Tag Archives: Felt

Felt and Sequin Dangle Earrings

I keep my sequins in a vintage canning jar beside my sewing area, and all the pretty, sparkly colors have been calling to me recently. I wanted to make a quick project with them, so I combined my love of felt and fun, dangle earrings!

No patterns needed for this one – just have fun!

What I Used:

Wool blend felt scraps
Assorted sequins
Embroidery floss and needle
Earring wires and jump rings

I started by cutting out shapes in my felt and laying them out with sequins to create a design I enjoyed. I then cut out a second set. Make sure you cut a backing piece for each earring body. Decorate the earring fronts by sewing down the felt shapes and adding sequins and French knots as embellishment.

Here is how I made mine:

I cut my base out in a rounded teal diamond shape. I had a honeydew green circle the size of a nickel and a blue-gray square, slightly bigger than a sequin. I laid the pieces out and started by sewing down the center square. With the same thread, I sewed on the center sequin. I then switched thread colors and sewed on 4 contrasting sequins around the circle.

With the same thread color, I added a French knot to the center sequin. Switching thread colors to match the circle, I stitched it down. I then started alternating adding matching sequins and stitching French knots.

Repeat everything for the front of the second earring.

I then created a tassel. I cut a length of three colors of floss, cut those in half and then tied then together at the midpoint. I then folded them in half and used one of the thread colors to tie knot loops around the bundle. After my last knot, I ran my needle up through the top of the tassel and let the tail stick out with the others at the top. I trimmed the bottom, then made a second one to match.

With thread matching my background, I stitched the tassels to the backsides of the earrings. I made stitches that were hidden by the sequin on the front. I then began sewing the front and back together for each earring. I paused at the top and sewed on a jump ring. Make sure the rings face the way they need to in order hang the right way from your earring wires.

Finish the earrings by attaching the earring wires. I had fun with the colors and made a bright pink and purple set that is slightly smaller.

I really enjoyed making these and may design some more to give as gifts or sell in my Etsy shop. Let me know if you make some! Stop by our Facebook page or share a photo with me on Instagram or Twitter (username @iolstephanie). Be sure to share the project with a friend who sews!

Felt Sandwich Set

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Have you caught the felt food bug yet? Felt food is super adorable and quite easy to make. I’ve been dying to design some for Jax, but needed to wait until he was old enough to keep them picked up. We have a golden retriever who would find felt food equally as fun!

I had so much fun designing and sewing a felt sandwich set for Jax, that I wanted to share the free pattern with you all. This set includes all sorts of goodies for your sandwich shop: breads, proteins, cheeses, veggies and spreads. And don’t forget chips and a cookie!

I’ve also been sewing a lot of sliced fruits to go along with the sandwiches. Follow my Play Kitchens & Food Pinterest board for many of the tutorials I followed. I did create some of the fruits on my own. I can share those later if there is interest.

What I Used

I used a hodge-podge of felts for this project – whatever I had on hand! Some is wool blend felt from American Felt and Craft, some is cheap craft felt by the yard from Joann’s Fabric and the chip bag is thick 100% wool from the craft store. Here is the pattern I made.

Breads

For the pita pocket, I placed two layers together and sewed them together along the straight edge with a blanket stitch. I repeated this with the last two pieces to have the two sides of the pocket. I placed them together and sewed through all the layers along the curve.

For the sliced breads, I cut two strips of crust for each slice. Using a blanket stitch, one strip got sewn around the top curve of one bread piece and the other around the square bottom. The strips were trimmed and sewn together at the base of the curves on each side. I then blanket stitched the other side of the bread on, pausing halfway to lightly stuff it with poly-fil.

I used artists’ pastels to add shading to the brown toasted bread. I colored lightly around the edges of each side, then “set” it by getting the colored felt wet and drying it overnight. We haven’t had any rub off yet, but Jax is gentle. I do not recommend doing this if any felt food will be in someone’s mouth! And do be sure your pastels are non-toxic.

The cookie is very simple! I cut little chocolate chips and glued them down with a dab of felt glue. I sewed mine down as well. I then sewed the two sides together with a blanket stitch, pausing halfway to lightly stuff the cookie. (All of the items in my breads section were done with cheap craft felt.)

Spreads

For each of the spreads, I sewed the front and back pieces together. On the guacamole, I also glued then sewed down little scraps of red and green felt before sewing the whole piece.

Cheeses

I made three kinds of cheese, but you could easily add your favorites. For each of them, I sewed the front and back pieces together. On the pepper jack, I also glued then sewed down little scraps of red and green felt before sewing the whole piece.

Produce

Being a vegetarian, I wanted lots of tasty, colorful fruits and veggies for Jax’s sandwich set. They take a bit more work but add so much!

For the lettuce, I cut mine out with pinking shears for a zigzag edge. I sewed the two sides together with a running stitch (a dashed line stitch that looks the same on both sides.) I pinched the base together into a tiny dart and stitched it to make the stem. I used a running stitch to add veins.

To make the spinach, I stitched three leaves to one of the base pieces using a back stitch up the center vein of each. I then blanket stitched the front and back together.

When sewing the avocado, I started by sewing the two sides of the avocado flesh together along the straight edge with the pit hole. I then blanket stitched the back piece on to make a wedge, pausing to fill it with stuffing.

The tomato takes a bit of embroidery time. I laid each side of the tomato down onto one of the inner pieces, then sewed down the holes. Using gold thread, I stitched the seeds with a lazy daisy stitch (Bring your needle up and down at the same spot, but before you pull the loop tight, make a tiny perpendicular stitch at the top to tack it in place.) Once all the seeds were done, I stitched the two sides together with a blanket stitch.

For the red onion, I made two rows of dashed running stitch to each white ring. I then sandwiched the purple skin piece between the white rings and blanket stitched it together. The purple will show a bit as though you sliced the onion thinly.

The cucumbers started with seeds that were tacked down with glue, then stitched on. I sewed 3 to each side. I then layered the skin piece between two flesh pieces and blanket stitched it all together, the same as with the onion.

Proteins

I know olive loaf is pretty yucky in real life, but it sure looks adorable made of felt! Jax like olives, so I thought he would find it fun. I cut whole and partial olives, red square pimentos and random pink scraps. I glued and sewed them down to both pieces of a really lovely pale peachy pink felt, then stitched the two sides together with a blanket stitch. I did the salami the same way as the olive loaf, using pink and white random scraps for the little bits in it.

For the two sandwich meats, I simply sewed the two sides together with a blanket stitch. On the turkey, I used the same pastel technique as the toast to add some shading.

The fried egg is simple. I stitched the yolk down to one side, pausing to add some stuffing. I then sewed both sides together with a blanket stitch.

To make the bacon, I cut two wiggly pink strips for each side. I glued and sewed them down, then sewed the two sides together.

Chips

I used a very thick 100% wool for my chip bag, so it did not require a double layer of felt. You can double up the same way as with the pita pocket if needed. I also cut my bag on the fold so I didn’t need to sew the bottom. I used back stitch and a french knot to make my chip label. After stitching the lettering onto the label, I stitched the label onto the bag front with a blanket stitch. I then stitched the side of the bag closed into a pocket.

The chips were made by simply blanket stitching two layers of felt together.

There are so many fun combinations you can make with this felt food set – especially if you add some pieces of fruit! Which piece is your favorite?

Preschool Handbells: New-Sew Felt Musical Notes and Printables

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Jax loves music. He LOVES it. If any song comes on, whether he’s heard it before or not, he is singing along. I’ve been collecting musical instruments for him, mainly from the thrift store. He loves to ask me to put music on for him while he “plays” along on his guitar or drums.

Arts are important in our family. I grew up in music and art. I have a Bachelors in Art Studio. My husband played in bands growing up and deejay-ed for years. We definitely want Jax to have strong roots in the arts from an early age.

Since Jax is only 3.5 years old, I needed to think of both his manual dexterity and his emotional maturity right now when planning our music homeschool unit. I needed something that he could use easily so that the frustration of not being able to make a note correctly was not a concern. I chose handbells. They are available in color-coded educational sets aimed to help children learn which bell plays which note. Music + Rainbows? Jax’s idea of heaven!

There are other choices that still let you start with color-coded notes (just make sure you are happy with the colors the instrument uses!) like a xylophone or Boomwhackers.

Thanks to my aunt, who values how dear music is to our family, Jax got his started handbell set. I chose the Kids Play Rhythm Band 8 Note Handbell Set because add-on sets were available should we need them in the future. They also use fairly standard colors.

Introducing Handbells

We started our music unit with some 3-part cards introducing musical instruments. Jax already recognized most of them, so it was mainly a review.

When our bells arrived, I started by presenting two bells on a tray with a mat and matching cards showing where each bell’s note is on the music staff. I showed him how the bells’ colors and letters match the cards, then we practiced sounding the bells and switching between the two notes. We moved on to playing the note on the card I held up. He had no problems, so I let him have a third bell. With all three matching note cards, we made patterns to play.

We continued on this way, earning a new bell about once a week. It took us about 2 months to work up to the full set of 8 bells. (He actually earned the last one the day we took photos.) I always include a rolled up felt mat on the handbell tray. Jax knows we have to unroll it and place it on the table for the bells. When playing the handbells, setting them on the mat dampens (cuts off) the ring. We started with two sheets of felt, but now use a long strip the width of our table.

Exploring with Handbells

There are a lot of ways your child can explore music and sound with handbells. Some of the things we’ve done are:

• I showed him that he could play two bells at once. We noted that it doesn’t sound good to play two bells that are next to each other at the same time. The discordance was obvious to him, but he hasn’t quite connected yet that skipping a bell when playing two at once sounds better. This is something I encourage him to explore.

• We play find the bell – I ask him for a certain color/number/letter note and he plays it. When I ask for the lower C bell, I call it “middle C” (named for its position on a piano. The higher C is our newest bell, and I will be calling it “treble C”. You can also hold up the musical note cards and have them play the right bell.

• Composing music can be done by preschoolers! Taking a cue from Montessori’s moveable alphabet, you can have the notes ready for your child to place on the music staff. Using control cards to help them place them on the correct line, they can arrange some notes and play their composition. My music notes are made of felt and involved no sewing for once!

New-Sew Felt Music Staff

Materials:

The pattern
Felt from American Felt and Craft (in lipstick red, orange juice, lemon meringue yellow, four leaf clover green, slushie aqua, morning glory blue, lilac and black)
Rainbow Classic Felt 36 x 36” Craft Felt (mine was from the craft store for $4)
1/8-Inch black satin ribbon, 10-Yard spool (I didn’t quite use it all)
Felt Glue
Black fabric paint
Size 8 flat paintbrush

Start by cutting out your ovals. You need 8 red and 4 each of orange, yellow, green, aqua, indigo and violet. Using the narrow part of your paintbrush, sketch your letter onto the oval with fabric paint. By starting thin, you can adjust the size of your final letter: if you drew it too small, paint the final thick lines towards the outside of your sketch. If you drew it too big, paint the final lines towards the inside. I used the full width of my size 8 flat brush to make the final painted letters. This kept the lines a consistent width.

Take 4 of your red C’s and cut strips of black ribbon an inch wider than the oval. Coat the entire top of the ribbons trip with felt glue (including the raw edges to keep them from fraying.) Center the oval on top, press it down and allow it to dry. This adds ledger lines to the middle C’s that go below the staff.

Cut out as many rests as you’d like. I have two quarter rests for now. I’ve included the rectangle needed to make half and whole rests.

To make the staff, cut a 12″ strip out of your 36″ wide felt. You can adjust the width to suit your needs. 36″ is the width of our school table. You could even use the full 36″ x 36″ felt piece and make 3 rows of staff lines if you have room to lay or hang something that large. Using the spacing guide, glue 5 strips of ribbon down to the felt and allow it to dry before use. make sure you allow enough room at the bottom for middle C’s ledger line to be properly spaced.

For now I am presenting the notes in a bowl with matching control cards and the rolled up staff chart. I think we will do some games in the future with matching and sorting the notes to each other and to the control cards.

Preschool Handbells Music Unit Printables

I have a lot of printables for this unit – many I haven’t even started using yet. Before I use them, each printable will get laminated. I also like to mount my 3-part cards to colored paper or card stock prior to laminating.

Colored Music Note Control Cards

These cards show the position of each of the notes used in the 8 note handbell set. They are color coded to match the bells. Later I will make a new set that do not have color. Grab the free printable here. (This file was updated on 01/16/14 to fix the wrongly-positioned B. You can also get a page with just the fixed B cards here.)

Music Symbol 3-Part Cards

This is a set of Montessori-style 3-part cards that cover basic music symbols. So far I’ve only given him a few of the cards to start getting used to seeing. You can download the free printable here.

Twinkle, Twinkle & Ode to Joy

I wrote up the music to two fairly easy songs that can be played with the first 6 notes in the handbell set. For now, I play them for him and we use them as reference to set up his felt staff so Jax can play small excerpts. You can grab the song sheets here.

We are having so much fun with our music unit! Have you done any music homeschool lessons with your preschooler? I’m excited to see where Jax goes with music as he grows older.

Here is a Pinterest ready picture for you!

Visit Montessori Monday on Living Montessori Now for more great homeschool ideas!

I Love Felt! Do You?

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I might have a bit of a felt addiction… Do you? But who can blame me? It is colorful, soft and easy to work with! From the early baby toys/books I sewed for Jax when he was only 1.5 years old, to the educational (but fun!) pieces I am working on now – felt is the best!

Thank you!

Our little corner of Facebook is about to celebrate 3,000 likes! And I wanted to say “thank you” to YOU! Your kind words, encouragement and suggestions keep me inspired to continue to create. You can also find me on other social networks like Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

Almost 3,000!

How do you read your favorite blogs?

I was a long-time devotee to Google Reader and I’m still mourning its loss. For now, I am trying out both Feedly and Blog Lovin. (If you are a user of Blog Lovin, you can follow this blog here.) But due to working part time from home (I’m a web/graphic designer), homeschooling Jax and constantly crafting, I am always a month behind in my blog reading! How do you read your favorite blogs? And do you have any great blog suggestions for me to add to my reading list?

If you haven’t already, I’d like to invite you to sign up to receive our posts via email. If you scroll down to the bottom of the site, you’ll find a little box to put your email address into. After you submit it, text will pop up letting you know an email has been sent to you to confirm your subscription. (I highlighted the screenshot to show you the text.)

Once you’ve confirmed your subscription, you’ll get all our new posts sent to you as soon as they post! Fun and easy! I do this for a few of my favorite blogs that I want to stay current on.

Let’s swap!

I’m still testing out having blog/shop banners and buttons on the site. I’d love to link up with a lot of relevant sites – sewing, felt, homeschool, Montessori… If you have a site and you’d like to purchase an ad, visit our Support/Sponsor page. Would you like to swap an ad and put my site on your page? Just contact me!

Thank you so much for following along with me and Jax on our adventures! I hope to have the patterns and tutorials up tonight or tomorrow for North America in our Montessori World Map project. Visit our Facebook page to vote for what is next!

Felt Valentine Play Set

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I really wanted to make something cute for Jax to play with this Valentine’s day. He loves checking the mail with me (and our post box!), and he loves putting things into other things. Simple pleasures, I guess! While I’ve already made him a mail box quiet book page, I wanted to make him something 3 dimensional that he can have for his playroom. As a bonus, it will help him learn about the process of writing and sending letters.

Big, big thank-yous to reader Jill, who gifted us with a roll of photo fabric. Thanks to her generosity, this project is so much more personal and special.

The full set.

What I Used:

The Pattern
Wool blend felt from American Felt & Craft (in elephant [2 sheets], black, lipstick, white, fresh linen [you can use more white], pomegranate, bubble gum, purple haze, sparrow, pastry and pool party.)
Plastic canvas (size 7ct)
Photo fabric
Colored hook & loop (in red, light blue, pink and lavender.)
Red button
Felt heart trim (mine was from Target’s dollar aisle)
Daisy lace trim (used on a stamp)
Assorted ribbon (mine was from Target’s dollar aisle)
White mini ric rac
Pinking Shears

Mailbox: I started but stitching the MAIL letters down to the outer layer of the mailbox top piece. I cut a piece of plastic canvas 1/4″ smaller all around than the felt, and sandwiched it between the two layers. I pinned it well, then sewed along the long edge by the L, pausing halfway to insert a folded piece of red hook (soft) Velcro.

I cut some plastic canvas 1/4″ smaller all around for the mailbox base, and layered it in between the felt pieces, pining them in place. I pinned the mailbox top on top of the mailbox base with a long edge of the base matched up to the MAIL edge of the top, and I sewed them together. I bent the top up to form a tunnel and sewed its short edge to the other long edge of the base. You may need to trim the inside layer of the mailbox top after pinning it, as it is the inside curve and is slightly smaller.

I cut two pieces of plastic canvas 1/4″ smaller around than the mailbox door/back pieces. I pinned them between the two sets of felt and sewed around the curved edges of one, catching a folded loop of red hook (hard) Velcro in the middle of one. I sewed the one without Velcro to the back of the mailbox all around. I sewed the door with Velcro to the front, laying inside the mailbox and sewing it along the bottom before pulling it out.

I cut some plastic canvas to go inside the mailbox flag, but you might be able to get away without it. I didn’t have the canvas go all the way down the post – I left room at the base so I could cut a small hole through the whole flag after sewing the layers together. I stitched around my tiny hole with a buttonhole stitch. You could perhaps use a tiny eyelet, but you really only want the hole big enough to sew a button though it. If it is too large, the flag will just flop down. After I sewed the edge of the hole, I very carefully sewed a button to the side of the mailbox, running the stitched through the hole in the flag to attach it. I took some red scrap ribbon and wound it between the mailbox and the button until the flag stopped flopping but could still move, then tied the ribbon in a tight knot and trimmed it to hide it.

Envelopes: I cut one piece of felt for each envelope. With the wrong side up, I folded the top part down and the bottom part up, and pinned to find the positions of my Velcro. With them unpinned, I stitched Velcro in place to close the envelopes and some loop Velcro on the front corners to hold stamps.

I used my machine to sew scraps of ribbon and ric rac on as the address, then refolded then and sewed along the sides and the edge where the top is folded down. I finished them with a little felt heart (cut from a trim I got at Target) to the envelope flap.

Heart Envelope: I decorated the front with ribbons and ric rac the same as the envelopes, and I added some Velcro for the stamp. I sewed on a little felt heart to look like a sticker. Then I sewed around the edge, leaving the top open.

Sugar Cookie: I sewed the pink icing down to the top cookie piece, the added a felt heart and some long stitches as sprinkles. Then I sewed the front and back together.

Letters: I did some prep work before creating the letters. Using my hand-me-down iPad 1 and the app iFontmaker, Jax and I made handwriting fonts. I used those to type out small Valentine messages in Photoshop (you could even use Word). I just chose a font I had for my husband’s letter. I asked Jax questions to figure out what to write on his letters, as he doesn’t understand Valentines yet. Then I had him draw me a picture (rainbows are the only thing he draws besides squiggles) in our Drawing Pad app, and I added that and some little photos.

I cut my photo fabric down to fit my 4×6 printer – the only one in the house that currently prints black ink (I’ve been printing pattern is pale gray for months!) It worked great, but I did get smudges of ink on the rainbows both times I tried printing it.

I cut out the printed fabric after peeling off the paper backing. I didn’t worry about the size except to make sure they fit in the envelopes. I zigzag stitched them to pieces of white felt.

Stamps: I didn’t follow a pattern for the stamps. I just sewed bits of felt and ribbon onto off-white felt (you could use white) then trimmed around the white edges with my pinking shears.

On the back sides, I sewed hook Velcro on. I sewed all the Velcro by hand in this project and it was the lamest part! My thumb was bruised the next day.

The set was a hit with Jax, though he is rather fond of pulling everything apart and just shoving all the pieces into the mailbox. We’ll play with it together so he can learn that letters go in the envelopes, stamps on the outside, then they get put in the mailbox.

And he is SO proud to see his name and the rainbow he drew!

I hope you enjoy making this set for your little one! It has a lot of options for really customizing it and making it your own. If you make one, I’d love to see it! Email me photos or post them to our Facebook page. As always, I’ll be posting updates every day or two to the FB page with photos of my current projects. Next up: a bug themed party favor before returning to the fire station project!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Felt Ballet Slippers Ornament

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Would you like to make and sell items from this pattern? Commercial licenses are available!

photo courtesy Tikkido/Tikkido.com

I grew up taking weekly ballet classes form a dear family friend. They were more for fun, and she often let me be the free spirit I tend to be when it comes to creative things. As I got older, my classmates outgrew ballet. The classes shrunk until I only had one or two other girls with me. I adored my classes – they were the highlight of my week! I still have my pointe shoes, and I’m planning on hanging them up in my new craft room.

Little Me

These pink ballet slippers are the second felt holiday ornament pattern in the series of five I designed this year. (You can grab the free pattern for my first, a gingerbread house, here.) This is a project that works up very quickly, but turns out so sweet!

What I used:

The Pattern
Felt from American Felt and Craft (in pink tutu, big apple, pomegranate and fresh cut grass)
Pink Ribbon
2 Red Buttons
Batting or Stuffing

I started by sewing the two pink slippers down to the pomegranate pink inner shoe piece using a back stitch along the foot opening (see photo). I also did an applique stitch along the two shoe soles. I didn’t worry about sewing down the outer edges yet, as they would be sewn down as I sewed the ornament back on. Once I sewed down the two slippers, I used hot pink thread and did a back stitch to show where the two slippers overlapped.

I cut out the two sets of holly leaves and sewed each one down with a red vintage button from my late mother’s sewing stash.

I cut two pink ribbons for each slipper, to look like the double ribbons used to tie on point shoes. When I sewed the red backing on, I added some batting for dimension and I made sure the ribbons were caught in the top of each slipper. I fanned them out a bit so you can easily see both ribbons for each shoe. When the ornament was all sewn together, I tied the ribbons into a bow and placed a few stitches in the knot to hold it together.

Photo courtesy Tikkido/tikkido.com

This is another ornament that could easily be customized by using different colors of felt and new embellishments. If you make this or any of the other ornaments, I’d love to see yours! Post them on our Facebook page or email me a photo.

Stop by tomorrow for the next ornament. Which should I post?

{ This pattern is free for personal use only. If you would like to purchase a $25 license to sell the finished project in your shop, please email me. }

Felt Gingerbread House Ornament

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Would you like to make and sell items from this pattern? Commercial licenses are available!

Photo courtesy Tikkido/tikkido.com

Do you have the holiday season on your mind already like I do? You almost have to when you are a crafter, as projects take time to complete.

A while back, I was asked by Nikki of Tikkido to contribute some felt ornaments to an upcoming Christmas e-zine feature. Her theme was very sweet and girly, so I jumped at the chance! Too many of my projects are for boys or gender-neutral. It’s nice to use pink every now and then! I’ve designed 5 hand-sewn felt ornament patterns and I’ll be sharing them with you over the next few days.

Today’s pattern is a sweet pink gingerbread house. I adore how it turn out! You could very easily change the colors and embellishments to customize this pattern for your tree.

What I used:

The Pattern
Felt from American Felt and Craft (in doe, pink tutu, big apple, fresh cut grass and sparrow)
Red ribbon
Pink Seed Beads
Batting or Stuffing

I started by laying the icicles in place on the house front under the roof and chimney top pieces. Then I sewed the roof and chimney top down, leaving the icicles hanging loose.

I normally use two strands of embroidery floss while sewing with felt, but I used four strands of white to make a back-stitched arch to form the door. I sewed down the two windows and again used 4 strands of white to back stitch the window panes.

I sewed down the two trees and the wreath next. I used four strands of red floss to make French knot berries on the wreath. You could also use seed beads. I took a little scrap of red ribbon and folded both ends in to the center to make a bow shape. I made a stitch to hold it together then flipped it over and placed it on the wreath. I sewed it down at the center while cinching the middle of the bow.

Using a beading needle and one strand of thread, I sewed on lines of seed beads (going twice through each bead for strength.)

Photo courtesy Tikkido/tikkido.com

Once the front of the ornament was decorated, I cut out a matching back in red felt and started sewing the sides together. I added a loop of ribbon as I sewed across the top. When I was halfway around, I added some batting to the ornament to give it dimension. Once I sewed it closed, it was ready to hang! (For tips on sewing around felt edges, see my blanket stitch tutoral.)

Visit often this week to collect all five of my holiday felt ornament patterns! Which is your favorite?

{ This pattern is free for personal use only. If you would like to purchase a $25 license to sell the finished project in your shop, please email me. }

Dollhouse Quiet Book – Cover & Assembly

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My dollhouse quiet book is complete! It turned out so sweet and cute. I really enjoyed doing a girlie project! Click an link below to go to the other pages of the book for patterns and instructions.

Kitchen

Bed & Bath

Backyard

There is no pattern for the cover, but I will go over everything I did. Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page if you have any questions!

Stack the three folded pages like a book. I did mine: kitchen, bed/bath, then the backyard.

Sew together the two center pages along three sides (top edge of book, outer edge and bottom edge.) Don’t go all the way to the center of the middle page with your stitching (see photo above), but leave a gap so the book can easily fold closed.

Another view of the center pages sewn.

Do one last step to prepare your pages to be covered. Cut a strip of felt to cover the spine of your book. I used pink, since many of my pages use that color.

Sew the spine along the top and bottom edges. I also added a couple stitches on either side of the spine in the center to hold it in place.

inside of cover – outside of cover

Cut two 8.5″ wide x 9″ high pieces of felt in your cover color. Overlap them so they fit perfect around your closed book. I pinned one to the front and one to the back, then overlapped them and pinned. Sew both sides of the overlap. I had the front side of my stitching on the outside of the cover, even though one of the overlaps is on the inside.

Take a 12″ x 6.5″ piece of felt in your roof color and fold it in half (to 6″ x 6.5″) The fold will be the part of the roof that hangs down over the door when folded over the top of the book. I sewed my Velcro on last, careful to go through one layer of felt, but you can do it before sewing the roof. Sew the sides of the roof closed and sew the third side down to the cover as shown above.

I added another closure – a little strap in my cover color (2 layers of felt with Vecro) that wraps around the open pages and Velcros closed. Normally this kind of strap is attached to the back, but I didn’t want to have a square of Velcro on the front of my book. I pinned mine in place then sewed a door down over top of it. My door was 2.25″ wide x 5.5″ high to be the right scale for the doll. A vintage button works great as a door knob.

I made a wreath on the door by cutting little leaf shapes and sewing them down in a circle. I cut tiny pink trapezoids then folded the points in and sewed them down into rose buds. I added some periwinkle French knots.

To make a shuttered window, cut your window shape, then cut the shutter color twice as wide. Center the window on the shutter felt and sew through both to attach it to the cover. The shutters hang free. I back stitched the window panes and added a strip of white for the window sill.

I added a green blob to make a rose bush. Cut 1″ strips of felt about 1/4″ thick and tapered at both ends to make the roses. Stitch the point at one end down, then fold and twist it into a spiraling circle shape, stitching it down as you go.

Sew the cover to the first and last page similar to how you sewed the inner pages. Stop sewing along the top and bottom when you get to the spine. The cover will bubble out when the book is open, but fit snug when folded closed.

You could probably add a handle along the center of the roof piece if you wanted to. The cover turns the whole book into a sweet little house and holds the book snug and closed.

Welcome!

This quiet book is a lot of work (aren’t the all??) but SO worth it! You end up with hours of adorable, girly fun. I admit to having fun with it! A lot of the pieces are tiny, so this is for the 3 and up crowd, but it is a homemade treasure that will stay in the family for years.

I hand sewed this entire book with wool blend felt provided by American Felt and Craft. One a project like this that you want to stand up to many, many hours of playtime, it is absolutely worth the extra expense of wool felt. The colors I used for this cover are: white, wild blueberry, jade, forget me not, pink tutu, orchid and sweet pea. AF & C has some brand new delicious looking colors of felt in that I can’t wait to try!

If you sew this quiet book, I’d love to see photos! Email me or post them to our Facebook page. Happy sewing!

Quiet Book Dollhouse – Bed & Bath Page

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This page is a part of my Dollhouse mini quiet book. You can find the instructions for the doll and the kitchen page here, and the backyard page here. In the next couple of days I will post the cover! The book is designed on 12″ w x 9″ h felt sheets that will fold in half to 6″ w x 9″ h when closed.

All the felt for this mini book has been provided by American Felt and Craft. I am using their wool blend felt, which cuts like butter and has been holding up so much better than the craft store recycled felt I’d been using. If it is in your budget, it is absolutely worth upgrading for a long-lasting handmade item such as a quiet book. They have some new colors of felt in, and I can’t wait to try them!

What I Used: The pattern, felt (in pink tutu/pink, rainy day/blue-gray, toffee/tan, sunshine/light yellow, soap sud/pale gray, hot pink, white, limeade/lime green, doe/brown, royal purple/purple, buttercream/pale yellow, sweet pea/pinkish-purple, gray flannel/gray and bisque/flesh), felt scraps (I used rubber ducky/yellow and orange juice/orange for the duck, and forget me not/periwinkle for the front of her nightie.), clear vinyl, white snag-free Velcro, size 1 sew-on snap, 3 small buttons (red and blue for the taps, a mini aqua one for the nightie.), ribbon scraps (many blues for the water, wide polka dot for the mat, hearts for the bed spread, silver for the curtain rod, pink for the towel and robe and white ric-rac for her nightie.), sequins, white snag-free Velcro and a child-safe mirror.

Backgrounds: The background of the whole 2-page spread is a full sheet of pink felt. I cut two rectangles of felt to be the floors (one tan and one blue.) I also cut some light yellow to give the bathroom side a different wall color. On the bathroom floor piece, I sewed the tub and tub feet down so there was some overlap (as shown above.) I didn’t sew it down to the background yet, though. I sewed down the yellow wall and just pinned everything else in place. While sewing the yellow wall, I sewed in a length of silver ribbon about a half inch down from the top. This will be for the shower curtain later. Leave it loose so just the ends are sewn into the sides of the yellow background piece.

Bath Tub: To finish the bath tub, I cut out the two sides of the bubbles and sewed sequins on to the front. Mine were Darice “Crystal Iridescent” that I bought at the fabric store. I sewed both sides of the bubbles together and layered it behind the tub. Using the dashed line on the tub pattern piece as a guide, I folded the extra tub fabric backwards to make a rounded lip. Then I sewed through the tub, the tub fold and both layers of the bubbles to attach them all together.

Showing the floor pockets

Once that was done, I sewed down a ribbon as a bathmat and sewed the floor down to the background along the sides and bottom (also sew the little bits of floor seen to the left and right of the tub). This turns the tub and floor into a big pocket so the doll can fit in her bath.

Bath Fixtures: Sew one of the faucet pieces to the wall, and sew the two buttons on a taps. With the other two faucet pieces, sew them together with different scraps of blue ribbons sticking out one end to look like water. Lay the faucet with water over-top of the one on the page, and stitch it down just at the top so it can flip up out of the way. It will be hidden under the towel while not in use.

Sew the towel bar by folding it and sewing the open edges together. Decorate the two towel pieces with some ribbon and sew the front and back together. Wrap the top of the towel around the bar and sew it on. Position the towel/bar on the page so that it covers the second faucet and water stream and sew the sides of the towel bar down.

What really adds a lot is the little mirror. I hunted the thrift stores for fabric baby books and snagged the mirror out of the one I found. I left the green fabric edging on mine and chose my shower curtain fabric to match. However, you can make your own mirror. Here is a tutorial about it.

The shower curtain is one layer of felt that is folded at the top and sewn around the silver ribbon. Because felt is thick, the curtain doesn’t slide/bunch on the ribbon like a normal curtain. It just flips up like a peek-a-boo panel. You could hem some regular fabric to use as a curtain if you wanted yours to slide.

Bed: I cut a slit in the tan floor piece to match the length of the top of the bed (stopping at where the bed curves at the foot.) I sewed the pillow on to the upper left of the slit (see the above photo.) The bed gets sewn down below the slit (I pinned mine at first so I could sew through both the bed and the blanket at the same time.) I decorated the bed spread with a ribbon and sewed the left side into a fold. I sewed the blanket on to the bed, leave the wavy bottom hanging open. When the bed was all sewn to the floor, I sewed the floor down to the background. The open slit makes a pocket for the doll to go in when she lies in bed.

Shown with clothes from the other pages

Wardrobe: For the wardrobe, I cut two pieces of felt for each door (I used brown on the outside and pale yellow inside.) I also cut some clear vinyl about half the size of each door and sewed them into small pockets to hold the doll’s hat and toys. On one door, I sewed on a folded strip of felt with a snap. On the other, I sewed the other half of the snap. This holds the doors closed.

To assemble the wardrobe, I cut a large square of clear vinyl (the size of the two doors closed) and sewed it down to the page as a pocket. Then I sewed the doors on to each side.

Extras & Clothing:

On the back side of the robe, I sewed two bits of snag-free Velcro where it would match up with her underclothes. On the front, I sewed down the two collar pieces and pinned on a ribbon belt. When I sewed the front and back together, I made sure to catch the ends of the ribbon belt in the seams.

For her nightie, I decorated the front with the contrasting felt, then added ric-rac trim and a mini button. I sewed Velcro on the backing piece and then sewed the two halves together.

The rubber ducky has French knot eyes. I sewed the body pieces together, then sewed the beak on.

The teddy bear has pink ovals sewn on for his muzzle and tummy. I added a satin stitched nose and two French knot eyes. The ears are each one thickness of felt that I sandwiched between the two sides of his head while sewing him together.

I can’t decide which “room” in this dollhouse is my favorite! I love them all…

Night Night!

If you sew the dollhouse quiet book, I’d love to see it! email me photos or post them on the Facebook page!

Wool Blend Felt vs Polyester Felt

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I’m almost done the city quiet book page that I’ve been creating with my scraps of recycled polyester felt. But for my next quiet book page, I’ll be using beautiful wool blend felt provided by our new sponsor, American Felt and Craft (more on that here.) I’ve never worked with it before, and I’m really excited to try!

I thought it might be nice to compare the wool blend to some craft store felt made from recycled plastic bottles. This is the kind of felt I have used up until this point.

The felts are about the same thickness, but the wool blend is denser.

When you feel the two felts, they are about the same thickness, but you can tell right away the wool is much denser. The polyester definitely has a “right” and “wrong” side – the “wrong” side is super scratchy! The wool blend almost feels just as soft on the back as the front. It’s only a tiny bit rougher than the front.

After pulling hard on the corners of each felt sheet.

In the strength department, the wool blend felt wins hands down. I pulled hard on the corners of each of the felt sheets. The polyester felt stretched and thinned. It got fuzzy and I probably could have ripped it if I kept at it. The wool barely stretched at all.

I tried to smooth and stretch both of the felts back into the original shapes. The wool blend obeyed, but the polyester got fuzzier and stayed mostly stretched.

The above photo also shows how thin the polyester felt is. You can see right through it. The wool is nice and dense, which makes all the colors very rich.

wool vs polyester

I’m really looking forward to trying it out! Have you worked with wool felt? What are your thoughts? I’m wonder if it will wear my scissors down fast than the acrylic and polyester felts do. I should finish the city page tomorrow, then I’ll get to move on to the wool camping page! (For progress photos of my pages, join the Facebook page or follow me on Instagram at username iolstephanie.)

Mermaid Felt Embroidery Art Piece

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I took a little break from making quiet book pages and patterns to do some sewing purely as a creative outlet. I wanted something that could be used as the newest masthead at the top of the blog (Not reading this on the site? Come see!) and also be framed and hung up on the wall of my craft room that doesn’t exist yet. I am placing this in with the quiet book pages as I am including the pattern and suggestions for a page.

I’ve always loved mermaids. My major in college was studio art, with a focus on graphic design and printmaking. I especially loved doing lithography. Most of my printmaking work features fairies, angels and mermaids. Here are a few photos of my college mermaid art. The colored pencil drawing is probably from my senior year in high school. My dad shocked me the summer before that school year by buying me a $70 color pencil set. I found these photos on my computer last night. They were taken in 1998!! Thus the tiny file sizes. One day I’ll need to get the portfolio out and take better ones.

I also always wanted to be a mermaid for Halloween, and I didn’t want to do it halfway. Without a pattern, I sewed together my vision of a mermaid costume. I used a stretchy sparkle fabric so the skirt could be long and narrow, but I could still walk. There was some interfacing built into the fin to give it shape. I hand sewed a zillion and a half scale-shaped sequins all over it. I bought cheap party favor shell necklaces and cut them apart to hand sew to a nude bra. I added a lot of accessories made from shells and fake pearls. I loved it and ended up winning a Halloween costume contest!

Back to the felt! I’ve been working on this for the past 2 weeks while waited for supplies for the camping page to arrive. Because I had sewing time to fill, I kept adding and adding to it!

I drew out a quick pattern for the mermaid and treasure chest, but cut the rest by hand. The two fish and the yellow and green anemone were based on this pattern, but cut by hand. I spent a lot of time on the hair, using 4 colors of thread and a ruffly trim for texture. I kept sticking more and more color into the coral reef. I really could have gone on forever, hehe. I love how it came out!

I am including my mermaid pattern by request. Click here to download it. You could easily make her into a little doll to go on a quiet book page. Just cut two of everything except her face and top so she has a front and back. You could make both her and the chest snap off the page, and perhaps those free fish as well!

If you use the mermaid pattern, I’d love to see what you make with it! Email me or stop by the Facebook page.

Anniversary Quiet Book Kit Giveaway!

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Our little blog is 1 year old this month! While I’ve been making websites since 1997 and blogging since 1998, it wasn’t until I had my little Jax that I decided to create a separate blog for all things crafty, creative and kid-friendly in our lives. It actually took a few months before I started to work on making the site because I needed a name.

When inspiration struck, it was due to two of my favorite songs: Imagine, by John Lennon and Across the Universe by The Beatles.

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
they call me on and on across the universe.

To celebrate our 1 year “blog-iversary”, I am giving away a kit to make our farmer’s market quiet book page. This is not a completed page, but the supplies to create your own.

Included:

felt (winner decides if the pieces are pre-cut and ready to sew or not)
wooden tags (winner decides if the vegetables are painted on or not)
Velcro (the green Velcro will be cut into the needed shapes if the felt is cut)
ribbon & ric-rac
yellow seed beads
embroidery thread
needles (hand-sewing and beading)
(I do not have any more of the seed packet beads I added to my page, and they are no longer sold. These will not be included in the kit.)

How to enter:

To enter, leave a comment in the blog comment form below. Make sure you fill in your email address where it asks so I can contact you if you win.
For a bonus second entry, retweet the following tweet first, then tell me you did (include your twitter name) in your blog comment.

Quiet book kit giveaway for Imagine Our Life’s 1 year anniversary: imagineourlife.com/2012/06/06/ann… via @iolstephanie

— Stephanie (@iolstephanie) June 6, 2012

The winner will be chosen randomly in a week on Wednesday June 13th.

What I Used:

Here is how I made mine:

What I Used

Breads

Spreads

Cheeses

Produce

Proteins

Chips

Introducing Handbells

Exploring with Handbells

New-Sew Felt Music Staff

Preschool Handbells Music Unit Printables

Thank you!

How do you read your favorite blogs?

Let’s swap!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

How to enter:

Good Luck!