Three-ring binders: a school essential. After another year keeping records of my students, my binder was beat up once again, its flimsy plastic cover partially ripped. Instead of tossing it into the landfill for several thousand years, I decided to give it a second life. I pulled out the ever-handy duct tape to reinforce the rip in the binder and whipped up a lovely fabric cover closed with a Velcro strap. Here’s an easy way to give your ugly binder a makeover.
You will need:
Fabric for the cover exterior and the Velcro strap || Fabric for the cover lining || 3” x 3” piece of Timtex (interfacing/stablizer) || 1 ½” of one-inch wide Velcro || lid of a wide-mouth jar (about 3 inches in diameter) and pen for tracing || scrap of accent fabric for decorative circular closure (I used brown corduroy.)
Cut it out
(1) With your repaired binder opened and lying flat, measure the length and width. To find your fabric cutting dimensions, add 1 ½” to the width and 10” to the length. Using these dimensions, cut one rectangle from the exterior fabric and one from the lining fabric. In addition, cut one rectangle 3” x 6” from the exterior fabric. This will become the Velcro strap.
(2) Using the jar lid, trace and cut out two circles from the accent fabric. Set these aside for now.
Sew it up
(3) Sew together the exterior fabric and the lining: Pin the large rectangles together with their right sides facing. Sew along the edges using a ½” seam allowance, leaving a 3” opening in the middle of one of the long sides. Trim the corners and turn right side out by pulling through the 3” opening. Push out the corners with a turning tool and press. Set aside.
(4) Fold the 3” x 6” Velcro strap piece in half lengthwise, with right sides together. With a ¼” seam allowance, sew down the long side, forming a tube. Turn this tube right side out. Tuck in both short edges ¼” and press the entire tube. Edge-stitch a scant 1/8” around the entire Velcro strap
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