Another week, another Quiet Book Tutorial. I love how these are turning out. I got to use my metallic star fabric here and it’s so much fun! My stack of finished pages is growing taller – how’s yours coming along?
You can customize this page with fun shoe laces from the Dollar Store and scraps of your favorite fabrics. As usual, I am always amazed when I break down the steps for these pages and they turn out to be 10 or 12 simple steps. That is the case with this page – quick and easy, not too much work for a great result! This Quiet Book page is found along with other information and tutorials links on the Sew Along page.
As a bonus, here’s a good page for those people looking to make these Quiet Book pages into other projects! It would make a great pillow for a tween or teen – just enlarge everything to about 150 or 200%. The shoe opens up at the top to become a pocket. If you are scared off by the eyelets, consider changing them into button holes.
By way of a “life update”, this week I had a child unexpectedly home from school on Thursday and a holiday today – so the Satchel pattern has been delayed again. Soon… very soon!
Ready to sew?
You will need:
- Background Fabric: 1 piece quilting cotton exactly 9″x9″ square
- Page Interfacing: 1 piece exactly 9″x9″ square, medium weight fusible interfacing (you will have this from your Week 1 shopping list)
- Shoe: fabric scraps
- 8 eyelets or small grommets
- Sole: leather or vinyl scrap cut to 3/4″ high by 4 1/4″ wide
- Ribbon Tab: 3 1/2″ long for the side tab
- Small Safety Pin
- Shoe Pattern Pieces -> Click here to download
Before we begin/Important Notes:
- Print out the pattern piece pdf on letter size (8.5″ x 11″) or A4 paper. Important: Do not select “fit to page” when printing, make sure you print at the original size. Once you have printed the pages, measure the 1″ test square to ensure the pattern is the correct size.
- When you are sewing this book it is good to remember that some of the edges will be covered after the book is completed and sewn together. 1/2″ on the top edge of your page and 3/4″ on each side edge will not show in the final project.
- Remember to use your iron liberally when you are sewing this book. It is going to be a work of art when you are done! Since it is thick and some of the pages will not be iron-able once you are finished with them it is advisable to take all of the care you can to remove wrinkles so they are not accidentally permanent in your final book.
- Fuse the 9″ square fusible onto your 9″ square background fabric.
- Cut out your shoe pieces using the instructions on the pattern pieces. You will have 4 side shoe pieces, two front shoe pieces and two tongue pieces.
- Place all of the shoe pieces RST with a matching piece. Stitch around the sides and top of each piece with a 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving the bottom open on each. Clip the corners and trim the seam allowance to 1/8″ on each curve.
- Turn each shoe piece right side out and press.
- Top-stitch the seamed edges of the tongue, and the top and curved side of the shoe side pieces.
- Mark your grommet/eyelet placement by placing the shoe sides and front as shown in the photo. Place them evenly on each side of the shoe between the top curve and above where the shoe front is placed.
- Attach the grommets/eyelets as marked.
- Place the shoe pieces in the centre of your page background as shown in the photo. They all line up at the bottom edge of the shoe.
- Baste the bottom edge, holding all pieces in place. Top-stitch the sides and front of the shoe in place on the background.
- Place your leather/vinyl sole over the bottom edge of the shoe pieces covering all of the raw edges. Top-stitch into place. (Tip: I like to use a glue stick to hold it while I sew.)
- Find the centre of your shoe lace and place it between the bottom two grommets/eyelets on the shoe. Double-stitch across the centre of it well and make sure it is child-safe and very secure.
- Lace the shoelace through the eyelets and tie it at the top. For small children, you can double knot the laces for safety and let them use the shoe as a pocket instead.
- Fold the 3 1/2″ matching ribbon tab in half and use the small safety pin to attach it to your page so it does not get lost.
And we’re done for another week. See you again soon!
Image credits: US Dollar symbol By Rugby471 (Own work)[see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons.
Your situation: where and when. 4%, will be 6 changing times,
first fall here in quarterly shipments.