DIY Canvas and Ruffle Bible Cover

Want to add a personal touch to your Bible or to a Bible that you are gifting? This DIY Canvas and Ruffle Gift Bible is a fast sew but adds a bright touch to a Bible! It’s also a great way to spruce up a Bible with a beat up cover. The canvas is a durable material for the exterior, but a cotton blend is flexible enough to make a cute ruffle and use for the inside lining and pockets. A special thanks to Family Christian Stores for supplying the Girls NIV Gift Bible for me to gift and cover today!

Supplies:

• 1 medium size button
• Canvas material
• Cotton blend material
• Scissors
• Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Needle with an eye for hand sewing
• 2-3 inches of 1/4″ elastic

The exact amount of material that you will nee is dependent on the size of the Bible. Mine was a gift Bible size, but you may be covering a larger Bible. If you have a half of a yard of canvas and a half of a yard of the cotton blend, then that should be plenty to create a Bible cover for pretty much any size Bible.

Determine the following measurements:

Measure all the way around the Bible.

Measure the height of the Bible.

Measure the inside of the cover to determine how wide the flaps should be. I measured to about halfway of the inside cover.

Cut the following pieces of fabric:

Canvas front- Take the measurement from all the way around the Bible and ADD 2 inches. Take the measurement from the height of the Bible and ADD 2 inches. Cut one piece of canvas with this width and height.

Lining: Take the measurement from all the way around the Bible and ADD 2 inches. Take the measurement from the height of the Bible and ADD 2 inches. Cut one piece of cotton with this width and height.

Flaps: Double the measurement of the inside cover. Add 1 inch. Take the measurement from the height of the Bible and ADD 2 inches. Cut TWO pieces of cotton blend material with this width and height.

Ruffle: QUADRUPLE the measurement of the height of the Bible. Cut a piece of cotton blend material with this length by 3.5″ width.

Note that the canvas is not very stretchy or forgiving material. That is why we are cutting the pieces with an additional two inches added to our measurements. I made one cover and only added 1 inch to my measurement, but the canvas failed to stretch when placing the Bible inside, and it was too snug. A two inch addition helps with this.

First create the ruffle. Fold the ruffle piece in half, right sides together (fold in half so that the length is cut in half). Pin and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Turn the ruffle piece inside out. Sew a gathering stitch down the middle along the length.

Pull the gathering stitch so that the ruffle begins to take form. Match the length of the ruffle with the length of the canvas piece. Pin it to the center of what will be the front of the cover. Sew it down the middle.

Pull out the gathering stitch.

Hand stitch a button beside of the ruffle on the cover front in the center. The button should be on the side closest to the raw edge.

Set the canvas piece aside. Take the flap pieces and fold them in half, wrong sides together. Pin one flap to each end of the lining pieces.

Fold the elastic piece in half. Baste it to the one side of the flap (in the center).

Cover the lining/flap piece with the canvas piece. The most crucial part is to make sure that the elastic side and the button side are on OPPOSITE ends. Sew the two pieces together with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving a 3-4″ opening in order to turn the cover inside out.

Clip the corners and trim the seam.

Turn the cover inside out. Top stitch around the outside edge, being sure to close the opening while top stitching.

Insert the Bible inside. I used this Pink Leathersoft NIV Gift Bible for Kids. I’ll be gifting this beauty from Family Christian Stores to a special little lady! This gift Bible is perfect for birthdays or special occasions, but I also like to have Bibles such as these on hand to give out to youth and teens that do not own a Bible. From working in the youth ministry, I’m always surprised at how many do not have a Bible. It’s nice to have ready-to-give options like these that we can set aside for times when a student wants a Bible.