fussy-cut felt needle book

needle books make a quick holiday gift for the stitch-lovers on your list... and the fussy-cut felt needle book will let you personalize your gift with a favorite fabric. choose whether to stitch your needle book by hand or machine.

materials needed:
felt (three colors)
fabric scrap
water soluble marker
coordinating embroidery floss (for hand-sewn version)
sewing machine (for machine-sewn version)
notions

1. determine what part of fabric scrap you'd like to be visible on the needle book cover. fussy-cut fabric so that you have a 1/2" border all around the visible area.

2. cut felt for needle book (note that these sizes are a general guide and may need to be edited depending on the size of your fussy-cut fabric piece):

outside cover: 4.5 x 8"
inside of cover: 4.25 x 7.75"
book pages: 4 x 7.5" (one or two pieces, as desired)

3. measure height and width of fussy-cut fabric and subtract 1" from each side to account for 1/2" borders.

4. using ruler and water soluble marker, mark dimensions on the needle book cover front.

5. cut out along marked lines.

6. place right side of fabric against wrong side of felt cover, line up, and pin.

7. stitch around opening, close to raw edge. if hand-stitching, use a running stitch.

8. center inside cover on wrong side of outside cover. pin together and stitch around all raw edges with a 1/4" seam allowance. if hand-stitching, you can use a running stitch or blanket stitch around raw edges. optional: add additional lines of stitching in various colors around fussy-cut fabric (shown below).

9. center book pages on inside cover and pin. mark center line on outside cover and stitch along marked line to attach pages to cover. if hand-stitching, use a running stitch, hiding thread knot between laters. optional: stitch more than one line or use decorative stitches.

10. place needles in book and get stitching!

for samples shown, i used Sewing Guide in concrete from Mama Said Sew from Pink Castle Fabrics. machine sewn sample uses aurifil 28 wt cotton threads from Simply Color collection.

if you make a felt needle book from this tutorial, please share pics in the imagine gnats flickr group. and don't miss the raccoon felt needle book tutorial here. pattern/tutorial is for personal use only.

happy stitching!