Toddler Quiet Book for #vintagepledge

It turns out that I'm a bit of a fan of vintage toy patterns. You may remember Horatio the Horse a few months ago, and this is my next challenge....

Vogue 1959

...And what a challenge!

I won this pattern in a Giveaway from Kristin at Sew Classic in March last year. It immediately appealed to me, although when I received it I was a bit put off by how involved it seemed and stashed it away. In recent months I started seeing Toddler Quiet Books (or activity books, whatever you want to call them) popping up on my Pinterest and became interested in making one. Cue, pulling out this pattern.

Let's start with the facts. This pattern IS incredibly involved. There are 14 (14!!) pages of instructions to make 10 pages with different animals. All of the finished pages aren't even illustrated on the pattern envelope, so you only know what some of them will look like from the pattern diagrams. Just look at the list of materials required:

Er, yep. This is a crazy endeavour. It involves machine and hand stitching and is really quite a faff, as you can't do all the machine or hand stitching at one time due to the order of construction.

I decided to make 2 pages to see how they went down with Miss Kestrel. I chose the crocodile and elephant:

Two pages with eyelets still to be added at the side so they can be laced into a book

The crocodile has a mouth that unzips to reveal his tongue

The black stitching is done by hand and the ice cream is stitched around the edge by hand

The tail and features of the roller skating elephant are sewn by hand and the outlines are machine stitched. His feature is the the buttons of his roller skates have elastic loops to be done up.

One great thing about this pattern is that it is perfect for using fabric scraps. I was able to use stash scraps and the only thing I had to buy was Vliesofix for the applique.

So what's the toddler verdict? Not really a rave review. She wants to pull the tongue out of the crocodile's mouth and gets frustrated when she can't. She likes the elephant and likes to stand on it, which I think is some kind of appreciative gesture? I think she's maybe a wee bit young for the book just yet and I am hoping she will grow into it. At least it gives me time to make a few more pages anyway.

A few weeks ago I was telling a friend about what I was making, and it turned out that she had been given a book made from the same pattern by a family friend when she was a toddler, and has recently dug it out again for her own daughter. My friend and her mum had talked about how it was crazy that their friend made the book for someone who was not their own child, due to the amount of work involved. I definitely agree - there is no way I would make this for anyone else. It's too much work!

I am planning to make more pages throughout the year to add to it, as I think it will build into a lovely book at the end. And hopefully Miss Kestrel will grow to love it. (Or I will be furious).

K x

p.s I have a Pinterest board of Quiet Book Ideas