felt journal

This little felt journal is a simple, quick and practical project, great for little hands learning to sew. Evelyn made this pink bird notebook for her kids swap last month. The theme of the swap was anything Spring related, and her partner really likes the colors pink and blue. I drew the shape of the bird and she cut it out and stitched it on herself with a teeny bit of troubleshooting here and there.

Here is what we did: We used wool felt for the cover and the applique, but eco-felt works just fine, too. You can cut it to any size you desire. Sew on the applique or shapes of your choice, embellishing with beads, buttons, embroidery, or anything else. Cut a second piece of felt to line the inside of the cover to hide the stitches from the back of the applique. Then cut the paper you wish to use for the inside; we used plain white recycled scrap paper, cut to slightly smaller than the felt cover. Colored paper looks very nice, too.

Next, fold the pre-cut paper in half and punch a hole on the fold-seam. Then, with yarn or embroidery floss, sew through the layers and assemble the book by sewing along the seam. Tie the thread on the inside or the outside of the book. We left some string on the top end to create a little book marker and tied two colorful buttons to the bottom as weights (beads work perfectly, too!).

Then, take the embroidery floss and sew all around the edges, using either a running stitch or blanket stitch, to create a border and to attach the cover and liner.

The best part of this project is that you can experiment with different sizes and embellishments and come up with something completely different every time!