NO-Sew Thankful Book

When I said "later this week," I really meant it, didn't I?

I guess there is just a lot going on!

Well, that and things like throwing up at Target (!!!), but I will spare you the details. You're welcome!

I had to stretch a little to make sure this was completely no-sew. I changed it up a little just to be sure. I've got to say, I really rely on my sewing machine. I kept wanting to use it, but I held out!

Materials

brown felt fro 10 turkeys (see pattern)

scraps of felt for feathers, eye, beak, wattle

fabric glue

pattern HERE

3 small, hinged metal rings (like THIS)

ribbon

ric rac

iron-on fabric for printers

handheld hole punch

Instructions

Cut 10 turkeys, 5 feathers, eye, beak and wattle from felt.

 Using the pattern as a guide, mark where to punch holes.

Punch holes in one turkey, then use it to mark the rest and punch the holes. It was a lot of work using a handheld hole punch, but it worked.

Design  pictures/text  for the pages. I chose to make this book more general instead of personalized. You can google the images and just sift through them until you find one that is not copyrighted. I also made these a little smaller to fit 3 on a page and to have space for the ric rac.

Print out pictures. Using the pattern, center them in the circle and then draw it around each page.

Cut out each page.

Use fabric glue to attach eye, beak, and wattle.

Glue the pages together (5 sets of 2) with the feather in the correct place for each page. You will need to surround the holes with glue so that they are secure as the book gets used and abused. It will help to prevent the hole from pulling or tearing any larger.

Glue each page to felt using the fabric glue. (The iron-on bond isn’t very good since you can’t get your felt very hot. But the iron-on style is still  better quality than the sew-on.)

Put glue around the outer edge of the iron-on page for the ric rac. This brand of glue was new for me and I discovered that the bond was good, but it didn’t dry as clearly as I would have liked. Try to get close to the edge without making it too thick. (Mine was a bit thick or wide.)

Attach ric rac around the page to cover the edges. I used jumbo ric rac and found it a little difficult to work with for the curves on the circle since the glue doesn’t dry instantly when I stretch it in place. (My text was also a bit too close to the edges.) I suggest using a smaller size of ric rac if you are gluing it down. I actually liked the look of the ric rac so much that I wish I had used it on my fabric book!

Insert metal rings through each hole like this. I actually don’t have mine because that was one of the things I forgot on my Target shopping trip. Remember the throw up? Sorry to remind you!

Add a ribbon through the holes on the first set of pages (cover and page 1) just to look pretty. Use a lighter or match to heat seal the ends of the ribbon. I like to glue the knot so the bow can’t come undone as well. You can also use the ribbon without the rings, but it really isn’t nearly as durable that way.

Now enjoy that book with your little one!

It sure makes me feel grateful for the many people and things I enjoy in my life!