Fabric Notebook Cover with Baby Lock Serger Victory

I was going to buy a notebook, then I saw a good old partially used notebook laying around in our office. I decided to whip up a notebook cover to make it more pretty. When I say "whip up", it literally means quick and simple and it was possible with my Baby Lock Victory. I didn't exactly time myself, but I would say this whole project took me 30 minutes or less. If you are looking for an easy peasy, pretty and practical sewing project (and gift) idea, this is it!

* You Will Need

Notebook - The notebook I used was 9 3/4" x 7 1/2" x 1/2"
Main fabric (at least 24" wide and 11" tall and it goes for the liner and interfacing too)
liner fabric
Fusible Interfascing (I used Pellon 950)
14" long ribbon that is complimentally to the front fabric

* How To
1. As I mentioned on the supply list, the notebook I used is a pretty standard size. If you are using a smaller or larger notebook, please adjust your fabric measurement accordingly. Cut the main fabric, liner fabric and fusible interfacing to 10 1/2" x 23 1/2".

2. Fuse interfacing to the main fabric by following the manufacturer’s instructions.

3. Lay the fused fabric with liner fabric wrong sides together. Make sure the corners and seams are perfectly matched and pin.

4. Use the serger to sew the edges of the 10 1/4" seams on the both ends.

5. Lay the Main fabric side up on the table. Fold 4" from the ends and pin. Pin the Ribbon in the middle. I am showing the ribbon up, but you want the ribbon attached onto the top middle under the fabric going towards the bottom. I am showing what not to do in the picture. haha. I cut off the ribbon at the first attempt and realized I did it wrong.

6. Hide the thread ends for a clean finish.

7. Fold the ribbon out and give some stitches to make it more secure.

8. Pull out the corners. Use a pin or other tools to pull out the corners to have a nice crisp finish. Press with iron.

9. Fold the seams on the middle part of the notebook cover and press with iron. To secure the seam, you could either handstitch, use fabric glue or stitch with a sewing machine. I didn't want the stitches showing on the front of the notebook cover; I decided to hand stitch.

10. Insert the covers of the notebook to the sleeves and you are ready to enjoy the notebook with personality. I fell in love with this Windham Fabric Lush Life designed by Jennifer Moore.

There are other methods to create book covers, but I love how easy and quick my version is. Using my Baby Lock Victory definitely speeds things up and I love how clean those serged edges look.:)

Circle Placemat Tutorial with Baby Lock Victory

This Thanksgiving was extra special for our family. Both of our sons got married in the past two years and our daughter is engaged to be married next year. All eight of us were going to have Thanksgiving dinner together. We also invited a couple missionaries over to have dinner with us. I am usually a bit more casual about our Thanksgiving dining, but I wanted to set the table for this occasion. I had a few days to prepare, and I decided to make 10 placemats. Shopping and cooking for Thanksgiving sounds busy enough and sewing placemats may sound crazy, maybe I am crazy, but it really wasn't that bad! Using my Baby Lock serger Victory made the process so easy and quick. I will share what I did.

* You Will Need (10 pieces of 15" diameter placemats)

Fabric for the front - about 2 yards
Fabric for the back - about 2 yards
Stiff interfacing - about 2 yards
Threads that matches the fabric

* How to
1. Iron both fabrics to ensure that the fabrics are wrinkle free and smooth. The finished project will look much better. I used a 15" diameter placemat. I had to trace 10 circles on one fabric.

2. Cut them out. It was kind of satisfying to see all the circles on the table. At this stage, they look nothing more than a bunch of wheat tortillas. Ha ha!

3. Lay the circle fabric onto the fusible interfacing and fuse them together with an iron. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for this process. Repeat the process with all the fabrics.

4. Lay the circles you have created on step 3 onto the back fabric. Make sure to smooth out any wrinkles when you are doing this process. Cut around the edge. Now you have three layers to create a placemat.

5. Now for the exciting part! I did three thread overlock-narrow 3.5 length / 3 width and serged all around the circle. Hide the end of the thread by threading through stitches for a clean finish.

It took me about 2 - 3 hours to sew all of them. Then I got to set the table for the feast.

I like things that are versatile and these placemats are definitely that. I fully intend to use them for Christmas dinner as well. Just switching some decorations, Voila! The table is set for Christmas.

There are other ways to sew placemats for sure, but I love how using my Baby Lock Serger Victory made the process so quick and easy. The next big Holiday after Christmas is Valentine's Day. Hmmm Red Placemats might be fun to have...

Meet My New Serger! ~ Baby Lock Victory

Hello everyone! This is the very first post of 2025 and I have exciting news to share. I have been an ambassador for Baby Lock for the last several years, and I created some fun projects with the sewing machines Aria and Sashiko. They are such excellent machines and I recommend them wholeheartedly. Now I have an opportunity to work with their serger, Victory!

Look at this beauty… decades ago, my husband bought me a simple serger as a surprise and it has been a good machine, but I always wanted to try a Baby Lock serger. I had a feeling that I would love their serger as much as I love my sewing machine.

Victory is on the more affordable side of sergers among Baby Lock, and it has all the bells and whistles that I wanted. The main feature that I was curious about and interested in for YEARS was the JET-AIR THREADING. With just the touch of a lever, thread is sent through the tubular loopers. The NEEDLE THREADING SYSTEM will make threading the top threads a breeze. Hold the needle threader in place for quick and easy threading. I really didn't care for threading my previous serger… Now I can spend less time threading and more time sewing and having fun.

Two bright LED lights help me clearly see every stitch, fabric and thread color. Having no tension adjustments and an adjustable presser foot height of up to 6 mm is AMAZING!

Also, I really love this ACCESSORY STORAGE! It's like when a girl is showing off her dress, and she says "Look! there are pockets!" Hehehe

I started looking through the manual and played with my new serger. I am already in love with my Victory. All of my major projects in 2024 were quilts. I have a feeling that I am going to do a lot more garment sewing this year.