Tutorial⎪DIY Your Own BookMark for Your Planner

Hello all! Recently I am really obsessed with dolling up my own planners (yes, I have 3 planners and a Midori Traveler's Notebook now), so i decided to share a tutorial on how to make a cute seal bookmark or page marker  for your lovely planner!

I actually made this in 2 different versions, no sew version and the other sew with backstitch. Which one do you prefer?

 So this is a quick glance on how to do a no-sew version, remember to pin this on your Pinterest if you like it! And also, share your work with me on Instagram, has tag #happiescrappie @happiescrappie =)

And if you are just too lazy to make your own, I do make and sell them on my Big Cartel. Check them out!

And now I am going to walk you through on how to make these cuties, in a naggy  errr…I mean in details. So firstly, you would need to download this template and print & cut it out. (To save this template, right click the image and save as…) If you print it 100% on an A4 paper, it measures approximately 2 inch x 1.5 inch. You can definitely print it bigger to make a plushie too!

P.S. I am a total noob in using computer to draw shapes, so I traced this out from a Japanese pattern nook and scan it for ya. The uneven line would not affect your seal-making process ok?

And now, here are the supplies you would need for making your own seal, definitely applicable for making other felt clips too!

1. Felt (any colours + white) 

2. Paper clips

3. Printed Template

4. Scissors

5. Scotch Tape

6. Black embroidery thread and needle

6. Liquid adhesive (for the no-sew version)

7. Polyfil stuffing, thread and needle (for the sew version)

Okay, let's get started. Trace out the template - so you would have a seal and its muzzle.

And this is how I cut out the felt using my template: scotch tape the template on the felt and cut it out.You can also trace the outline on the felt using water erasable marker for fabric. 

Do the same for the white muzzle part.

You would need two pieces of felt for the body and one piece of white muzzle.

Glue the muzzle on the body.

Use pen to mark the eyes and the nose and sew them with a piece of black embroidery thread, using french knot. I used 3 strand of the embroidery floss here.
Do not know how to do a french knot? >> Check out the youtube tutorial here, I wrap twice for the eyes and thrice for the nose.

Once you ar edone, the front and back would look like this. And you are almost there!

Take another piece of body and glue the paper clip down. Apply glue generously then put the piece that you have sew eyes & nose and place on top.

And now you are done! I personally prefer the no-sew version because sewing is really not my forte ;)

And now, let's move on to the Sewing plushie version of bookmark. You would need to do the same for the eyes and the nose form the front piece.

Then you would need to take another piece of the body, sew and secure the paper clip as show below.

Then stack both pieces together, sandwich the paper clip. sew the border using blanket stitch.  Again, totally clueless about making blanket stitch? Check out the tutorial here.

Remember to add a bit of stuffing once you have sew half of the seal. Use tweezer to push the stuffing into the tail and the limbs. Lightly stuff it =)

Continue sewing and stuff your baby seal 2 cm before you reach you first stitch. You might need tweezer (or pen / scissors) to help pushing the polyfil in.

And now you have a cute little seal plushie as you page marker!

I didn't like how the sewing was shown behind the seal after we sew the paperclip, so I die cut small pieces of heart using felt and my eBosser and glue it on the stitching.

It looks so cute with a little heart on the back <3

I actually made a few of them in different colours.. Rainbow seals look so cute right? So which version is your favourite? Comment below and do remember to share your work with me!

Before I go, I just need to make a quick announcement:

For those who are in US, mar your calendar! Craftwell eBrush is coming to HSN on 14th of May! Check out this blog post on how you could use it on your project.

Thanks for looking!

XoXo