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FREE TUTORIAL
I
originally designed and made this writers compendium in 2018 for members of my
Stitchery Club. Now I’ve remade the Writer’s Compendium, and wanted to share it
with you as a gift. I’ve included instructions for a simpler cover design,
using paper-piecing and a little hand embroidered postmark.
The original cover stitchery, Writing Letters, is one I still love, and in case you’d like to make that as well, you will find it in my Etsy Shop.
The photos in this tutorial are from the original Writers Companion I made in 2018.
NOTE: Please read the extra information at the end of this tutorial before you begin.
The paper pieced cover:
· Cut a piece of solid cotton or linen fabric, 9” x 11.5” for the cover background. Fuse fabric stabiliser behind the fabric. I like to use Staflex 3045, it’s paper thin.
·
Make eight 2” paper pieced circles from a
variety of fabrics.
· · Make one 2” circle from the same fabric you have used for the background of the cover, but first of all trace the postmark stitchery design onto the centre of the circle and embroider it. Then make the paper pieced circle as usual. I fused a 2” circle of Parlan behind the circle before embroidering it, so that it would stand out more on the cover later.
·
With a pencil, trace out a rectangle of 7.5”
wide x 10” high on your cover background.
·
Applique the nine prepared circles onto the
cover in three rows of three.
Trim the cover background to 7 ½” (w) x 10” (h).
Fabrics:
For this original tutorial I used only two fabrics, but you could use different fabrics throughout if you choose. In my blog post of January 9th 2025, you will see I have used a few different prints in my remake, but the directions and measurement are the same as the original.
From the hedgehog fabric (HF), cut –
·
One, 9” x 10” rectangle
·
One, 13” x 16” rectangle
·
One, 10” x 16” rectangle
From the green tonal fabric (T), cut –
·
One, 10” x 16” rectangle
·
One, 16” x 18” rectangle
·
One, 4 ½” x 7” rectangle
·
One, 3 ½” square
· You will also need a 10” x 16” piece of thick fusible Pellon, or Soft & Stable, or if in Australia, you could use Shape To Create Foam from Spotlight Stores. I used that in my remake and it was fantastic, giving good structure to the project.
Assembly:
·
Sew the 9” x 10” rectangle of HF to the left
of the stitchery block
· Fuse the Pellon behind your 10” x 16” T backing fabric
· Make Pocket 1 – fold the 16” x 18” rectangle
of T in half to make a 9” x 16” pocket and top stitch a line ¼” under the fold
· Make Pocket 2 – fold the 13” x 16” rectangle
of HF in half and top stitch a line ¼” under the fold
· Make Pocket 3 – fold the 10” x 16” rectangle
of HF in half and top stitch a line ¼” under the fold
· Make the envelope pocket (part 1)– Fold the 4 ½” x 7” rectangle of T in half, wrong sides together, to make a 3 ½” x 4 ½” rectangle. Sew around the three open sides with a ¼” seam, leaving a 1 ½” opening for turning out. Turn right side out, press flat and slip stitch the opening closed.
· Make the envelope pocket (part 2)– Fold the 3
½” square of T in half on the diagonal. Sew around the two open sides, leaving
a 1 ½” opening for turning out. Turn right side out, press flat and slip stitch
the opening closed.
· Place the triangle across the top edge of the envelope pocket and sew in place with a 1/8th” seam around all three sides.
· Sew the envelope pocket onto Pocket 3 -
Measure 1” down from the fold and 2 ½” inches in from the right-hand side and
pin in position. Sew around the two sides and base with a 1/8th inch seam, leaving the top edge of the envelope pocket open as this where you’ll be
storing stamps.
· Lay the pockets over the Pellon backed lining, raw edges together at the base, largest pocket first, then lay the second pocket on top, and the third last of all. Secure the pockets to the Pellon backed lining by sewing across the bottom and down both sides with a 1/8th” seam.
· Place the outside cover face down onto the pocketed lining and pin the two pieces together. Sew around all four sides with a ¼” seam, leaving a 4” opening along the top right-hand side. Turn right side out, press and slip stitch the opening closed.
·Turn the compendium over so the inside is
facing you. Fold in half to find the centre, then measure out ½” from the
centre, to right and the left. This creates a 1” wide pen pocket inside the
spine. NOTE: This a bit squeezy for some newer pens, I discovered, so you could
change the width to 1.25” if you like.
Now your compendium is complete!
Perhaps
you’ll make a few as gifts? Having something lovely like this, filled with
cards, writing pad, stamps and a pretty pen – well, it inspires us to write
don’t you think?
Below you can see the inside of my original Writers Compendium, and my recent remake…
And here is one I made for a friend a few years ago. This one was made without the pattern, as I am able to make them any size. Once you have made a couple you'll be able to make them any size as well, or tweak them to suit!
I think projects like this lend themselves to tweaking, as you find yourself using so many ideas and different fabrics or stitcheries. :-)
The little 'but first pray' stitchery on the cover below is part of THIS set.
EXTRA INFORMATION:
In
my remake I decided to make just two pockets, the
middle and smaller sizes, as the writing pads I now use are smaller than the
one I had in the original compendium.
I
sewed vintage lace inside the folded edges of those pockets.
A
vintage button was added to the stamp pocket as well.
I chose to use the sturdier ‘Shape To Create Foam’ instead of Pellon (it is fusible on both sides and far cheaper than Soft & Stable). As it is thicker than Pellon, and has more structure, I cut it to 9.5” x 15.5” so that I did not have to sew through it and have double thickness in the seams. I could simply sew through the ¼” extra fabric around all sides of the cover and lining when they were pinned together. The link to Spotlight for this is HERE, in case you’re in Australia or NZ and would like to try it.
Use any stitchery you like for your cover – as long as the cover measures 7.5” x 10” after trimming, it will fit perfectly with the tutorial instructions.
You
may prefer to not have a stitchery cover – simply make your complete
cover surface 10” x 16” instead.
However you make a Writers Compendium, I hope you have fun!
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MY NEW COVER - have a read of my blog post HERE on how to make it, and download the free little postmark stitchery.
For more Elefantz Designs patterns, pop over HERE to my Etsy Shop!
Bless you heaps!
PS: If you make one of these, please share on Instagram and tag me #jennyofelefantz #elefantzdesigns #thewriterscompendium
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