Jan. 23: Magnetic Bookmark

I love to read and therefore, I read a lot. Okay, quick background story. I decided I needed to limit myself to buying just one book a month on my Kindle (oh budgets), and I am still in the process of figuring out how to get library books downloaded on my older version Kindle. So, a few weeks ago I went to the library and got myself a good old library card (not to say I didn't have a library card, I just had not taken the time to get one since we moved). I usually just use a piece of scrap paper or a receipt as a bookmark, but when I saw these cute fabric, magnetic bookmarks, I could not resist.

All you need to whip them up are some fabric scraps and magnets. I followed the very clear tutorial from this site, http://www.thesoutherninstitute.com/2011/08/magnetic-bookmarks-with-louise-from-im.html.

My plan was to use the thin sheet like magnet because I could sew right through it (someone gave them to me a while ago, the package said business card magnets, they are the size of a business card and purposed to turn a business card into a magnet). This magnet worked for the regular quilting fabric I used for two of the bookmarks but was not strong enough for the bookmark made out of the home decor fabric. For the thicker fabric I used the small circular magnets.


with circular magnet sewed above magnet to keep in place

with sheet magnet sewed through it when top stitching

The bookmarks turned out a little shorter than I thought from the pictures on the tutorial but still work well. Because the circular magnets were thicker, the book does not lay as flat as I would like with the bookmark in (see below). However, I think the bookmarks will work great for when J and I are reading the same book at the same time. This does not happen often, but when we do, I hate how one persons' bookmark inevitably falls out while the other person is reading and just like that your spot is lost. The magnetic bookmarks seem to hold in place well and will hopefully solve this problem.