I am a huge fan of the Anne of Green Gables books. I don't remember how early I read them…I've always grown up with them. I consider the last book, Rilla of Ingleside, to be a quite unique and special must read – it can be read as a standalone book if desired, and certainly taught me more about WWI than all my school books put together. I re-read the series about every year, and often re-read portions or books that I've been thinking about. A trip to PEI is on my dream bucket list. 

 

All of that to say…I'm a fan. So when I saw that Riley Blake Designs had a new Anne of Green Gables fabric line, I had to find a use for some of it!

My favorite is the scenic print with scenes from the book. The people were the perfect height to do some fussy cutting, so I made some bookmarks. Here is how. 

 

First I made my template. From a piece of cardboard, I cut a rectangle, and trimmed the top corners. Mine ended up about 3 x 5".

 

Then I cut a window in the middle. It doesn't have to be pretty, just big enough for you to see the center design. If you wish, you can mark seam allowance too. 

 

See how different it can look depending on which design you center?

 

I chose 3 of the pictures and cut them out carefully with my rotary cutter. Alternatively, you could draw around the template with a pen and cut it out with scissors. 

 

Next use the template to cut out backings for each. These don't have to be fussy cut, so you can do all at once if you wish. 

 

My pieces all laid out and ready.

 

Next I used some fusible interfacing scraps to stiffen one side of each bookmark. (Here you see I interfaced the back – I wasn't paying attention, because you should interface the front.)

 

Trim the interfacing.

 

One more step before we sew – decide what to use for a tassel. It will need to be placed on the right side with the strings as shown. 

 

Now place the back to front, right sides together, and sew around it, leaving the bottom edge open.

 

At the top, be careful to catch all layers plus the tassels!

 

Now trim corners if desired, turn and press.

 

Turn up the raw bottom edges to the inside and press them too.

 

Next take it back to the machine and top stitch very close to the edge all the way around. This will close the bottom gap as well as keep it lying flat and give it a more polished look.

 

All finished! Repeat for the other two bookmarks. 

 

As you can see, it's easy to switch up the look. 

 

These are all ready for reading adventures! The interfacing keeps them stiff enough that they hold their shape, but they are still flexible. Such a fun quick gift idea for a book loving friend!

 

Then just for fun, I made a zipper bag to go with it. 

 

The larger picture from the scenic fabric was a perfect appliqué for the front (incidentally I love how true to the book these illustration are!) I stitched it on with a tight zigzag stitch to keep from fraying, then covered the edges with the sweetest vintage dainty lace.

 

It's the perfect size for lots of things like sewing notions…

 

…or the new bookmarks of course. 

 

But I purposefully made it the right size to hold a book. I like to take books along when traveling, and it's easy to mess them up in the car. This little quilted bag will keep the book safe and protected between perusals. 

 

I still have some Anne fabric left, so maybe I will come up with more projects. But for now, I'm so happy with these sweet small projects – a nice quick break from dressmaking!

 

And of course they delight my kindred-spirit-to-Anne heart.