Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Craft win - soft book

Here's something else I've been working on for the little guy for car trips.  Google "quiet book" and you'll find lots of examples of small books made out of felt with interchangeable pages.  This was originally supposed to be a Christmas gift but I got really confused on how to bind the pages and it didn't get finished in time.  I had made my pages out of felt and couldn't decide out how to bind them - most people either stitch finish the edges (I don't have a serger) or back them with cotton (would take too long and be too fiddly).  A couple of days ago it occurred to me, duh, that the book was made from FELT, which doesn't unravel, so why not just back the pages in felt too?  It's for a toddler, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece and he's not going to care if my edges are wonky.  The pages are about 5x7 and will be "bound" together by a eyelet in the upper left corner.  Then they'll be threaded onto a key loop.  This way I can add or swap out pages as he gets bored with them.

I got so much joy from this project.  I wanted to make him a book that contained animals so I went through my fabric scraps and it snowballed from there.  The designs just kind of happened as I went.  Each page has something interesting that he can explore with his hands.


Pipe cleaner "hook", ribbon seaweed and ribbon "coral".


Rabbit tails are pom-poms, vegetables are barely tacked down so the edges can be lifted.


The beads can be moved along the ribbon and the ribbons have different textures.


 I love this one.  The zipper can be open and shut.


Buttons and textured flower ribbon.


This is a fun one.  All of the leaves lift up.


Bonus page.  An I-Spy bag.  He can manipulate the rice to "find" the objects: a penny, sequins, a 4-leaf clover, beads. 


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