Felt quiet books are exploding
all over the internet. Many blogs are
giving tutorials on how to do certain pages, people are posting pictures of
their creations, and Pinterest is practically bursting with ideas and examples. I first learned about quiet books after
searching for felt figures for a flannel board for my children. I thought the whole idea of a washable, soft,
and entertaining book was brilliant, especially for my busy toddler boys. I made two books using a design pattern I
purchased off of Etsy and I was hooked.
The books
turned out beautifully, my children LOVED them, and I felt I had created an
heirloom quality piece of art that would last for a long time. I really wanted to try some girl themed
pages, but since I only had boys, it didn't seem very practical until a friend
of mine adopted a five year old girl from China. I made a quiet book for her using different
ideas I found on blogs around the internet.
Now before
you get the idea that I am some crafty genius, I will tell you right off that
up to this point I was ONLY using other people's patterns and ideas. I could follow directions, but I didn't feel
like I was adding anything special to my books.
There was just something missing.
Then one day I realized what it was: MY ideas. See, the way I figure it, each person has
unique ideas all locked up inside their head.
You may share similar ideas with somebody else, but there is something
special that only you can create or add or accomplish.
Using other
people's patterns is wonderful, don't get me wrong. But that should just be practice. A starting point to spur on your creativity
to making your own personalized, unique books tailored to the child you are
sewing for.
So, with
great fear and trembling, I designed my own pattern page based off a song my
boys liked to sing. It wasn't as
difficult as I thought. In fact, it was
exhilarating. I had made something no
one else had thought of. And I am NOT an
artistic person. I can't draw much more
than stick figures and forget about “graphic design”. That is just not me. I have basic sewing skills and a love of all
things crafty. That's it.
Now, why should you care? Because my goal with this blog series is to give you
basic instruction on quiet books and inspire you to design your own. If you know the basics, you CAN
design your own felt pages and books and you CAN turn out amazing felt quiet
books with a little time and minimal cost.
And people will be amazed at the things you make :)
no, i will not leave a comment on this music thingy
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