Making Kid's Soft Books for Christmas

 

It feels good to sew up Christmas presents, especially for the kids, but it can also be stressful trying to dream up something all new or even just to find time to work during the busy holiday season.  This year I did a couple of soft books for my littlest ones and it was so quick & enjoyable I wanted to share how I did mine.

 

There are tons of soft book panels out there.  I had a really cute one in my stash that I'd forgotten about & I've carried a number in my shop for the past few years, but this is the first time in years I've made any!  I'd done a few many years ago, but as simple as they seemed, they didn't turn out as perfect as I'd wanted and that kind of stopped me from doing any more.  This go around I figured out what makes the difference and now I LOVE doing them.

A big thing is to NOT pre-wash the fabric.  You want the pages to be as uniform as possible to line up when cutting & sewing - if you wash the panel first the shrinkage can distort them.  You can wash the finished book after & it'll keep its original shape better thanks to the seams.

Thinner batting is also key - it makes it easier to keep the layers straight and corners crisper.   And again, if the book is going to ever get washed, it's best to avoid 100% cotton batting, which will shrink up like mad.

 

The panels I used here are a cute Nativity themed one called

 The Great I Am (which is from my shop):

 

and the adorable Bunnies By The Bay Little Star by Timeless Treasures (which can still be found in a number of online shops with a quick internet search).

 Soft book panels have handy instructions printed right on the panel to tell you which pages to put together.

 

 

Basically, you just follow the cut lines, pair the proper pages together (right sides facing), put on a layer of batting, pin and stitch around, leaving a couple inch wide gap.

 

 

Trimming down the corners makes them nice & pointed when turning right side out.

 

Hand stitch the gaps closed,

 

 

and press each double page nice & flat.

 

 

Layer the pages in the order from the instructions.  

 The cover is usually slightly bigger, so it's key to line them up along the binding rather than the corners.

 

 

I draw a line & pin down the binding to make sure my stitch line is extra straight and doesn't shift while trying to sew through all the layers. 

Since this is my baby girl's first Christmas I wanted to do a special one for her.  She LOVES anything crinkly, so I added some crinkle paper (aka cellophane) inside each page to give it a little "crunch".  I cut the cellophane about 1/2 inch smaller 

than each finished double page:

 

And carefully slid them in by hand to make sure they laid flat:

 

This one even had a little dedication page, which I loved.

 

 Soft books really are an ideal handmade gift for the smalls - they can't destroy them & are washable, but they still have a keepsake kind of quality.  My 2 yr old loves to look at them in bed and there's no worry of ripped pages or poky corners when he drifts off to sleep.  

I can't wait to gift these...and make a few more;)

Stashbusting Girl's Raglan Shirt

This summer my sewing & crafting output has taken a nosedive.  With so many personal and business demands on my time, making things for fun just hasn't been possible and, truthfully, my crafty mojo has kinda been on empty too.  Thankfully necessity stepped in and a bit of sewing finally happened!  It started with this girl's raglan top for my daughter's birthday this week.

Budget, time and uncertainty of how well store bought stuff would fit were all factors in making this top.  She's had a big growth spurt this summer & we're entering the challenging-to-please (and fit) tween zone.  Like shopping wasn't hard enough with 5 kids & Covid insanity?!?  I decided to just try to make something with what I had here.  Luckily I remembered how much she loves the wearing hand-me-down raglans I'd made for her brothers with McCalls 7379, so I knew the style & sizing would work for her.

I also lucked out with sifting through my fabric bins and re-discovered several beautiful knit prints that I'd been hoarding.  This pegasus mom & baby fabric by Znok seemed just perfect.  It's still sweet for my mommy's girl at heart, but it's a nice larger scale for older girls & the colors aren't babyish:

I only had a yard, so I needed to search my stash for a good color match for the sleeves and neckband.  I found a boucle fleece remnant left from making this dolman top for myself several years ago.  It looks a bit purple-y outdoors but it's actually more of a wine color.  

Side note: the pattern is by Seamingly Smitten.  I'm glad to not be pregnant again this fall so I can finally wear it
- I forgot how much l liked it until I saw this photo!

The color match was ideal and it was medium weight so it wasn't too heavy to pair with the lycra knit:

The only downside was the amount of stretch was a bit lacking for the neckband.  I usually use rib knit, which is ideal to fit the neck hole, but this fabric wasn't as cooperative so I had to cut a 1 inch extra piece to sew in to enlarge the band enough to fit.  It's a chunky textured fabric so you can't see the additional seams at the back and it should hide the neckband not laying as flat when it's worn.

  

I'm excited to give this and hope she like it.  Until 2 1/2 yrs ago she was my youngest, and the only girl and really liked being both those things.  Now with 2 more little ones, she's smack in the middle and entering that awkward, wanting to be like the older kids, but still wanting to be small sometimes phase.  Maybe a cozy shirt that reminds her she's still my special girl will help with this transitional time and make this age a more fun one for her ❤️