HOW TO COVER MAGAZINES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XII, Issue XX, 19 May 1894, Page 478

HOW TO COVER MAGAZINES.

I shall not consider the dainty protecting covers of plush, silk, satin or chamois, with their decorations of ribbon, painting and embroidery, but the plain, serviceable covers for constant use, on the magazines which one wishes to lend generously, which are to be used in a reading club or, above all, which are likely to receive severe treatment at home. It may happen that it develops upon one to assist in establishing a reading-room ‘ ten miles from a lemon,’ where cash is scarce and time and ingenuity plenty. In this case it is a brilliant double stroke of economy and convenience to make these home made covers.

Roll the curtains high, and cover the long dining-room tables with newspapers, with plenty more near at hand upon which to paste. Have ready in a basket all the necessery materials, namely, scissors, pencil, rule and square, strong cord and an awl ; a sharp knife, a punch and sett, and a paper of eyelets from the shoemaker’s shop ; a roll of large, strong pieces of cotton cloth, another of odds and ends of small figured wall paper, a quantity of the heaviest, stiffest pasteboard obtainable, some book-cloth, marbled paper from the nearest book-bindery, broad brushes, and glue. The glue, put to melt in a glue-pot on the range, will be dissolved by the time a bowl of common flour paste is ready. Lay the brushes upon a large, clean plate in the centre of the table.

Measure the magazines to be fitted, and cut from the pasteboard pieces a trifle larger than the magazines. From the book cloth cut the oblong pieces for backs and corners, taking care that they are long enough to turn over on the wrong side sufficiently. Lay six of these book-cloth backs in a pile, with edges carefully evened, and with pencil and rule make dots at equal intervals, about an inch from the outer edges. With the punch make holes over these dots, and with the sett the eyelets may be expeditiously inserted. Next cut from the cotton cloth strips of the same shape as the backs, but a trifle shorter.

Now cut from the marbled paper pieces to fit the outsides of the pasteboards, allowing them to lap over on the wrong side about an inch, and clip off the front corners diagonally. The inside linings of the wall paper are cut a little smaller than the pasteboard pieces. Now lay all the cut material in neat piles, ready to put together. Coat the book cloth corners over with paste and glue. Then draw them tightly across the front corners of the pasteboard pieces, lapping on the wrong side.

The inside of a back is now coated strongly, and laid on clean papers. Even with, and close to the row of eyelet holes, lay the two pasteboard pieces, one on each side. Saturate a cotton cloth piece with the paste and glue, and lay it parallel with the book-cloth back, joining all together. Turn down the projecting edges evenly, and let all lie flat a minute, to set. Cover the outside now with the marbled paper, and lastly the insides witn the lining paper, to make all look neat on the inside. Let it dry over an eld magazine, the size of the one it is to be used on, if possible, as the proper shape is then retained. With an awl and cord the magazine is easily enclosed. The appearance of these covers is fully equal to that of those costing ten or twelve shillings a dozen ; while they cost, made according to directions, less than four shillings a dozen. Lucia M. Harvey.