Look at that pile of goodness! It is destined for great things.
I’m finding this really hard to believe, but my little guy turns one in less than a week. That kind of snuck up on me. But at least I managed to get a start on his gift with enough time that I didn’t have to scramble to get it done. And it was nearly free to make.
Thanks to having an older sister who was the first grandchild on both sides of the family, little dude has never experienced a shortage of toys. It’s pretty nice, but it makes thinking of gifts really hard. Since babies can never have enough things to chew on and touch, I decided to make him a new cloth book. I was inspired by ones I had seen on the internet that were assembled scraps to create a rainbow of pages. So I took the idea and ran. I raided my stash and pulled all the coolest stuff in a rainbow of colors. From corduroy and velvet to embroidery and lace, this book has a decent variety of fun things for him to touch.
Since it’s veeeery late, time to quit yakking and share some pics!
Reds, oranges, yellows and greens.Blues and purples.Greys and browns.By far, my favorite fabric of the bunch. I bought it in 2002 and made a top out of it. A top I almost never wore, but I couldn’t toss because I loved this fabric so much. Clearly, there was a reason I couldn’t let it go.This shirt was the starting point for all pages. After digging through my stash, I knew I wanted each page to have three different fabrics. I also wanted this whole “love” block to be visible. So I cut it out, added the other blues and based all pages sizes off that.Pages waiting for a cover.Bookplate! Marbled endpapers! The bibliophile in me is THRILLED with this part of the book!I had to use my aluminum clips to hold everything together. There were so many layers pins couldn’t possibly do the job. Then I had to hand-stitch this beast together.
And here is the finished product! Oh, I love babies. I can share this gift with the entire world, and there is no way it will spoil it for him.
The cover is four pieces of fabric patch worked together. I love both these prints, and they complement each other so well.The beautiful marbled interior and book plate. Green page: Cottons and velvet.Brown page: Corduroy from a blazer, cotton scrap and faux fur. Orange page: cotton scrap and jersey from two tees.Blue page: Cotton scrap, minky scrap from little man’s first Christmas gift and a tee shirt bit. Grey page: Flannel from sheets, ultrasuede scrap, grey fur and drawstring from lounge pants.
Purple page: Mostly from a purse I loved to literal pieces. Also has a strip of fabric I painted and a medallion from a tank I wore in high school. Yellow page: Two yellow stash cottons and lace from a shelled cami.Red page: cotton, minky and another scrap from a tee.Boom! Book done.
daydreamhouse 