So I originally made a stand-alone iSpy game and Velcroed it to a Quiet Book page, but the next day I decided the 2″ thick bag was just too much for the book. I also wanted a larger window so Jax could find the items easier. So, I cut the bag open and started over!
Here is what I did to make a large, flat iSpy game that will be zigzag-stitched to my white flannel quiet book page. (You can see an example of a finished page here.) My materials were: two squares of felt that are slightly smaller than my book pages (mine are 9″ in tie dye and lime green), a square of clear vinyl that is slightly smaller than your felt, poly pellets, buttons and trinkets, ribbon, stick-on felt letters and a key card. For more details on the key card and supplies, see my iSpy bag tutorial.
I took my top felt piece cut out a square in the middle for the window. You can cut out any shape and any size. I went for a large window to make it easier for Jax. I don’t want him to have to squish the page a lot like you would an iSpy bag. A couple shakes moves everything around. I sewed the square of clear vinyl to the back of the window, going around twice for security. Then I trimmed the extra vinyl and rounded the corners so they didn’t poke through.
I layered the front and back felt pieces together and sewed them together on 3 sides, again going around twice. You don’t want to leak pellets! I didn’t sew all the way at the edge of my felt because I didn’t want a lot of the bag contents to be hidden. The more you have hidden, the harder the game will be. I filled the bag with pellets and trinkets then sewed the top shut with my key card ribbon in the seams.
To finish it up, I added “I SPY” to the top of the page. Easy!
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I stumbled onto your site from Pinterest and I’m so excited that I did! I have an 18 month old son and I love how boy oriented your quiet book pages are! Thank you so much for the patterns–it makes the construction go a little quicker! Your pages are beautiful–I feel like when I’m finished with this book I’m going to have to put it into a museum! lol
I’m glad the patterns are helpful! I’d love to see pictures of your finished book!
Hi. Thank you so much for your wonderful tutorials! I am in the middle of making a quiet book and just completed an ispy page tonight. I have a question about yours though. I filled mine with a ton of beads, and I was kind of disappointed to find out that when I lift the page up, they all sag to the bottom. When the page is flat on the table, there is enough to cover the viewing window, but it just doesn’t look that impressive once it’s picked up. Is yours like this? Does your son understand that he has to lay it flat to use it best? I’d put more beads in, but I think it would be too heavy for the book. What are your thoughts on this? Thank you so much!
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I am going to do this for a quiet book swap so I am going to make 19 copies. A my thought on where I can get cheap trinkets? How much of a bag of fill do you need per page? Thanks,
Julie
I’ve seen collections of mini items on Etsy and Ebay. I’m not sure how much pellet fill goes into the page. You may want to make a prototype to measure!
Etsy… of course Etsy. Thanks.
Hi again. Don’t suppose you know how thick your vinyl was? My store offers 4 gauge up to 12 gauge.
Where would i be able to find the clear vinyl?
Jocelyn, I’ve seen another person’s video tutorial of an eye spy page and she used cut up toiletry bags as they’re clear and thick plastic. Otherwise, try your local hardware store as sometimes they sell thick plastic by the metre for tablecloths etc.
What gauge of vinyl did you use on the ispy bags?
I Stephanie,
I follow you since 3 years and I love your quiet books, there are so amazing! Thank you very much to share all.
But now how I are you? Why there is not new patterns and new quiet books any more? Have you stop to do it?
And could you plese send me the pictures to laminate to do “I Spy” ?
Thanks a lot to your answer and for all,
Aurélie