Project by Sarah Holliman- SJ Stitches
An imaginative quiet book, perfect for any little one
You will need:
One Fat quarter Pack Fisher Price fabrics
Scrap fabric pieces for making extra sensory accessories
Small amount of Quilt batting
Toy Stuffing
Bosal In R Form
Selection of sensory accessories for the playmat, ie; mirrors, squeakers, teethers, wooden rings, toy stuffing and ribbons
Rotary cutter and Ruler
Pencil/Scissors/Quilting Safety Pins/Thread/Needle
Method:
1. With a rotary cutter and ruler, measure and cut four pieces of fabric measuring 16 inches by 8 inches.
These will become the eight pages of your book so I used four different fabrics, you could use four of the same colour – it just depends how you want your finished book to look.
2. Cut 2 pieces of wadding also measuring 16 inches by 8 inches.
Now you have the basis for your book it is time to think about the way you want your book to look.
If you have a theme, decide on the activites you want to put inside the book.
I have chosen a World and Environment theme to match my play mat.
There are lots of free downloadable templates to be found on the internet, so it is just up to your imagination !
You will also need some sensory supplies, ie; mirrors, squeakers, crinkle fabric, rings and ribbons.
For my theme, I have chosen to include;
A Planet
A Moon
Fish
Flowers and Butterflies
A Rainbow
Sunshine
Birds
Tree
3. It takes some time to make all of these accessories and there is no right or wrong way of making them, sometimes it is just trial and error. It also depends on the sensory supplies you have but I have shown some ideas of the ones I have made below.
4. In order to think about the size of each attachment on the page you will need to work out the finished size of each page.
Firstly fold each piece of fabric in half and iron a crease in the middle – this will give you your 8 inch page (finished size approx 7.5x7.5 inches).
I also ironed a small hem around each side of the page (this will become my seam allowance when the book is stitched) but firstly it gives a guideline to the perimeters of the page, allowing me to centralise the design.
The attachments will be stitched onto the fabric before the wadding is attached, so have a look at the page arrangement at this point and check your fabrics are in the order you want the pages to appear.
5. Start to make your attachments – you will need to work out which ones you want on each page. I used quilting pins to attach the pieces to each page as I made them so I could see how the book was progressing.
6. When you are happy with all your attachments you can start to sew them into place. I found some pieces were best hanging from the book, if they were a little heavier whilst some needed completely sewing into place. You can also add extra pieces as you go.
7. When all your pieces are sewn into place, place the two pairs of fabric, wrong sides together and pin into place. This will give you a view of how the pages work together.
When you are happy with your book unpin the pages.
8. Place one set of pages face down and place the batting inside the seam allowance. Pin into place.
9. Turn the batting piece face down and pin the second page on top of the first one so that you have both of the pages facing together with all of the attachments inside the book.
10. Sew around all four sides, leaving a gap for turning.
11. Turn inside out, sew up the gap and press gently.
12. Repeat for the other two pages
You should now have all your pages of your book.
13. I like to sew all around the pages to give the book extra stability.
14. Sew a couple of lines of stitching down the middle of the book to secure the pages together.
15. Add a small tab to the side of the book and stitch on a square of Velcro to secure the book together.
Your book is now ready for your little one. Have fun !
To see more from Sarah follow her on Instagram @sjstitchery
Made by Sarah Holliman for The Craft Cotton Co 2022