The idea for this page was a bit of a process. Some of the things that I considered for this page include a puzzle page, a photo flip page, a memory page and the list goes on. Ultimately, I wanted to include something architectural in this book (as both my husband and I are in the field), but the problem remained, how I would actually go about this. I didn't want to do velcro or snaps because I had already done that, so, for a while, I was stuck. Then, a couple weeks ago, while visiting my sister, the bright glimmer of hope shined! One of the toys she uses for her daughter at church is a little tin with magnetic letters in it. Now the problem remained of whether to buy pre-made shapes or to design my own. I leaned toward the design side, but wasn't sure how I would turn it into magnets, then again, my sister shared another idea. A friend of hers had printed pictures of their kids onto magnetic paper, which seemed easy enough, but.... well I will get into that during the process part. (The update for this post is just in the pictures).
Okay, so just to give you an idea of the page construction, basically you are going to create a pocket that is attached to the page to house the magnets then you are going to create a flap that will just increase the surface area for shape building. Also, just as a heads up, when you go to buy the metal, stop by the equipment rental area and ask them to cut two squares at 6" x 6.5", they most likely won't charge you.
Materials:
* Fabric, for the page and for the metal pocket (keep the latter thin), don't forget to prewash your fabric
* Metal sheet (I found mine at the end of the nail isle at Home Depot)
* Magnetic paper (make sure to get the kind you can print directly to, if you can't find it, you can do an acrylic transfer)
* Velcro
* Reinforcement for the page and for the metal
* Glue gun and sticks
Shapes:
Okay, so here is the deal with the magnetic paper. I found mine at JoAnn's, but I didn't really read the directions and there was a picture of a printer on the instructions, so I thought I was good. As it turns out, the printer I saw was actually a cutter, like a Cricut. I had gone to Kinko's to get things printed thinking that they might be able to print on it, but they told me that unless it says on it that you can run it through a laser printer, they won't print it. I had them print the shapes onto regular paper for me, making two copies thinking that Modpodge would work, but it was just a mess. I later read online that there is a vinyl coating over the white part of the magnetic paper, which prevents the Modpodge from sticking, so I went back to the packaging and found that it will take acrylic paint. Not wanting to bust out the brushes, I looked for some way to transfer the image and came across the method of doing an acrylic transfer, which I posted a while ago and it worked out beautifully!
* Download the shapes, I have two options, my magnetic sheet was 9" x 12" so that is what I printed. Some of the shapes are a little small, however there are 4 of each, I came up with a download for an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper and the shapes are bigger, but there are only 2 of each. You can decide which you want.
* Print your shapes either on the magnetic sheet or use the acrylic transfer
* Using an exacto blade, cut the shapes out
Flap:
* Cut two squares of the reinforcement at 7" x 6.5", put some hot glue streaks across the center of one of the reinforcement squares, center one of the metal squares, then attach to a reinforcement square, repeat for the remaining square
* Run a bead of glue around the metal square edges, putting a little extra on the corners to protect from the sharp edges, trim around the glue
* Cut three squares of fabric at 8" x 8.25", one of which will not be seen
* On the square that will not be seen, measure and, with a fabric pencil, mark lines according to the dotted lines in the photo below
* With wrong sides together, pin the fabric that will not be seen to the inside flap fabric and sew along three of the lines you just marked
* Slide one of the metal squares into the "pocket" you just made, then sew the remaining line to enclose the metal square
* Cut about an inch of velcro and sew the rough side to the fabric that will be on the outside of the flap toward the left and roughly in the center and on the right side
* With right sides together, pin the inside and outside of the flap together, sew along the top with a 3/8" seam allowance, baste around the remaining edges with the same allowance, cut the corners
* Iron the seams toward the center on each side, then unpick just the basted stitches
* Flip your flap right side out, then with the folded edges in, sew around the flap to secure
Materials:
* Fabric, for the page and for the metal pocket (keep the latter thin), don't forget to prewash your fabric
* Metal sheet (I found mine at the end of the nail isle at Home Depot)
* Magnetic paper (make sure to get the kind you can print directly to, if you can't find it, you can do an acrylic transfer)
* Velcro
* Reinforcement for the page and for the metal
* Glue gun and sticks
Shapes:
Okay, so here is the deal with the magnetic paper. I found mine at JoAnn's, but I didn't really read the directions and there was a picture of a printer on the instructions, so I thought I was good. As it turns out, the printer I saw was actually a cutter, like a Cricut. I had gone to Kinko's to get things printed thinking that they might be able to print on it, but they told me that unless it says on it that you can run it through a laser printer, they won't print it. I had them print the shapes onto regular paper for me, making two copies thinking that Modpodge would work, but it was just a mess. I later read online that there is a vinyl coating over the white part of the magnetic paper, which prevents the Modpodge from sticking, so I went back to the packaging and found that it will take acrylic paint. Not wanting to bust out the brushes, I looked for some way to transfer the image and came across the method of doing an acrylic transfer, which I posted a while ago and it worked out beautifully!
* Download the shapes, I have two options, my magnetic sheet was 9" x 12" so that is what I printed. Some of the shapes are a little small, however there are 4 of each, I came up with a download for an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper and the shapes are bigger, but there are only 2 of each. You can decide which you want.
* Print your shapes either on the magnetic sheet or use the acrylic transfer
* Using an exacto blade, cut the shapes out
Flap:
* Cut two squares of the reinforcement at 7" x 6.5", put some hot glue streaks across the center of one of the reinforcement squares, center one of the metal squares, then attach to a reinforcement square, repeat for the remaining square
* Run a bead of glue around the metal square edges, putting a little extra on the corners to protect from the sharp edges, trim around the glue
* Cut three squares of fabric at 8" x 8.25", one of which will not be seen
* On the square that will not be seen, measure and, with a fabric pencil, mark lines according to the dotted lines in the photo below
* With wrong sides together, pin the fabric that will not be seen to the inside flap fabric and sew along three of the lines you just marked
* Slide one of the metal squares into the "pocket" you just made, then sew the remaining line to enclose the metal square
* Cut about an inch of velcro and sew the rough side to the fabric that will be on the outside of the flap toward the left and roughly in the center and on the right side
* With right sides together, pin the inside and outside of the flap together, sew along the top with a 3/8" seam allowance, baste around the remaining edges with the same allowance, cut the corners
* Iron the seams toward the center on each side, then unpick just the basted stitches
* Flip your flap right side out, then with the folded edges in, sew around the flap to secure
Pocket:
* Cut two squares of fabric at 10 1/2" x 7 7/8", one of which will be on the inside and not really seen
* On the inside square of fabric, measure and mark according to the picture below
* With right sides together, pin and sew along the top with a 3/8" seam allowance
* Flip the pocket right side out and sew along the marks just made with the exception of the one on the bottom
* Slide the remaining metal square into the "pocket" created from the lines just sewn, then sew along the bottom line to secure the metal square
* Create a "V" fold along the sewn lines of the two outside panels (they should tuck under the metal panel) then center on the page using the template and pin one side
* Satin stitch along the pinned side, then make a "V" fold on the remaining side and satin stitch to the page, finally, "V" fold both sides and satin stitch along the bottom
* Cut two squares of fabric at 10 1/2" x 7 7/8", one of which will be on the inside and not really seen
* On the inside square of fabric, measure and mark according to the picture below
* With right sides together, pin and sew along the top with a 3/8" seam allowance
* Flip the pocket right side out and sew along the marks just made with the exception of the one on the bottom
* Slide the remaining metal square into the "pocket" created from the lines just sewn, then sew along the bottom line to secure the metal square
* Create a "V" fold along the sewn lines of the two outside panels (they should tuck under the metal panel) then center on the page using the template and pin one side
* Satin stitch along the pinned side, then make a "V" fold on the remaining side and satin stitch to the page, finally, "V" fold both sides and satin stitch along the bottom
Finishing:
* Cut a strip of fabric, 2" x 6"
* Fold in half and position the remaining side of velcro, then pin, unfold and sew the velcro
* Fold the strip with right sides together and sew along the sides, then flip right-side out
* Use the template to position the flap and the velcro strip just made, then pin to page and sew
* Add a 1 1/2" border to binding side
* Cut a strip of fabric, 2" x 6"
* Fold in half and position the remaining side of velcro, then pin, unfold and sew the velcro
* Fold the strip with right sides together and sew along the sides, then flip right-side out
* Use the template to position the flap and the velcro strip just made, then pin to page and sew
* Add a 1 1/2" border to binding side
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