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Vade mecum
The ever lovely and amazing Coley recently found this tutorial for me, and I knew it would be the perfect accessory for my Belle costume. (And maybe every other day of the year as well...)
Now, there's some debate as to what book Belle is actually reading in the animated movie. In the play, Belle and the Beast read about King Arthur, so that's what I decided to go with. (In the new movie they oversell Romeo and Juliet, yuck.)
I ordered Le Morte d'Arthur from Amazon, and the edition I got was just the right size for what I wanted. But it was also coral colored, which I worried would clash horribly with my pink dress. But since I already had the book, I decided I might as well try to use it, and so I painted it blue.
I wrapped the pages in waxed paper to protect them. I was worried that the paint would be too wet and warp the book cover, so I kept it as light as I could, and I think it turned out pretty well.
Next I mod podged the pages together. Now, this part can get too wet and warp the pages easily, so it's best to leave it under some weight to help the pages dry flat.
The next step, attack of the razor blade. This took longer than it should, because I kept getting distracted reading the pages. ( I once made a hollow book out of an old readers digest. I had to read it first to make sure the stories in it were bad enough I didn't feel guilty cutting them up. No such luck on this one, it's actually interesting.) I kept a large pile of pages for use in future projects.
Finally my book was all hollowed out, but I broke the inner spine. Oops. When I started adding fabric I hot glued a piece in there to hold it back together.
I bought the purse strap on ebay, and it came with attachments, so I didn't have to make my own. It's also leather and adjustable. :)
For the inner covering I used the scraps from my capelet lining. I love this stained glass fabric. (I had to visit three Joann's to find one that had it in stock, but finally found some online for in-store pick-up.) To figure out the basic shapes I needed I used tissue paper to measure how I wanted it to fit (and how far I wanted it to open, and traced that onto the fabric. Then everything was hot glued in.
Before I glued in the last side panel I sewed a pocket onto it. And now all I'm missing is the top clasp. As soon as it's delivered my book will be complete. :)
