Sewing Tutorial Quiet Book Pages - Rainbow, Butterfly, Hot Air Balloon

A few months ago a custom order came through my Etsy store. One of my most popular existing items is the Quiet Book that I sell through the store and one of the great things about it is that it is so easy to add extra pages to it as I join the pages together with ring binders.

The request was to add in one extra page (two-sided, so two extra designs) more suited to a smaller child. See the finished product below!

To make the rainbow, I cut the red (largest) semicircle first and then cut each next colour a little smaller. I then sewed the red semicircle onto the page and followed with each smaller one until I was done.

I overlapped two little light grey clouds over the bottom edge and cut out two identical pieces in a small butterfly shape. I sewed these together, inserting antennae and leaving a small opening on each side so that I could feed through the thin ribbon. When constructing the page and joining it to the previous one, I fastened in the ribbon between the pages. 

The cute little butterfly can be pulled along the ribbon to fly around in front of the clouds.

For the hot air balloon, I first sewed the blue felt rectangle onto the background page as the sky. Then I added two little white clouds and sewed on the main hot air balloon shape (here in the white with coloured spots). I attached four short lengths of ribbon to the base of the balloon cover (here in orange), and then sewed this felt piece at the top of the balloon. I attached the ends of each ribbon at the bottom and then hid the ends by sewing the balloon basket over them.

The doll is used in another page (the tent and sleeping bag page) in the book, so rather than add another, and in order to make it easier to handle for a small child, I attached a ribbon to the doll so that it could be used for both pages, and also couldn't be easily lost - double win!

Pinterest - Most Recent Pins - Sewing for Girls

Pinterest is my all time favourite social media tool. It's perfect for sewing, and even more perfect for the procrastinating sewist like myself. During the busy times when I don't have the time to sew, I can usually at least put aside 5 or 10 minutes to add to my pin boards.

My most viewed pin board is Sewing for Girls, due to a little tutorial I pinned on there from this blog about three years ago for a Toddler Pinafore Dress. It now has almost 26000 repins and 2000 loves on Pinterest and brings a lot of traffic to this blog too.

Here are my most recent five pins on the Sewing for Girls board:

Summer Wallets with Lanyards (Noodlehead)

I've actually already started making two of these, one each for my daughter and son. They love to choose their own fabrics and watch the process unfold as the fabric is transformed into something they can use/wear. These little wallets will be perfect for trips to the library with their new library cards and little shopping trips.

The Sally dress for Astrid (by Kollabora)

Geranium Dress (by Made By Rae)

Rainbow Dress Tutorial (by Made by Rae)

Easy DIY Swim Cover Up (by It's Always Autumn)

Happy Sewing!

Baby Doll Swaddle - Pattern and Tutorial - Easy DIY

You will need:

• Approx 0.5 metres/ yards of a print fabric for the main fabric.
• Approx 0.5 metres/ yards of a plain lining fabric for the inside of the swaddle. 
• Approx 0.5 metres/ yards of a light wadding, such as Pellon fleece.
• Velcro
• Small scraps of felt for heart decorations.

1. Start by printing the three pages of the pattern and cutting out the pattern pieces along the solid line. The pattern pieces for the main part of the swaddle will need to be joined together along the dotted line, by matching and then taping the two pieces together.
2. Place pattern pieces with the marked straight edge along the folded edge of the fabric and cut out one piece in each of the two fabrics (main and lining), as well as the wadding.
3. Depending on the wadding used (and following the directions for the wadding type), iron the main fabric over the wadding piece to secure.
4. Begin by sewing the darts into the separate fabrics. Fold over the fabrics along the centre line of each dart and sew along the outer line to create shape in the foot pocket and top part of the swaddle.
5. Then take the two pieces of lining fabric, right sides together, and sew together around the round bottom edge. Repeat for the outer fabric. Snip along the curved seams and turn one of the fabrics out the right way.
6. Place this piece inside the other, so that right sides are together. Now join the two fabric cases together by starting in the middle of the top seam and sewing around all of the edges, leaving a space of about 4cm (1.5in.) as you return to where you started.
7. Trim all corners and curved edges and turn the swaddle out the right way. Iron the seams flat, especially where the opening is at the top seam.
8. Top stitch around all edges, closing up the opening at the top seam.

9. Pin a strip of velcro to the position indicated on the pattern for the foot pocket. Sew this down and sew the matching velcro to the flap that you prefer to fold down first (on the inside). Then sew two small pieces of velcro onto this same flap, but on the upper side and the matching velcro to the underside of the flap that will fold down last (see picture above for velcro placement).

10. Finally, attach your felt shape (be imaginative to match your fabric, or to suit your child's preferences here!) to the top flap.

Simple Rainbow Ribbon Skirt Tutorial

Miss 5 loves rainbows. Her first drawing that resembled anything was of a rainbow. Since then, we have had rainbow beetles, rainbow birds, people wearing rainbow clothes and more feature in her drawings.

I saw a skirt somewhere online that had bias binding strips along the bottom to create a rainbow effect, but as I am always on the lookout for the most simple and effective ideas, I thought I would replace the binding with grosgrain ribbons.



To start, I measured my daughter's waist and doubled the measurement. That gives you the width of fabric needed.

I then measured the length from her waist to where I wanted the skirt to end (in her case that was just on her knee). I added around 4 - 5cm and that gave me the length of the fabric needed.

Open out the rectangle and fold over the bottom edge by about a centimetre and iron down. Pin the ribbons along the skirt. The bottom one serves as the hemline and the spacing is dependent on personal preference really and how many colors you choose to use. Sew the ribbons down by sewing along both edges as close to the edge as possible. To finish off at the ends, fold the ends under and sew down.

Fold the rectangle with right sides together and sew down the open side. Then press the top over 2cm and then another 2cm. Sew along the bottom fold as close as you can to form the elastic casing. Leave an opening of about 2 - 3 cm and feed the elastic through. Sew the ends of the elastic together and sew the casing closed.

Oh so cute!

Party Bag Coloring Activity - Tutorial

My five year old daughter loves coloring in. She has had an obsession with it now for about 3 or 4 months, since just before her fifth birthday.

A while ago I bought a whole lot of this Tidny fabric from IKEA. Sadly they are not stocking it anymore in our local store. But it is seriously amazing and I'm hoping that they will replace it with something just as amazing (if not more so).

Anyway, I had this idea for her fifth birthday party - little party bags that each of the kids could color in themselves and then I would fill them with goodies as they leave to go home.

I cut a rectangle out of the Tidny print and another of the same size from a plain cotton fabric for the back. Placing the front and back fabrics with right sides together, I sewed along the sides and the bottom.

To make the drawstring casing, I cut a rectangle from the plain fabric that was two centimetres more than twice the length of the top of the rectangle and around 4cm wide. I folded the ends over by 1cm and ironed down, then folded the strip in half lengthways and ironed it down. I pinned the long folded plain fabric along the top edge of the bag (right sides together) and sewed along. Folding the plain fabric up on the right side, I sewed a top stitch along near the top of the Tidny print fabric to finish off.

Thread a drawstring or ribbon through the casing and admire the cute little bag!

A huge hit with the five year olds!

Kids can color the bag with fabric markers and by applying heat with an iron to the colored in area (place baking paper or similar between the fabric and the iron), the colors will last longer.

Sewing tutorial and pattern - Balloon cover

These covers were one of those things that I had seen around and thought was such a great idea. "One day I'll make some of those...". When I finally got around to experimenting and going through with it last week I couldn't believe I had put it off that long! So easy and fast. And they have been the number one toy here with both Mr 2.5 and Miss 4.5 since I finished them. We love balloon covers!

You will need two contrasting fabrics and the pattern (available here).

Cut six of the curved strips on the fold, and three of the hexagons on the fold.

And now start sewing. Choose one of each fabric and place them right sides together. Sew down one side only. Now take a new piece and place it right sides together with the contrast fabric. Sew down the next side. Take another new piece and place it right sides together with the contrast fabric. Sew down the next side. Repeat, repeat, repeat until there are no curved strips left. Place the two open sides right sides together and sew down to join.


Prepare the ends for sewing. Place two of the hexagons with right sides together. Pin a line through the centre across the hexagon. Sew from the outer edge inwards, leave a gap (approx 4cm) and then sew through to the other outer edge.

Fold down the pieces so that you now have wrong sides together and right sides showing.

Top stitch a few millimetres from the centre line on both sides to secure and to reinforce the slit that has now been formed in the middle of the piece.

Pin the hexagons into the ends of the ball, right sides together and sew along to enclose the ball.

Poke a deflated balloon through the opening at the end, keeping enough on the outside to blow the balloon up. Blow up the balloon, tie off the end and tuck it in.

Sewing tutorial and pattern: Mermaid dress up tail for kids

We love dress ups at our house. Little by little I've been adding to the kids' collection of costumes for play.

I wanted to make Miss 4.5 a mermaid tail that would grow with her and not be too tight at the ankles that she wouldn't be able to walk or play in it. 

You can download and print the pattern for the fin here.

First, choose your main fabric. I wanted something shiny, so I went for this sequined fabric. You'll need a rectangle - it should reach from your child's waist to the floor (length) and wrap around their body with a 15cm overlap (width). You can allow a little extra for hemming. Hem around the rectangle - I rolled approx 0.5cm over, then rolled over again and sewed along.

Cut two mermaid fins on the fold. Optional is to also cut iron on interfacing to iron onto one of the fin pieces to make the fin a little firmer.

Place right sides together and starting at the top right, sew around the edges, finishing at the top left. The fin can be sewn to the skirt along the bottom.

For fastening the waist, sew velcro along the waistline.

I trimmed the edging of the fin with some of the left over sequin fabric, but it is totally optional.

Sewing Tutorial: Putting together your Quiet Book pages to make a book

You've spent hours cutting out little felt shapes, positioning them on pages, sewing, stitching on faces and finishing touches and now you have the pages all made for your Quiet Book. Well done! It's no easy task. No doubt plenty of patience, glasses of wine and cups of tea have passed between you and your Quiet Book pages. So let's take a look at one way to put it all together and make a book out of what you've got in front of you.

Work out the order of your pages and then pair them up in front to back pairs. Put them right sides together. Sew around with approximately 1cm/0.5 inch seam, leaving a gap wide enough for turning out the right way. Trim the corners as in the picture below.

Turn out the right way and push the corners out to neaten. It should look something like this:

Then sew a top-stitch a few millimetres from the edge to neaten it off and close off the opening.

Covers can be made in the same way (you'll need front and back covers):

• right sides together
• sew around, leaving an opening
• trim corners
• turn out the right way
• topstitch edges

I like to add a button tab to my cover. The length and width depend on the thickness and size of your book. Cut two rectangles, allowing a 0.5cm/0.25 inch seam and follow the same steps as above.

Of course there are loads of options for putting your pages together, but my favourite way is to use binder rings. I then sew two buttonholes on each page where I want to place them. Easy! Especially if your sewing machine does automatic buttonholes as mine does :-)

Sewing tutorial: Quiet book pages - Bead counter

This is one page I really like to include in my books. Both of my kids love counting and one of their favourite pages in their quiet book is the bead counter. They enjoy moving the beads across, and they also learn their colours by practicing with the beads. It is an easy and effective page.

The starting point for making the page is deciding how wide to make the counter (then cut your thin ribbon in appropriate lengths), to what number to count to (in my larger books, I have include counters that go up to ten), and finally what colours to choose. 

The ribbon I use is very narrow and I do not like to take any chances with safety with beads coming loose, so my first step is to space the ribbons on the page and sew them to the page background. My green felt is about 1.5cm wide, so I sew along the ribbons for about a length of 1cm on one side first. Then I thread my beads on and sew down on the other side to secure the ribbons down and lock the beads in. 

Place the felt lengths over the ribbon ends where you have sewn and pin down. Sew a stitch around the edges. Finally trim off the threads and ribbon ends and your bead counter is done!

Sewing Tutorial: Quiet Book page - Old McDonald had a barn and some finger puppets

The barn page is page three of my Quiet Book. I adapted the idea from the template on Homemade By Jill (http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com.au/2009/07/quiet-book-templates.html).

STEP ONE
You will need red, white and brown felt. Draw each shape on the transfer paper - red barn, brown window, white stripes and two brown rectangles the size of the barn doors. Iron the paper onto the felt and cut out the shapes. Cut between the doors and fold them back. Iron on the brown rectangles to the back of the doors. Peel off the rest of the paper, leaving the adhesive on the back of the shapes. Iron shapes onto the page fabric, starting with the red barn, then the brown window and finally the white stripes.






STEP TWO
Cut out the finger puppet shapes. Fasten on the noses and cow spots. Embroider some eyes on all and nostrils on the pigs. I usually fasten down each piece by sewing a top stitch so that it doesn't fall off. Sew the ears, horns etc onto the back piece of each finger puppet and then sew the fronts and backs together.





STEP THREE
Sew top stitch around each piece of the barn and white edging to be sure it does not come off. Cut another piece of brown felt to fit inside the doors and hold the finger puppets in place.Sew it down on the sides and bottom.

Done!

Put it aside and get ready to prepare the next pages!

Sewing Tutorial: Kids dress up ideas - construction vest

This pattern fits a 2-4 year old.

You will need:

Orange polycotton (I may have used slightly more than half a meter).

Grey felt

Thread

STEP ONE

Print out the paper pattern. It will print as two A4 pieces and need to be joined with tape to make one A3 sized piece. Then cut out the pattern shape.

STEP TWO

The outside line (centre back) should placed on the fold and one piece cut to make the back. Then follow the inner line and cut two pieces to form the front. You will also need to cut the grey felt in strips 2-3cm wide.

STEP THREE

Sew the grey felt strips onto the orange vest pieces in the position indicated on the pattern. Then sew together at the shoulders and down the sides.

STEP FOUR

Cut out strips of orange 4cm wide on the diagonal and make bias binding. That is, fold over in half lengthwise and iron flat and then fold the edges in to the centre and iron flat again. Sew this binding along all raw edges. 

And done!

Sewing Tutorial: Quiet Book Page - Tent and Sleeping Bag (zippers)

The idea for this page came from Still:Living, but has been modified over time by me.

I usually use a cotton drill or poly cotton for the blue sky backing and felt for the remainder of the page.

STEP ONE

You will need to draw on your transfer paper:

• a rectangle for the background (leaving about three cm around all sides for stitching and borders), to be ironed onto blue cotton fabric. 
• a crescent moon to be ironed onto white felt. 
• outline for the doll, to be ironed onto a skin coloured felt. 
• outline for dolls clothing - shorts, shirt to be ironed onto chosen felt colours. 
• outline for dolls hair to be ironed onto chosen felt colour. 

Iron these pieces onto the corresponding fabrics and and cut out.

STEP TWO

Peel off the paper layers. Iron on the background piece to the page fabric. Then iron on the moon shape in the top left corner. 

Iron the body felt piece onto a neutral background piece of felt and then iron on the shirt, shorts and hair.

  

STEP THREE

As you will not be ironing them on, but only sewing, you will also need a triangle for the tent, cut through the centre and a rectangle for the sleeping bag, also cut through the centre.

Sew these either side of a zipper, making sure that the bottom edge is against the bottom edge (where the zipper closes) of the zipper.

Trim the zipper along the edge of the felt and sew several times over near the top, cut off end of the zipper. 

 

STEP FOUR

Check that the sleeping bag fits under the tent and if not, trim sleeping bag down.

Sew the sleeping bag onto the background. Then sew the tent over the top. Sew a zigzag stitch around the edges of the background.

STEP FIVE

Cut out the doll and sew around the edges to fasten the felt layers together. Sew on eyes and a mouth.

FINISHED! Put your doll to bed in her/ his tent :-)

 

 

 

 

Sewing Tutorial: Quiet Book Page - Monkeys and Balloons

The idea for this page came from Serving Pink Lemonade, although I've simplified it to include just the monkey and the balloons, and generally only make it with buttons and buttonholes nowadays.

STEP ONE

My previous post explains how to prepare your pages and other materials and also mentions the applique paper that I prefer to use to make the process easier.

The first step is to draw your shapes onto the applique paper.

For the monkey page, you will need:

• monkey
• monkey's belly and face
• eight balloon shapes - choose four colours and make two iron on balloons of each colour. This will make four balloon backgrounds to attach to the page, and four button-on balloons.

Cut roughly around your outlines on the paper and iron on to the felt. Follow the ironing instructions for the particular applique adhesive that you choose to use.

Then cut your felt shapes out and peel off the paper layer, leaving an adhesive backing on the back of the felt shapes.

STEP TWO

Put your shapes into position on your page fabric and iron on.

For figures that have two layers (or more), such as the monkey below, do only one layer at a time. Start with the bottom layer (in this case, the dark brown monkey outline) and then iron on the next layer (belly and face in light brown). 

STEP THREE

Make the balloons. Iron the remaining four balloons onto their matching coloured felt and cut them out.

STEP FOUR

Sew around everything. You can choose to skip this step, but the applique adhesive will eventually lose its effectiveness and the felt shapes will come off, especially after repeated buttoning and play. It's much safer, and looks much neater if you sew around everything.

Start with the shapes attached to the page. Sew close to the edes with a machine stitch. For the monkey, you could choose to just sew around the belly and face as this will also secure the body to the page.

 

Also sew strings to connect the monkey's hands to the balloons. 

 

 

STEP FIVE

 

Sew button holes into your balloons.

 

 

STEP SIX

 

Do all hand sewing. For the monkey page, this will mean sewing buttons to the balloons on the page, and embroidering the monkey face.

 

When you have finished, put your page aside until you have all pages finished.

 

Well done!