I finished just in the nick of time!
We're having a birthday party on Saturday and
someone is turning three.
And I've made something special.
Of course, I have two super hero grandsons as well,
so that meant sewing X3!
I've been sewing snaps, button, zippers,
working with Velcro, eyelets,
buckle closures, cutting and fusing felt,...
Shhhhhh! I've been making
Quiet Books.
I had been collecting ideas from Pinterest
for awhile.
There are a few websites that have free patterns.
Here's one:
This barn
complete with finger puppets,
or this mailbox
are popular pages that have patterns available,
but very limited directions.
But most of the pages were ideas I saw
and then I designed and figured it out myself.
I have to say,
it was a study
in sequencing, figuring out what
needed to be done first and so on,
so that the pieces are completed with
a professional look.
For example, on this color and shape recognition page,
the Velcro was sewn to the back of the piece first and
then the layers sewn together with the cording inserted in between.
That way no construction sewing could be seen.
Although the
pieces were fused, I knew that alone
wouldn't stand up to lots of handling.
So that meant free motion sewing around every piece
to assure they would stay.
This is an idea I saw and would love to credit
the person who designed it, but couldn't track that down.
This is for the kid's Italian heritage.
This block took quite a bit of planning.
The pieces needed to fused and sewn in place, but still needed to
keep the center open to allow the spaghetti to
be pulled through the eyelets.
Some pages required some
extra pieces to add to the fun.
Finger Puppets in sleeping bags.
Most of the pages try to teach some skill.
(Guess that's the x-teacher in me.)
Concentration ( Memory Game)
It's done with magnets and washers
and I included pockets to store the pieces.
Tic Tac Toe (Strategy)
Using premade felt animals found at JoAnn's.
Counting
Number Recognition.
Of course, I had to add some pages with buttons.
That always requires some practice.
During this process my machine refused to make buttonholes.
That required a trip to the repair shop
to get my buttonholer recalibrated.
A few different pages for my youngest grandson.
Big jumbo snaps
I couldn't find a construction plan I liked so
I opted to use pellon fleece and bright fabric for the pages.
After two pages were completed
they were sewn together around the outer edges
to make a single page.
Each page has 3 eyelets and
the whole book is held together with 3" book rings.
There's also stiff interfacing in the covers to
give it some stability.
I added handles and a
closure strap.
The letters on the cover come off
so everyone can practice spelling their name!
Well, my Nana project is done.
Now it's time for the kiddos to
have some quiet time and play.
Nana needs some quiet time too.
After she picks up the mess in the sewing room.
Until Next time-
