day 332: needle book

the finished needle book, complete with today's babushka gretel

day 332 and i got back into some needle crafting yesterday.  i have always done a bit of embroidery over the years but never consistently.  it was really nice having all my embroidery threads out ooohing and ahhhing at all the pretty colours.  it wasn't so nice trying to find the right needle with the right eye size because all my needles for everything are kept in here:

yes, i agree ... not ideal

time for a needle book me thinks.  and as a bonus i figured the perfect needle book would also have one of my new friends on the front ... lets call this one gretel.  if you want to find out how to make these gorgeous little babushka or eastern european grandmother felt ladies you can go here and get the details.  the first one i made yesterday stole my heart, this one has captured a little bit more of it too :)

meet gretel

i saw these gorgeous books on kerrin quall's blog ya think?  they are also pinned to my sewing diy board on pinterest.  kerrin used her felt needle books as little gifts for.  i thought they were adorable and looked relatively easy to make given the main material used was felt.  i like felt it doesn't fray, doesn't require its edges to be finished and each side of the fabric looks the same ... felt is my type of sewing ... EASY.  kerrin doesn't include the instructions, there are only pictures of her stunning handy work to lust after, her flickr board has the most amazing felt creations on it ... beautiful.

anyway back to the creating of the day, you need felt and some embroidery floss, a button and a non-stuffed version of yesterday's babushka ... in my case gretel and not erma who is the padded sister who adorns my nightstand :)  as there are no directions for this needle book, i have made some up for you ... well, sorta

what you need plus a button, rotary cutter optional but it does make things easier.

• cut a piece of felt 11" by 4" this piece is the cover that wraps around your felt pages (in my case the red felt)
• cut 4 pieces of felt 3.5" by 4", these pieces are the pages for your needle book
• next fold the red piece of felt in half and lay the felt pages inside so it looks like an unbound book.  you will notice there is a large (~1") overhang of the red felt on the cover and back cover ... this is good news you will see why soon.

this is how the "book" should look with its over-large cover

• closing the book, blanket stitch along the spine making sure you capture all the page pieces ... this blanket stitch isn't just pretty it also binds the book :)
• now that your book is bound open it up and on the inside front cover sew a button at the bottom in the middle.

the inside front cover where you will sew the button

• once the button is sewn turn to the inside back cover and cut a hole for the button to go through.  as felt stretches make sure the button hole is smaller than the actual diameter of the button.  this closes the needle book so it doesn't flop around and now you know why we neede that extra bit on each end of the cover :)

the back book cover were you need to snip the button hole

this is what the back cover looks like when the button is done up :)

• lastly place the book in front of you and you will have the back of a sewn button staring at our.  not pretty, but that is were gretel comes in (or whoever your babushka is) ... she is glued to the front and covers the back sewing of your button.

the unsightly button sewing on the front cover is about to be covered by my new friend gretel

• you are done, add your needles to the pages and call it a day!

happiness is a needle book full of organised needles

outcome: stoked, i may even make some of my own as gifts :)  needle books are completely underrated ... seriously, it was joyous putting in my needles by size and type.  i never knew until today how nice it was to look for the needle you need in a book ... it was definitely an ah-ha moment :)

my gracious thanks goes to kerrin at ya think?  for her gorgeously inspiring felt needle books ... i'm telling ya, it's creations like today's that make me adore pinterest, my quality of life definitely improved today with the making of a needle book ;)