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Friday, 12 August 2016

Two more Quiet Book Pages and a #vintagepledge

As part of my Vintage Pledge last year, I started making a fabric Quiet Book (or Activity Book) for Miss Kestrel, using a vintage pattern:
 
To say the pattern was involved is an understatement - this is the first page of 14 (!) pages of instruction:

I made two pages last year:
  You can read the post about those here.

Although Miss Kestrel was becoming more interested in the initial two pages, they needed to be in a book format to be a bit more significant. I decided to make two more pages as well as a cover and back page, reckoning that I could see how interested she was to see if it was worth making any more. Here's what I made:
 
A happy giraffe with ribbons to tie on its neck. The pattern called for purchased fringing to make the hair on its neck but I was SUPER chuffed with myself for finding the selvedge of some chunky brown cord fabric to use instead. 
 

A hippo bus driver - of course! I was really pleased that I was able to use scrap and stash fabrics and notions for both pages. This is satisfying not just because it saves buying anything else, but also because it makes you more creative to work within the boundaries of what you have.
All four pages have now been made into a book. Adding those letters was sooooooo fiddly. You have a set of iron-on transfers for the outline of the letters (as a guide for hand embroidery) which you apply to the page and also a set for the fabric bits, which have to be backed with vliesofix and appliqued on to the page. You then machine applique the letters and I hand embroidered the details. You can see the size of the apostrophe - try peeling backing paper off that and machine applique-ing around it! I'm really pleased with how the letters look since I know how bloody fiddly they were to apply.

I did have to buy a set of Prym Vario Pliers to put in the eyelets (thanks to Katy of The Littlest Thistle for her guidance on this!) but I will be able to use these in the future to put in all kinds of eyelets and snaps so they are an investment. I found them really easy to use too, although the instructions you get with them aren't much cop.

I'm really pleased to have finally made what actually looks like a proper book!

K x

11 comments:

  1. Mother of Reinvention12 August 2016 at 11:18

    This is really lovely and although it is a lot of work I am sure that Miss Kestrel will appreciate it, especially as she gets older. I love my Vario pliers and have used them for quilt covers to corsets. They are so useful. Xx

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    1. Kestrel12 August 2016 at 11:57

      Thank you! I hope it will be something she enjoys and appreciates. I'm looking forward to another opportunity to use my Vario pliers, they were so simple to use for the eyelets

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  2. pajamapat12 August 2016 at 14:27

    That will be a book for future generations. You did a lovely job on it. The attention to detail is what truly made the book. When your daughter reads it it will be like a little bit of history to remember what garments you made with the original fabric.

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  3. Kath12 August 2016 at 14:58

    Love love love... worth trawling through the instructions for this!!

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  4. Kathryn12 August 2016 at 15:43

    Kerry it looks so good!! I'm sure it will get lots of love, and use. Did you find the prym pliers easy enough to use? I'm thinking of getting some but am unsure what brand /type to get.

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    1. Kestrel15 August 2016 at 09:02

      Yes I found them great for the eyelets, very easy. You can get a box set with the pliers and a selection of eyelets and snaps for about £30 but I bought pliers separately along with the exact eyelet size I needed for this project, as I didn't want stuck with loads of snaps etc in sizes I didn't need, and that was £15 for both. The single pliers come with cutting dies for 3mm and 4mm which should do a good range of fitments - think the boxed set comes with more but you can buy the dies separately too.

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  5. Angela12 August 2016 at 16:04

    My mother made that exact book for my now 24-year-old! She was an excellent seamstress, but she did say NEVER AGAIN after making it LOL Of course, I still have it and treasure it, along with many other things she made us. I also found the pattern in the thrift store and bought it, because she had loaned hers out and it never got returned. Your version looks great!

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    1. Kestrel15 August 2016 at 08:59

      I feel the same - it looks great but is a LOT of work. My friend has a version of this same book made for her when she was young by a friend of her mothers. We were both looking at it, marvelling at how anyone could make it for someone who wasn't their child - I certainly wouldn't!

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  6. Black Tulip12 August 2016 at 20:41

    Lovely! I especially like the hippo.

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  7. Helen20 August 2016 at 17:11

    Think this is such a lovely idea, I hope she appreciates it and loves it as much as we all do!

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  8. Unknown29 August 2016 at 14:25

    Wow, these are great and what a good book.

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Thanks for reading and commenting - I love to hear what you have to say