Make A Fabric Photo Book

I first posted this tutorial in 2013. My son was 1 -1/2 years old and we were living in Tampa. I would find him with our pictures in his hands, pointing and saying “Da-Da”!! I soon learned to shuffle after him putting the frames up for safety and eventually I just put them away. Like most toddlers, he loved looking at images of his family members.

Ultimately, the idea for this book came from fear – fear that he would demolish my beloved photographs and/or break the frame and hurt himself.

So my fabric photo book idea was born. How fun? Use favorite family images, transfer paper and white fabric and spend an afternoon crafting a book. Simple!

In 2015, we moved to Los Angeles and the fabric books got placed into a box. We moved again two more times [ back to the Southeast and Atlanta] and they got lost. It wasn’t until the Corona Virus Pandemic and my need to clean up and purge, that I found the fabric books. I now have 2 little boys. My first son is now 8 and my second son is 4. It has been a blast to look at the books and reminisce. My 4 year old thinks they are awesome and wants some of him!

This photo book is perfect for all little hands.. Soft to the touch and photos won’t get crinkled and ruined. A win-win.

Supplies needed:

White cotton fabric
Non fusible fleece
Quilt basting spray
Sewing supplies and sewing macine
Iron and ironing board
Rotary cutter, cutting mat and quilting ruler
Transfer paper [ Lesley Riley’s Transfer Artist Paper is perfect for this project, but other photo transfer paper will work as well ]
Inkjet printer
Digital photographs to print

Quick steps:

Decide on the size of your photobook and how many pages. My books were 8 pages, with images 5″ x 7″ .
Print your photographs onto the transfer artist paper. If you want to save on transfer paper, print two photos on each piece of transfer paper.
Cut the white fabric into rectangles or squares determined by the size of the images.
Follow the instructions on how to use the transfer paper. Place the transfer paper image-side-down onto white fabric. Press with a hot iron.
Cut out using a rotary cutter, quilting ruler and mat. A rotary cutter makes the edges clean and straight!
Place 2 fabric images together, right sides facing each other. Place into sewing machine and stitch together with a ¼ inch seam allowance. Repeat for all other images. These open up and make side by side pages,
Cut batting into 2 rectangles that are 1/4 inch less than the image size. Spray the batting with the quilting basting spray and place onto the back of the photo rectangle. Press gently to adhere.
Place 2 photo rectangles right sides together. Pin, only if needed. Pins will leave holes. Place into your sewing machine and stitch together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Stitch along the outside edge, leave a small opening at the bottom. Repeat for the other photos.
Trim all corners.
Turn right-side-out through the opening at the bottom. Wiggle corners into place.
Handstitch the bottom opening closed. Repeat for other rectangle.
Place the photo rectangles on top of each other. Line them up at the middle seam. Place into your sewing machine and stitch together at middle seam. Backstitch at each end.

Voila!

You can see the original step by step tutorial with images on Momtastic.