I think I have saved the best part of the Vintage Sewing Room Project for last, my Vintage French Lace & Thread Album:
It’s a plain ol’ ring binder, transformed into a pretty and versatile album! I might embellish it more, but I like to let my projects simmer a bit first 😉
First, I sewed a Tilda reversible fabric cover for the binder, thus beautyfied it immensely. And then I added my invention of 3 French Laines St. Pierre ribbon cards to a page:
I did not mark the holes on the printable, so this can be fit to 2, 3 or 4 ring binders, whatever you have on hand 🙂
The trick is to not separate the 3 cards, for a full page:
I used my French Cherub Alphabet to design equally pretty backsides:
I find that 4 pages of these cards is a good fit for a regular binder. 4 pages will take a total of 60 different windings. If you have a lot of lace, ribbon and thread, you could make one binder per color 😀
Instructions:
- Print on cardstock
- Glue onto thin cardboard, empty cereal boxes are just the right thickness (and spray glue does the job in mere minutes)
- Cut out with sharp scissors and exacto knife for the details
- Remember to leave the far left part intact, if you want these for an album!
- Sand the edges with a nail file or some fine sandpaper, for a smoooth and worn finnish
- TA-DAH: Instant French Sewing Vintageness
These files are free for your personal use and enjoyment. Go to the download folder below to grab your high quality copy 🙂
I have used various scrap fabric pieces to sew a bunch of these reversible book covers lately, for the girls’ schoolboks, for a few of my office binders and for my office journal. They are really quick to make, and extremely rewarding for someone like me who enjoy beauty in the little everyday things!
For my expensive, archival safe, huge&heavy, UGLY postcard albums I did of course choose matching Tilda fabrics:
Greatly improved, don’t you agree?
Last but not least, here is a sneak peek into one of the albums, guess what I’m planning to scan next…:
Check out my sources and inspiration:
Sewn Reversible Book Cover – Lara Cameron
Laines St Pierre Thread Cards – Feutrine et Petites Croix
Laines St Pierre Thread Cards – Jikolin Minis
French Cherub Alphabet – Wings of Whimsy
Did you enjoy this post? If you are not already a confirmed follower of Wings of Whimsy, please click “Follow” to register and receive notification about every new post here on WoW:
- WordPress-users: in the top left corner of your browser window to register your WordPress-account
- Other readers: in the bottom right corner of your browser window to register your email-address
Follow me on Pinterest:
Wings of Whimsy 
WOUW you´ve certainly been busy here lately, and boy does it look awesome? I love that binder, you´ve made for those laces, it´s really cool, and I can see, that I better get these holders as soon as you get them uploaded, as I have just today been searching through lots of different bags in a big basket, where it´s all dropped in among each other, and this would definitely give a great overview of what I have, so definitely something to think about, and then it ofcause also looks darned good too he he he.
Thanks sooo much for all your great inspiration here.have a wondderful night.
The downloads are up now 🙂 I spent more time on winding my bits than I did on crafting the album, but it is totally worth it, knowing I have everything in one spot now!
I wound my precious lace trim (of which I have very little :-O ) and various types of left over thread (mainly embroidery floss and crochet yarn. If (when) my collection grows, I can now expand with more albums 😀
Thanks a lot. What a wonderful idea and the prints are just great for this project.
Andrea
Thank you Andrea 🙂 The pictures are not giving my album all the credit it deserves, in real life it really both looks and feels old 😀
Gunnvor, Sweetie this is genious! What a fantastic job, I must collect some cereal boxes, material(not sure if I can Tilda here but I’m gonna try) and start making this project. It would look fantastic in my shabby chic room!
Thank you dear Sheri 🙂 If Tilda does not retail in Canada, I would use Greengate or Cath Kidston. I also believe you have a fabulous brand we don’t, Lecien, that would be great for this project 😉 Of course I’d take r-e-a-l vintage floral fabrics any day 😉 xoxoxo
I agree with Genious! This is wonderful. I liked the spool racks and the winders. But this, this is just what I need. I can see my small ribbons and millinery ribbons organized this way. This is so much better than the boxes they are piled in right now!
Thanks again Anna 🙂 A combination of racks for display and easy access, and albums for storage is what works for me. Of course the large quantities still have to go in boxes…:-P xoxoxo
Wow Gunnvor! Sooooooo pretty! I keep saying it, you are certainly a busy bee. The filers look so romantic and touchable! And the way you’ve threaded your embroidery floss…….. so inspiring and pretty! I love the rainbow colours of them. Your workspace looks so inviting! Chapeau! 😉
My darling Ingeborg 🙂 Thank you very much for your lovely and encouraging comment 🙂 Please know that I’m thinking of you a lot these days! Sending you oodles of love and light, to encourage you back for the difficult days ahead. I’m confident it will all work out to the best!
I love the ribbon cards. Thank you for being so generous.
Thank you for the lovely comment Irene 🙂 I hope you can use them for something fabulous! xoxoxo