Book Purse

"The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live." -George Carlin

Looking for the perfect gift to make for that book loving fashion-ista in your life?  I would recommend this book purse.  All over the internet you can find people making these purse and even giving instructions.  That was great, except for the fact that they actually took the book apart.  That hurt my heart a little bit.  It is alright when I do that to craft books from the 70's.  (Yes, I know macrame was popular once upon a time).  However tearing apart a book just because you like the design on it or (gasp) like the book kills me a little.  I decided that I was going to take the ideas from the hard covers, and use the book jacket to make my purse.  Simple, cute, and functional.  

Materials:

• Book Jacket
• Purse Handles
• Fabric that goes well with the book jacket
• Cardboard
• Velcro
• Liquid Stitch
• E6000
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Cut cardboard to match the size of your book jacket (minus the inside flaps).  Glue cardboard to the jacket and inside flaps to the cardboard. 
2. Cut four strips of fabric and using the liquid stitch, glue them in thirds length wise in order to hide the cut ends.  (If available I would suggest using a sewing machine).
3. Put these through the purse handle attachments and attach the ends together with liquid stitch.  Glue these to the book using E6000.
4. Cut out a piece of fabric the same size as the book jacket.  Glue this to the inside of the book jacket using E6000.  (I didn't, but I would suggest hemming the fabric first for a cleaner look). 
5. Cut four rectangle fabric pieces that will fit the sides of the book and have room for overlapping.  
6. Hem these pieces and glue them together so you have two rectangles with the patterned side of the material on all sides. (Again, if you have access to a sewing machine I would suggest using that).
7. Using E6000 glue these into place on the sides.  I had to let the sides dry over night before I could glue the bottom of these fabric piece into place.  (If you want a less sticky method, try the method I found later at Instructables).
8. Hem another rectangular piece of fabric.  Glue this on the back, middle-top side of the purse for a pocket.
9. Finally, glue two pieces of Velcro on the purse.  This will make sure that it can seal.

This months book club book was The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst.  It was an easy read, at a time of year when that should probably be appreciated.  The female protagonist in this story owns a book store, which holds a dear place in her heart.  Alexa would be proud to tote around such a cute purse, and still have the actual book to read later.