How to Recover the Cover of Your Altered Book
First thing is first. Do you like the grain of the fabric? Do you want it to show through whatever the paper is you have chosen for the new updated cover? If you don’t you also don’t want to cover this heavy-duty fabric with a flimsy 24lb piece of patterned paper. I wanted to completely block out any part of the drab cover including the texture in my project. Patterned papers of normal weight transposed the graining once it was glued down. I tried 65lb cardstock next. This was much better. The grain didn’t transpose and I now had a clean canvas to work on. Luckily for crafters you can now find fantastic printed glossy cardstock at your local craft supply store. Even luckier are the new fabric like papers, like the one I used in the pictures. This velvet type paper had a canvas kind of backing, which combined with the nap to cover the original worn fabric cover.
If you pay attention you can see how the original cover was constructed. First the outside page goes on and the edge and corners are folded over to the inside cover. Cover paper is used on the inside to overlap these edges and make everything uniform. Measuring is of the utmost importance here. Too big and the overlap is too much, too little and it’s scrap paper. “Measure twice cut once”. Now that you see how it’s done now you have to redo it.
Two options now appear. Option one is a full cover. If you have a larger piece of paper you may be able to cover the entire book in one shot. Option #2, the easier, and therefore the one I went for is to make three pieces.
The front and back pieces will stop just beyond the bends of the covers and then are overlapped by a spine piece. In most cases this will allow you to use standard sized papers that are readily available. Do the front and back cover sections first, measure top to bottom and add 1″. Next, measure from the opening edge to just beyond the cover fold/crease and add 1/2″.
Now you need to decide on glue. I like the Xyron machine because it puts a thin and even amount of adhesive all the way to the edges. It also provides a paper backing which will allow you to expose as much or as little as you can work with at one time. Double sided tape, Modge Podge, and white glues are also options. To use double sided tape I recommend using the full sheets or the widest available so you can get full coverage with as few films to remove as possible. You really need to pay attention with the various types liquid glues because they will soak into your paper and make it limp and fragile. A tear, ripples, wrinkles and mis-sticks may become an issue depending on how your paper interacts with your adhesive.
Lay it down once you have your glue and use a bone folder to make sure it is really stuck there. I also use the bone folder to make sure the folded over areas are as smooth as can be. Another tip here is to cut off the corners to give a mitered corner on the inside of the book. This helps reduce bulk on the corners and makes it a little neater.
Because of the movement at the folds and the splaying of the book the spine needs to have a little more flexibility. You need to use a tape measure or something flexible that you can then measure to determine the width you will need here. When measuring for the width you want to overlap the ends of the front and back cover and be sure to press the tape down into the creases on both covers, this is where added material allows the book to open smoothly. Measure from top to bottom and add 1/2 an inch. Depending on your book layout you may be able to fold the spine over top and bottom and glue it into the book for the entire width but you may not be able to. If not you will need to trim it according to the placement of the booklets.
For an added touch of color and texture I used an extra wide ribbon as the spine cover on one project with great success.
