Baby’s Felt Quiet Book
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It’s been a funky few weeks.
By funky, I mean a few things. The first is that I spent a week “off” of being sick. In a funk. The second is that I spent the next two weeks-ish elbow deep in felt and needles and thread and “watch instantly” shows on Netflix.
This second sort of funky resulted in a felt garland for baby’s room and a few good cries on the couch during shows where someone I didn’t want to die does, or two people I want to be together aren’t, or where two people who you KNOW have been meant to be together FINALLY tell each other how they feel and live happily ever after. You know, the sort of thing my heart would usually just ache for, but during my third trimester of pregnancy induces tears which then cause me to laugh out loud at the fact that I’m crying which makes me cry harder. It’s all very complicated. Funky, even.
Oh, and did I mention I finished a quiet book?
Anyone who reads this blog (or even just this post, for that matter) knows I’m a crazy person. One of my crazy habits is that I LOVE hand-sewing with felt. Don’t ask me why–I just find it relaxing and satisfying. I’ve made a few of these before, but it was really fun to make one FOR MY OWN BABY.
(Can you believe that she’ll probably be here in 8 weeks? I can’t either.)
Anyway, I thought I’d give you a quick look through the book. We kept it gender-neutral so that it wasn’t too girly if our next baby is a boy. Prepare yourself for lots of pictures…
Lion (lots of different textures and colors in the mane to touch)
Alligator (mouth zips open and closed)
Frog (tongue can catch flies)
Butterfly (wings can flap)
Fish (can snap on and off the page, or twirl around on a snap to spin in a circle)
Owl (baby owl hiding under a wing)
Monkey (banana peels to open)
Back Cover
Which page is your favorite? I can’t get enough of that owl page. I love it!
Do you sell these? They are awesome!!!!
Dana – Thank you! I don’t sell them, but I really should!
These are so so adorable!! Do you have a pattern that I can recreate for a gift for a friend? Would you be willing to share it with yours truly?
Hetal – Thank you! Unfortunately, I don’t have a pattern. I drew outlines on pieces of paper and cut them out of felt. Best of luck to you!
I was not blessed with the skill to sew by hand or otherwise. Would you consider selling one?
This looks great. Thanks for sharing!
Did you sew the zip? I am not so good at sewing , but think it is a great idea.
Do let me know. Thanks!!
I sewed the zipper onto the backing and then the alligator mouth covered up the rest of it. It’s WAY less difficult than actually attaching a zipper to clothing. (I’m no seamstress!)
Thank you for the inspiration, just finished mine yesterday! My 1,5yr old toddler LOVED it! 🙂 Also a great way to learn new words, I made mine in Finnish and Swedish since those are our “home languages” 🙂 Thanks again, keep up the great work! <3
Carita – Congratulations on finishing! Also, I LOVE the idea of incorporating multiple languages. Well done!
Owww this is superr cute. I will make one for my son. Thank you for this awesome inspiration
I made one of these for my nephew. The pages turned out adorable, however, when I went to manually stitch the cream pages onto the colored felt my stitches look great on one side, but horrible on the other. Did you encounter this at all? Did you manually stitch them together or use sewing machine?
Thanks su much!!!
Amy – I hand-stitched them together, but I definitely had to go slow so that the stitches were even on both sides. (There was definitely some un-picking!) Lots of people have used their sewing machines for that part to save time. 🙂
Thank you for replying so quickly! After I noticed and did keep a close eye on it, the other side did look better.
I am afraid if I were to stitch using a sewing machine they would look even worse! LOL!
Merry Christmas!!
Amy – I hear that! Machine sewing is not my natural gift–ha! Merry Christmas to you!!!
Except for the fish page, this looks like it could be used with those < 12 months!
Omg this is adorable! Do you sell these? If not you should open an Etsy shop!!
That’s so nice of you! Thank you! I don’t sell them yet, but maybe someday!
Love all of these! (Especially the owl, alligator and fish!!) I want to make a book for my grandson and this has definitely inspired me – thank you for sharing yours!!!
Oh, that’s so nice of you to say! Thank you! I hope yours turns out beautifully!
I don’t have a sowing machine but I can sew. How long do you thing it’s going to take if I do it by hand?
It totally depends on your speed. I made mine almost entirely by hand and it took me 10-12 hours (as a beginner). I hope that helps!
Hi Emily,
This is such a wonderful book!! It’s genius. I love all the pages! Just two quick questions before I make one myself. Do you think this book will keep a new born entertained or is it meant for older babies? I’m thinking of making one as a gift for a friend who’s going to give birth next month. I will probably replace the zipper and fastener with velcro. Also, do you think someone who hasn’t stitched much before can complete this project? My sewing skills are very basic!
Thank you so much for sharing this lovely book.
Oh, thank you! I have very beginner sewing skills–you could totally make this!
As for age, most newborns can’t really focus on books. It takes till their a bit older before they really get more interested, but once my babies could sit up in my lap, I’d do the pages for them and they loved it. Then, as they got older, they could do it all themselves 🙂
Hope that helps!
That book is so precious! A friend will have a baby in January, so maybe that’s something I could make for her – if I find the time! Thanks for sharing your book!
Probably a stupid question – but as the lion is my fave page by far… isn’t that a little risky for babies? I mean, if they pull threads from the loose ribbons, they could choke – or are those somehow sealed so that no threads can be pulled?
I’m totally thinking of adding teeth behind the alligator’s mouth – but “red lips” (zipper) would look weird. I’ll have to see what I can find in my local craft store!
Helena – Not a stupid question!
I have never felt like ours was unsafe, since I’ve been on hand every time they’ve used it and we haven’t had any loose threads from our ribbon. You can “seal” the edges of ribbon by holding it over a flame or lighter if you’re nervous! I hope that helps! 🙂
You could draw the teeth with a Sharpie (a permanent marker) behind the zipper.
Either sew with the backing page being neutral or sew a small piece of fabric behind the fabric to draw the teeth in.
Proofreading would be good. I meant – sew a piece of fabric behind the zipper to draw the teeth on.
Thanks for the ideas, Pam! 🙂