LUDLOW QUILT AND SEW
Fabric Book
How to make and bind a fabric book for baby
After my newsletter on sewing for baby, many of you asked for more detailed instructions on making a fabric book, so here goes. This time I was more adventurous and I'm quite pleased with the way my fabric book turned out.
I've used different colour pages, bows, join the dots, lift the flap and a simple maze.
Try to use as many colours and textures as you can in your fabric book - it gives variety for baby to see and feel.
I began with 4 rectangles of fabric about 10" by 8", two blue and two white. It's a good idea to mark the centre with a pin as there are 2 pages to each rectangle of fabric.
This fabric rectangle will be page 8 on the left and page 1 on the right of the fabric book. I sewed a ribbon across the diagonals to subdivide the page and then chose 4 different ribbons/cord/braids and sewed a 12" length in each section. Sew them on firmly and then tie a bow in each. Place a rectangle of fabric on page 1 just to check what size to use.
I was going to put the baby's name on page 1 but there wasn't really room so I settled for just the initial.
Iron some fusible interfacing to the back of the rectangle of fabric, draw the letter you want to use on the back and cut round it. This way you don't have to worry about turning under a hem or fabric fraying. Position, pin and sew the letter to the page.
The second fabric rectangle (blue) will be page 2 on the left and page 7 on the right.
For page 2 I ironed fusible interfacing on to the back of some green fabric, drew a leaf and sewed that on by following the lines of a spine and veins for the leaf.
For page 7 I used a red fabric for the boat and a strip of black felt for the mast.
To make the sail, take a 4.1/2" square of fabric. Fold in half along the diagonal with right sides together. Sew around 2 edges and turn inside out. Turn under a small seam on the 3rd side and topstitch round all 3 sides. Attach it only at the top of the mast. Following the outline of the sail, draw in dots and numbers. You could perhaps unfurl the sail as the child follows the dots - either with a finger or with a piece of chalk or fabric marker. Something wipeable, anyway.
The 3rd fabric rectangle (blue) will be page 6 on the left and page 3 on the right.
Choose a fabric for a flower and 2 fabrics for something to go under a flap. I happened to have a teddy in fleece and a horse. Back the fabric with fusible interfacing and cut the shapes.
Cut 2 squares or rectangles to make the flaps. Fold in half with right sides together, turn inside out, turn in the edges and top stitch all round (as for the sail). Sew in place. I sewed down 1 side for the teddy and across the top for the horse. That gives baby a chance to open things in two different directions.
I used felt for the stem and leaves of the flower.
The 4th fabric rectangle will be page 4 on the left and page 5 on the right.
For page 5 I made a simple maze using fusible tape (and my Clover mini iron!). I put tape all round in a rectangular shape and then added bits randomly in the middle. I intended to use a button for the middle, but decided not to as it would be a choke hazard, so I settled for a red felt diamond instead.
For page 4 I decided on a train shape using red fabric for the train and black felt for the wheels and smoke. Or you might prefer to put something else that you can talk to baby about, like an animal perhaps.
I'm the world's worst when it comes to drawing, so I googled 'colouring pictures for kids'. There are all sorts of printable pictures on the internet that you can use for ideas. (Even with all that help, I know my drawing still leaves a lot to be desired!
PUTTING THE BOOK TOGETHER
Several people have suggested using wadding between the sheets of fabric to provide extra thickness. If you intend to do this (I don't usually) I would suggest using 2 pieces of wadding with a small gap in the middle so that the spine of the book is not too bulky and difficult to sew.
Take the fabric sheets for pages 1, 8 and for pages 2.7. With right sides together (check that they are both the right way up) sew around 3 sides, creating a pocket. Tuck in all the bows on page 8 so that they don't get caught in the seam.Turn inside out and turn under a small seam in the open end. Stitch that seam and continue stitching all round the rectangle. This helps the pages to keep their shape.
Do the same with the other 2 sheets of fabric. Place the 2 sheets of fabric on top of each other with pages 1,8 facing down at the bottom and pages 4,5 facing up at the top. Mark a dot in the centre of pages 4,5 and then 2 more above and 2 more below about 1.1/4" apart.
BINDING THE FABRIC BOOK
In order to bind the fabric book I am going to show you the way to sew the spine of a book that I was shown when my children were at primary school and I used to go in to school to help out. This was before computers became so mainstream, when all the children's projects were made into books.
For the sake of clarity, I am going to refer to these dots as 1,2,3,4,5 with 1 being the topmost dot, then 2, and 3 being the middle dot.Thread your needle with strong thread and use it double thickness (both ends together so that each stitch has 2 threads). Bring your needle up from behind the book through dot 3, leaving about 6" of thread hanging below the fabric book.
Push your needle down through dot 2 and then up again through dot 1. Push down through dot 2 and up through dot 1 twice more and then take your needle right down to dot 4. Push down through dot 4 and up through dot 5 three times.
Take your needle from dot 5 right up to dot 3 in the centre and push down. You should now have both double threads hanging free on the outside of the book between page 1 and 8.We were taught to tie a neat bow at this stage to secure the ends, but I found a knot with the ends trimmed close to the knot looked neater.
I hope you've enjoyed making and binding this fabricbook and that it has given you many ideas for further books.
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rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk