The Quiet Book Project, Part 1*!

*Part 1 Because I am guessing there will be future posts on this topic.

So, I'm making a quiet book! When I saw them on sale on etsy for $150 I knew I would never pay that much for a kids book that I could make myself. But these cloth/fabric/homemade books vary in complexity (and size) so I thought making my own book from scratch would take...forever.  Then I talked to some other mama's and we all want our kid more entertained and a co-op book idea was formed.

So basically I have recruited other crafty moms to each make 1-2 pages for the book, with multiple copies of each (that way you only need creative juices for 1 mass-produced page) and then we will all trade pages and have complete and varied books.

The tricky part of this is making sure the pages are similar enough to all go together in the book. And not to overwhelm any of use, since we are all new moms within the last year (or new moms to more than 1!). So th is a more simple version of a quiet book, but hopefully one that will still entertain the tots.

If any non-facebook readers want to participate, let me know. You must make a minimum of 6 pages and mail them to me by May 10. (We have 10+ participants right now so if you make 9 pages you will get 9 back in your book, etc. I will know the final # of participants by early next week. )

Onto the instructions the core group is waiting for:

1) The pages will be made of Stiffened Felt. Our page size is 9x9 and we are accounting for an inch of binding on either side (since I don't know if your page will be a front or backside in the book. [This means your design area is 7x9 inches]. Note this UPC specifically says "Stiffened Felt", not the floppy felt. (Floppy felt is fine for decorating.)

 Here is what your page will look like...cut off the bottom 3". This leaves you with the 9x9 page. Avoid crafting on the left and right margin (1 inch).  You can orient your page horizontally or vertically because the book can always be turned during reading. I hope this makes sense.

My practice page was making a sensory octopus. This is geared more towards the younger crowd since it is more about feeling the textures of different ribbon, but with an older child you can ask them to find a certain color ribbon, etc.  I started with ribbon I had on hand (although I would have loved to use rick rack and curly ribbon as I saw on a blog.)  I cut my strips 5-6 inches.  Then I took 2 scraps from the felt part I cut off my main page and taped half of the ribbon down to the top.  My "scraps" were 1.5"x4". (you could pin the ribbon on individually to allow for sewing, but who has time to pin individual ribbons?) So again, I laid out the ribbons across the yellow scrap shown below and taped the top. Then I ran the non-taped part (still touching the yellow scrap) through the sewing machine a few times to anchor the ribbons.  I did this twice per octopus, then layered them underneath the octopus head (stitching them again, this time to the page).

Here I have both layers of my ribbon strips stitched to my page. The ribbon is longer than the page but I trimmed it later.

 I cut an octopus head shape (freehanded, but you could find lots of pictures online) that was a little wider than my ribbon strips and then sewed it on. This is the first time I've ever bothered to change thread color to match my project. It is was worth it!  Also, sewing felt on felt is SO nice. As in, so easy. I may become addicted.

 I used a few other supplies - I glued a surprise fish to my page underneath the tentacles. I tried to make sure I had glue on the entire bottom surface so prying little fingers will not find a gap to rip the fish off.

 I also found some non-toxic puffy paints in my stash (From Emily's burp rag project!) to make the eyes. I was especially happy they were non toxic. I tried not to make the paint eyes too "tall" so that John won't try to pick them off. (I smeared the paint to be flat.)

 On a second test page I sewed this mitten for a child to put their hand in. In retrospect, tracing my own hand then sewing it on make it a little small for grown ups. But this is just a test one and it fits John's hand just fine.  You will notice in the below picture I have also stitched this to the yellow page (note the square sewn around the mitten) with the left 1 inch reserved for binding. More on binding when I get my grommet kit tomorrow.

 Its a hit! And yes I am wearing batman fleece pajamas and pink socks in that picture.

To make both pages last night took me less than 2 hours, and that was with finding the stuff, faking a pattern, and learning as I go. It would have gone faster if I knew I was making the same page over and over, etc. So hopefully this is a manageable project for all of us involved!

I still have a few more page ideas that I hope some additional participants will volunteer for:

Tie My Shoe / Lacing Page (lacing football, ballet slipper, etc)

Flaps / High Contrast (any page with flaps to lift to reveal something underneath)

Marble Maze

Traffic Light with Velcro colors

Anything with buttons - for dexterity

Anyhow, there are TONS of options and variations to include/not include beads, buttons, etc. You can find tons of quiet book ideas with a simple pinterest or etsy search. If you want to participate after lasting through this entire post, leave a comment and I will get in touch with you!