Rachel's Doll Quiet Book

Hi everyone! Today's quiet book is so cute and looks so darn fun that I can't wait to show it to you. It was made by stay-at-home mom Rachel for her two girls, and it's a dress-up doll book! The outside has two handles to carry it with and looks like a little house (complete with door, windows, and adorable little flower beds), and the inside opens up to a dresser full of clothes and two little dolls to dress. Take a look!

In the dresser they have four stick-on dresses.

In the dresser each doll has a little makeup kit with a blush brush and lipstick.

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
I'm Rachel, a pregnant stay at home mom to two daughters; Mercy, 3 and Cozette, 18 months. 

What's your level of sewing experience?
I have virtually no sewing experience, my dad gave me a machine two years ago and I have haphazardly sewn simple curtains, an apron and a doll for my daughter with no real instruction.

How long did it take you?
I would say this quiet book took me about 10-12 hours over a week and a half. I mostly just worked on it when the girls were sleeping.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I didn't use templates, I drew out some patterns and referenced a picture I found on pinterest (which can be found here), but it was just one photo with no instructions.

How did you bind your quiet book?
Since it's only two pages, I put felt sheets under some flannel fabric and sewed it into one smooth book.

What material are the pages made out of? What other materials did you use?
The materials are almost all felt with a cotton blanket and flannel cover, like I said.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
I probably spent $15-20 on materials of which I had PLENTY leftover for the next quiet book I'm making.

What's your favorite page? Why?  
I don't have a favorite page since it's only two pages, but my girls love putting on the dresses and especially the "make up". :-)


Thank you Rachel for sharing your awesome doll quiet book with us!

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book!

Kasia's Quiet Book

Today's quiet book comes all the way from Poland! Kasia (whose sewing profile you can find here) made this beautiful quiet book for her godson for his name-day a few months ago. The letters of the book spell out his name, with an object for each letter. I love how well-made the book is, and am impressed that she did it all by hand. Check it out!

 

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Kasia, I'm a Polish young woman who loves knitting, embroidering & sewing and dreams of having much more time for her hobby...

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
It was made for my lovely two-year-old godson on his name-day.

What's your level of sewing experience?
Hmmmm... I'm somewhere between beginner and intermediate with a great plan to practice and practice and practice...

How long did it take you?
It took me three weekends spent mostly on making it (it's totally hand-made).

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I used some templates from some child book and simple pictures found in different sources (also the Internet), but the whole inspiration I got after seeing this: Felt Name Book Tutorial.

How did you bind your quiet book?
I made holes with a standard hole punch and then pinned the pages with two metal rings.

What material are the pages made out of?
I only used felt for that.

What other materials did you use?
I used threads in different colors and some vinyl for making a little "window" for the picture from the front page.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
I've only had to buy a 12-item set of felt sheets. It cost about $4.

What's your favorite page? Why?
I think it would be the composition of pages "I" and "N" ("I" - first letter of Polish word for "needle" and "N" - Polish "thread") as they naturally go together and so they do in my nephew's name (Beniamin).


Thank you so much Kasia for sharing your quiet book with us! It's beautiful!

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book!

Free Butterfly Quiet Book Template

(I posted this on my personal blog about two months ago, and figured it was high time to finally post it here! Here's the second quiet book I've personally made.)

Well, I did it. I made another one.

Two, actually. My niece Emily was turning one and so I made one for her birthday, and a copy of the same book for Ellie. 

I made a Butterfly themed book, called the Butterfly Book. And you can get the free template here!

I was inspired by the quiet books at Shaer Talents and One Lovely Life. The book is four pages long (not including the front and back covers). It has a caterpillar page, a flower page (with little butterflies on ribbons), a big butterfly with flappy wings page, and a leaf pocket page (full of colorful shapes to decorate the butterfly's wings with).

Here's the caterpillar page and the flower page with tiny butterflies:

The caterpillar on the caterpillar page has removable body pieces, attached with velcro. It also has a peekaboo little caterpillar hidden in the cocoon. 

Here's the flower page:

The flowers are attached by their yellow pollen-y part in the middle. Since the petals aren't sewn down on the edges, they kind of pop up and are ruffly. Ellie really likes playing with them.

This page also has two little butterflies attached to the page by ribbon. They can "fly" to each flower and land on them.

Here's the butterfly dress-up page. It's got a big butterfly to decorate, and a big leaf pocket to hold all of the different, colorful wing shapes:

The butterfly is attached just by its body (with the edges of the wings sewn underneath the body) so that the wings are free to flap up and down.

And here's the back:

My daughter's favorite page is definitely the first one; she loves taking the velcro caterpillar off the page and carrying the pieces around.

To download the free Butterfly Quiet Book Template, click here or on the pictures below:

Happy quiet book making! If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask. :)

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
I'm Jocelyn; I'm the one who runs the blog. :)

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I actually made two copies of this book: one for my daughter, who's now a year and a half, and one for her cousin, who's a couple months older than her.

What's your level of sewing experience?
Intermediate.

How long did it take you?
The first copy I made (for my niece) I did in about a week. It probably took about 20 hours. The second copy took about the same number of hours, but it was spread out over a couple months.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I was inspired by the quiet books at Shaer Talents and One Lovely Life. I made my own pattern, which you can download here.

How did you bind your quiet book?
I sewed two button-holes in the side of each page, and then connected the pages with metal binder rings.

What material are the pages made out of?
Felt.

What other materials did you use?
More felt, thread, and a couple pieces of ribbon.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
Only about $6 for each book. I already had the thread, ribbon, and some pieces of felt. I just needed some more, different colored pieces of felt.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
Probably the first one; I just like the happy caterpillar. :)

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book!