I did a lot of searching online for quiet book ideas. I got the ideas for braiding, the purse, tic tac toe, the shoe and the puzzle at Crafty Chic. I got the idea and pattern for the barn at Homemade By Jill. I also got the pattern for the tree there too. I got the idea for the balloons, tithing and dressing people from this blog. This site sparked my idea for a seasons page. How To Make A Quiet Book was great for help on what to do and what to buy. I got the idea for the button flowers here. It also sparked an idea for the envelope/ pencil holder on the tithing page, the alphabet page, and the number page. There are a lot of neat blogs sited on the how to make a quiet book blog that were great for some standard ideas.
I used muslin for the pages and cut them 10 X 12. I sewed all the pieces onto the pages, then put iron on interfacing on the back of each page. I cut the interfacing to be about 3/4 in. smaller on each side than the muslin. Be sure that you leave enough room around the outside of the muslin page. Also, don't forget to consider which side the grommets will be on for each page. I forgot on a couple pages and had to punch holes in a couple pockets. Luckily it turned out just fine. I bought grommets from the fabric store... all I needed was a hammer. They worked great.
After I ironed on the interfacing I sewed the pages together with right sides facing each other. I left a large gap on the side where the page would be bound. I turned them all right side out and ironed them all. When I ironed the pages I tucked the open ends inside so I could just sew them with the sewing machine instead of by hand. It worked really well. I highly recommend doing it that way. Once they were all ironed I sewed around the boarder of each page to close the open gap and to reinforce the page. After that I put in the grommets. I used a pointy manicure scissors to cute the holes for the grommets and it worked really well.
The cover is just regular cotton fabric I bought from the fabric store. I also used interfacing on the cover so it would be the same consistency as the pages. I sewed 6 button holes in the binding of the cover where the rings could slide through. I had to go to an office store to buy the rings, but they are exactly what I wanted. I have a couple boy page ideas that I would love to make someday if we ever have a boy, and I can just slide them in with the rings.
I really had a fun time making this book. It was a lot of hard work, but I am so happy with the way it turned out! I learned so much. I learned a lot about sewing with felt. I also learned a lot about my sewing machine. I'm glad I was able to make this for Emme and our future children, but I'm also glad that I only have to do this one time!
Emme LOVES the quiet book. If she sees the book and it is just out of her reach she will almost throw a fit. She loves to take off all the snap and velcro pieces. She also LOVES the finger puppets and the purse (especially the bracelets). I'm sorry this was so long! Don't forget to read the next post!!!!!
