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This DIY book weight (or you might call it a weighted bookmark, but it only marks the page when the book is open) is quick and easy to make and useful for the readers in your life.
I made one a long time ago and decided I needed another one to keep upstairs, because when you’re reading you don’t want to have to get up and hunt for your book weight, right?
What is a Book Weight?
A book weight is generally a piece of wood, leather or, in this case, fabric, that may be weighted with pellets, beads or rice or it might be heavy enough on its own to sit on a book and hold the pages open.
This is useful if you have hand pain when you hold a book, or if you need to rest your book on a table while you read. It’s helpful for holding a cookbook open while you cook, or, if you’re a crafter, you can knit or crochet and read at the same time without having to prop your book open with your leg or something.
I use mine to read while eating lunch on an almost daily basis. It’s just a little thing to make life a little easier.
Supplies
The great thing about making a DIY book weight (or several!) is that they don’t take a lot in terms of supplies, skill or time.
My book weights are about 8 inches long by 2.5 inches wide (that’s 20.3 by 6.3 cm for our metric system friends) so you’ll need two pieces of fabric a little larger than that.
You can use any fabric you like. The red one shown here is part of some fabric I used to make curtains in our first apartment, while the blue is an old cloth napkin.
Heavier weight fabrics like fleece and even denim would be great for this, or make a patchwork fabric out of scraps from other projects.
Then you need some weight for your book weight. I bought actual plastic craft pellets for mine, but you can try using rice or beans or pony beads with some metal washers thrown in. Whatever you have handy is worth a try.
I used a sewing machine and a bit of hand sewing to make mine, but you could sew it completely by hand (or completely by machine, though you would end up with a visible seam).
How to Make a DIY Book Weight
To start, cut out your two pieces of fabric. If your fabric has a right/front side, place the pieces right sides together and pin or clip them together if you want.
Sew down the two long ends and one short end by hand or using a sewing machine.
Since my fabric won’t fray (and it’s on the inside anyway) I didn’t do anything special to the seams other than clipping the corners to make it easier to turn. You can use pinking shears or zigzag the edges of your seams if you want.
Turn the book weight right side out. Honestly this was the most time consuming part other than the bit of hand sewing at the end. I like to use a knitting needle to poke the corners out nicely.
Fill your weighted bookmark with pellets or whatever you are using. It’s a great idea to clip the book weight closed and test it before you sew to make sure it will work as you want it to. The red one weighs 163 grams, while the blue one is only 111 grams, and I think I’m going to add some more weight because it’s not as effective as I would like it to be.
Fold over the edges on the open side and hand sew the seam. You could also machine sew it, but it will be visible. Or use a little Stitch Witchery and fuse the side closed (of course this won’t be removable if you decide you need more weight).
This DIY book weight is super easy to make and would be a good bulk sewing project to make as gifts for the readers in your life.
