gather your keyrings, pins, charms and treasures – everything you want to store in your trinket journal. Make a list to help you plan the pockets and sections.
STEP 2
Cut Your Pages
Cut your ‘pages’ by making a book sized template out of paper, give it an extra 0.5 inch seam allowance around the edges and then cut your fabric into rectangles this size.
STEP 3
Give it Some Backbone
Add fusible canvas (or interfacing) onto the back of each piece of fabric. The canvas has one shiny, gluey side and one matte one… place the shiny side on back of the fabric and gently iron over it with an iron. The heat activates the glue and sticks the canvas to the fabric, giving stretchy or soft fabrics a stronger base to work with.
STEP 4
Time for the Patchwork
We’re onto the fun part! Mix and match your fabrics to turn every page into its own little world. Think about what trinket you’re storing!
Be sure to add in some designs too!
STEP 5
Make the Pages Flipable
Once you’ve made an even number of pages, stitch them back to back in pairs. If you’re using a sewing machine use the interlock setting, if you are sewing by hand use a button hole stitch instead.*
STEP 6
Build a Cover
Use your page template again to cut two pieces of denim.
Cut a rectangle the same height as your pages which will form the ‘spine’ of your trinket journal. The more pages you have (or think you will add) the wider this ‘spine’ should be.
Sew the two pages together, with the ‘spine’ connecting them in the middle, into a long rectangle.
You can fold the edges over and sew them on the inside for a neat finish.
STEP 7
Make it Collector Ready
Cut a long strip of fabric, fold it in half and stitch along the open edge. Then turn the strip inside out so the stitching is tucked away inside, now you have a neat finished strip! Do this four times to create four neat strips.
Add four finished fabric strips to your spine by sewing two at the top and two at the bottom, this will be what you attach your pages to.
Finally, attach two large jump rings to the left edge of each page so that you can thread them into your journal on the fabric strips you’ve just added.
STEP 8
Make it Yours
Tie your pages in by threading the fabric strips through the jumprings, and finishing with a bow.
Then decorate the cover of your journal with beads, lace, buttons, trims – or anything else you fancy!
STEP 9
Close Your Journal
Keep trinket thieves out by fastening the journal, create and add two more fabric straps to the outer edges to seal with a bow! Or, if you’re feeling fancy add a button closure.
For button closures, make two new fabric strips and stitch them into a U shape. Turn them inside out, then make a hole at the end and secure it with buttonhole stitches*. Stitch the loops onto the back cover and sew two buttons onto the front cover, lining them up so the loops can fasten around them.
"Okay, bye! Go fill your journal with all the tiny trinkets you refuse to throw away
BHANI
"
*Need A Quick Buttonhole Stitch Tutorial?
Here’s a super easy tutorial by Practical Embroidery to walk you through how to do it.
