How can I stiffen felt covers?

Nov '13 JenKoss

I have my eye on a really cute 8x8 Making Memories album for my December Daily. The only thing is the covers are made from felt and they're kind of floppy, so I'd like to add something inside to make them sturdier. Also, I want to sew some snowflake buttons on the front to embellish it and I'd like to somehow hide the stitching. The only thing I've come up with is to use adhesive-backed felt sheets but I'm not sure how much sturdier that would make the covers. Any other thoughts or suggestions?
Nov '13 RedSquirrel UK

RE: JenKoss: I have my eye on a really cute 8x8 Making Memories album for my December Daily. The only thing is the covers are made from felt and they're kind of floppy, so I'd like to add something inside to make them sturdier. Also, I want to sew some snowflake buttons on the front to embellish it and I'd like to somehow hide the stitching. The only thing I've come up with is to use adhesive-backed felt sheet...

I don't know about the construction of the album, but how about cutting a piece of chipboard the same size as the cover and attaching it to the inside of the felt cover? You could cover the chipboard with patterned paper. You could attach it by sticking it to the felt, and covering the edges with strips of paper that overlap both the front and the inside. Actually, maybe you could stitch the overlapping paper to the felt first, and then fold it over and stick it to the chipboard.

Sorry, it makes perfect sense in my head but it's hard to describe!
Nov '13 Mimiof123

RE: RedSquirrel UK: I don't know about the construction of the album, but how about cutting a piece of chipboard the same size as the cover and attaching it to the inside of the felt cover? You could cover the chipboard with patterned paper. You could attach it by sticking it to the felt, and covering the edges with strips of paper that overlap both the front and the inside. Actually, maybe you could stitch the overl...

I would cut a piece of chipboard the same size as the cover. I would then cut squares of coordinating felt and blanket stitch it to the covers with the chipboard inside. I would sew on any embellies that I wanted before stitching the covers together.
Nov '13 Isbaha

RE: Mimiof123: I would cut a piece of chipboard the same size as the cover. I would then cut squares of coordinating felt and blanket stitch it to the covers with the chipboard inside. I would sew on any embellies that I wanted before stitching the covers together.

I would cut also cut a piece of cardboard or thin chipboard, cover it with patterned paper (and wrapping the sides on the back - using a liquid glue spread with a roller, like elmer's one), embellish the felt cover and finally sew the cardboard and the felt together with a sewing machine (felt and cardboard are easy to machine sewing and it's the better way to hold the felt, I think).
Nov '13 Crafting Marfa

RE: Isbaha: I would cut also cut a piece of cardboard or thin chipboard, cover it with patterned paper (and wrapping the sides on the back - using a liquid glue spread with a roller, like elmer's one), embellish the felt cover and finally sew the cardboard and the felt together with a sewing machine (felt and cardboard are easy to machine sewing and it's the better way to hold the felt, I think).

I once worked with a canvas that was stuffed with old paper. It worked really well to stiffen the canvas, but it was still flexible. And you can sew right through the paper if you wanted to.