January is National Book month, and in honor of that, this month's Tutorial Tuesday is a Quiet Book brought to us by Alyssa of Keep Calm and Carrion!
The great part of this project is that if you want to make it all matching, you can easily order coordinating pieces, and since Whimsical Fabric offers fat quarters and pre-cut bundles, you don't end up with a lot of leftovers, BUT you can also make this project with just a couple of Fat Quarters and whatever scraps you have.
Let's start with the supplies you'll need.
Supply List:
- 2 - Solid Fat Quarters
- 1 - Charm Pack
- 1 yd ea of Brown (or Black), Aqua and Lime 3/4" Ric Rac
- 1 yd Navy Jumbo Ric Rac
- 1 yd coordinating Chevron Ribbon
- 1 yd 1/4" Elastic
- 6 - 1" Round Buttons (Orange or Yellow)
Additional Supplies:
- ½ yd Batting or Fusible Fleece
- ½ yd of Heat n Bond or Wonder Under
- 4x4 piece of clear vinyl
- Alphabet Stencils*
- Plastic Animal Beads
- 10" Hook and Loop tape
- 6 Small decorative buttons or tags
- Petite Cording or narrow ribbon
- Lighter
- Sewing Machine
- Scissors/Rotary Cutter
*Check out last month's tutorial Tuesday if you're looking for a great place to print of letter templates!
Preparation
First let's prep the book pieces.
First let's prep the book pieces.
Cut out 2 - 10x17 pieces from each FQ.
Cut 4 - 10x17 pieces from your batting or fleece.
Baste your batting or fuse your fleece to the back side of all four book pieces.
Now, fold your pieces in half so the short sides meet, and press along the fold. This just helps make sure we can easily center things on our pages.
The Cover
For the cover you'll need:
2 - 4" Pieces of Brown Ric Rac
1- 5" Piece of Chevron Ribbon
4x4 Piece of Vinyl
Iron on Letters or Stencils.
1. On the RIGHT half of one of your book pieces, add your letters first. I used Iron Letters because I am honestly stencil incompetent, BUT you can use fabric markers and stencils, or cut out letters and iron them on using some Heat n Bond as well.
2. Keep your letters about 5/8" from the top and bottom edges. In the open center, place your clear vinyl, centered on the "page." I use my glue pen to secure it in place. Cover the side raw edges with your 2 pieces of brown ric rac and stitch in place using a straight stitch down the center.
*Whenever you use pieces of ric rac or ribbon in this tutorial, you'll want to heat seal the ends with a lighter so they don't fray!
3. Then cover the bottom edge with your 5" piece of ribbon. Stitch in place 1/8" from the top and bottom of the ribbon.
4. The LEFT half of this "page" will be the back cover of your book. If you want, you can stitch your label on the back, or a cute "handmade" label.
Now let's move on to what will be the inside of these pages.
Page 1
For page 1 you'll need the following:
6 - Charm Squares
3 - 5" pieces of Heat n Bond
3- 7½" Pieces of ¼" Elastic
3 - 3" pieces of Green Ric Rac
2 - 7" Pieces of Navy Jumbo Ric Rac
1 - 7" Piece of Aqua Ric Rac
1 - 7" Piece of Brown Ric Rac
1. First, take your charm squares and fuse the Heat n Bond to one side, and then fuse another charm square to the back, so you'll have 3 double-sided squares.
2. Next, we'll cut our shapes out of the squares. We are making clouds, flowers, and fish. You'll want them to be around 1" or so each. I use my FriXion pen to draw and then iron it off after I cut them out. The Heat n Bond will keep the raw edges from fraying much, but you can also stitch around the outside of each shape if you want.
3. Then, punch or cut a small hole in the center of each shape.
4. First, stitch the brown ric rac down in the center of the page.
5. Then thread your shapes onto your elastic pieces with fish at the bottom, then flowers, then clouds.
6. Lay the elastic pieces down on the page. Tack or pin them in place at the edges
7. At the bottom, fold the green ric rac pieces in half and place over the ends of the elastic, so the fold covers the end and the points face up. (they look like seaweed).
8. Cover the with a piece of navy jumbo ric rac and stitch in place.
9. Along the top, place down the second piece of navy jumbo ric rac and place the aqua on top and stitch in place.
Page 6
Now we'll do page 6 (the opposite half of fabric as page 1).
Now we'll do page 6 (the opposite half of fabric as page 1).
For this page you'll need:
6 - Charm Squares
5" piece of hook and loop tape
Heat n Bond
1. Take two of the squares and fuse Heat n Bond to the backs, and then fuse 2 more charm squares to them, making them double sided, like you did for the ones used on the previous page.
2. Then take the last two squares and place them right sides together and sew around all four sides with a ¼" seam allowance. Leave a 2" gap for turning on one side.
3. Turn right side out, poking the corners out with a chopstick and then press flat.
4. Now take this pocket you made and place it in the center of the page, and above it place the soft side of the hook and loop tape. Sew both to the page 1/8" from the edges.
5. The side of the pocket with the opening should be on one of the sides or bottom, so you sew the gap closed when you sew it to the page.
6. Now take your double sided squares and trace letters onto them. If your little one isn't ready for letters, you can do shapes instead.
7. Now flip the letters over and on the back side place small strips of the scratchy side of the hook and loop tape. Sew them in place.
And this page is done! You can store the extra letters in the little pocket.
Page 2
Now we will do page 2, on the RIGHT side of your third piece of fabric.
For this page you'll need:
3 - Charm Squares
3" Hook and Loop Tape
6 buttons or decorative labels*
*You can also use small fussy cuts of fabric backed with Heat n Bond
1. Cut each charm square into 4 equal 2.5" squares
2. Pair up the small squares, right sides together, and sew them leaving a small gap for turning. Turn them right side out and press. You'll now have 6 little squares.
3. On the side of the square opposite the turning gap, sew a small piece of the scratchy side of the Hook and Loop tape.
4. Now decide where you want the doors to be on your page, and which way you want them to open, and pin the side opposite the hook and loop tape.
5. Now lift each door and place the soft side of the hook and loop tape where it will need to be for the door to sit flat. And if you're using flat labels, pin them where they go as well. On any doors that you are using buttons, just mark where the button goes, but don't sew it on yet.
6. Remove the doors and sew the hook and loop tape and labels onto the page. Then put the doors back where they go, and sew the side opposite the hook and loop tape in place.
7. Now open the doors where buttons go and sew the buttons in place. And this page is done!
Page 5
Next comes page 5, which will go on the LEFT side of the same page.
For this page you need:
1 - Charm Square
1 - 8" piece of Navy Jumbo Ric Rac
1 - 8" piece of Chevron Ribbon
2 yds narrow ribbon or petite cording
a handful of plastic animal buttons
1. Take your charm square and fold it in half. Sew along the three raw edges, leaving a gap on the long side to turn.
2. Turn right side out and press. Lay out the ribbon, chevron and pocket on the page, like below. Making sure the side of the pocket with the gap faces downward.
3. Sew the ribbon in place, 1/8" away from each long edge. Sew the ric rac in place with a straight stitch through the center.
4. Now, if your kiddo is under 3, you'll need the narrow ribbon or cording... cut pieces that are 6-8" in length and tie them to the animals. Then take the other side of the cord and put it about 1/2" under the sides of the pocket.
5. Sew the pocket in place, going back a couple times over the cording for the animals. If your kiddo is a little older, you can just put the animals in the pocket, without the cording, but it does keep them from getting lost!
Page 3 & 4
Now we're going to do pages 3 and 4.
Here is what you need:
7 - Charm Squares
1 - 7" Piece of Chevron Ribbon
1 - 7" piece of Brown Ric Rac
The Rest of your Green Ric Rac
6- 1" Buttons
1. Take one of your charm squares and fuse Heat n Bond to the back side. Then draw a vase shape onto the square and cut it out.
2. Now on the RIGHT half of the fabric, place the vase piece about 1½" up from the bottom edge and centered. Don't sew in place yet. Take your green ric rac and cut pieces 2 - 3" in length and arrange them so they stick out of the top of the vase. Sew the ric rac in place.
3. Then sew the vase down with a decorative stitch - zig zag or blanket stitch look nice. And place the piece of ribbon over bottom of the vase and sew it in place 1/8" from each long edge.
4. Now sew three buttons in place over the top edge of the ric rac pieces.
5. Now we will do the LEFT half of the fabric. Cut your remaining green ric rac into three pieces about 6 - 7" in length. Lay them out on the page, about 1 - 1½" from the bottom edge and sew in place. Then take the piece of brown ric rac and sew in place along the bottom over the edges of the ric rac.
6. You want to make sure the green pieces are at least 2-3" from the top of the page. Then sew your other three 1" buttons over the top edges of the green ric rac.
7. Now let's make the flowers. Take three of your remaining charm squares and fuse Heat n Bond to the back side. Then fuse the last three squares to the backs, again making double sided pieces. Cut out 6 flower shapes - about 2- 2½" in diameter.
8. Now, sew a buttonhole in the middle of each flower that's big enough for the 1" buttons.
9. And open the buttonholes and place them over the buttons, and this page is done too!
10. Hang in there, we're almost done now. Take your cover pages and pages 1/6 and place them right sides together, making sure that both pages are right side up. Take pages 2/5 and 3/4 and place them right sides together as well. Sew along the edges, leaving a 4" gap on one side for turning.
11. Ladder stitch the gap closed. Alternatively, you can top-stitch all around the edge of the book to close the gap, but I feel like it loses some puffiness then.
12. Now place pages 3/4 face down and place the other set cover side up on top of it. Pin in place on either side of the center of the book. Using a straight stitch, sew in place down the center.
And your book is done! Find a photo of your kiddo for the front cover and let them enjoy!
Okay, last note... if you like the little labels, and decide you want to make one of the books - send me (Alyssa) a message on Facebook, or tag me in the Whimsical Fabric group, and I can stick some in an envelope and send them to you!
Alyssa Carrion
Happy Creating!
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