March 10, 2018

Baby’s First Book of Nursery Rhymes

Welcome back for the Once Upon a Rhyme blog post #2. I received these gorgeous fabrics from Riley Blake, just in time to make some handmade gifts for my sister, who is having her first baby. The collection is Once Upon a Rhyme; the very talented artist behind the collection is Jill Howarth. When I started to work on the soft book using the panel, it seemed off. I’ve made many of these soft book panels, but it took me a few moments to work through in my head how it would end up. I contacted Riley Blake and sure enough there is an error in the instructions.

The panels work super well to use in a quilt, which I’m tempted to try. You can see an example of how to use the panel in a quilt here on the Riley Blake website (a free pattern).

Honestly, I was more interested in making the cloth book than I was a quilt. Though I do love quilting, I just think soft books are so great for babies. It’s never too early to read to children. Soft books are perfect to read to babies, because it’s okay to grab, bite, chew, or drool on them 🙂 Just toss them in the wash and they’re good as new. Nursery rhymes are also very good developmentally for babies and toddlers. And Jill’s illustrations are beautiful. (can you tell I’m a big fan of her work?)

I was so happy that Riley Blake fixed the issue and has posted new instructions here on their blog. Be sure you follow them so the book works, especially if this is the first time you’ve made one of these soft books. I worked through the updated instructions and they are correct.

Of course, this is not my first rodeo. I’ve made dozens of these and I tend to be a little bit of a sewing rebel (just ask my middle school sewing teacher). Once I worked through the corrected instructions, I decided I wanted the pages to be in a different order. I wanted my favorite rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle” to come first. Then I wanted the colors to be in an order that made sense to me, a pattern. I also wanted the pictures to be on the left side and the rhymes to be on the right. So I did all manner of rearranging of the pages before sewing them together.

Here’s a little photo sew along or those that like extra pictures with a tutorial.

First step is to carefully cut the pages apart. I cut them with an extra 1/4″ on all four sides.

Then separate the pages, so they can be rearranged properly.

Here’s where I got all rebellious. After following the instructions, I noticed it wasn’t as organized as I would like. I wanted the pages to follow a more organized pattern with regard to the colored rhyme pages. And I like the words to be on the right hand side when reading picture books. Don’t worry, Riley Blake has pictures within their instructions to help you do the pages correct–their way.

After planning the order, sew the pages together in the center, right sides together, and press the seam allowances. (remember this is a different page order than is given in the Riley Blake instructions)

Baste the batting to the wrong side of one piece of the page sets.

Sew 2 page sets together, with right sides together and according to the instructions on the Riley Blake blog. Remember to leave an opening for turning.

Clip the corners to reduce the bulk.

Turn the pages right side out, poke out the corners, and press. Press the raw edges of each opening to the inside and hand sew the openings closed. I used an invisible stitch. Remember to back stitch when hand sewing the opening to reinforce the seam.

Now that all the pages have been sewn with batting inside and the openings sewn closed, it’s time to stack them. Do a reality check to make sure the pages match up: the correct picture with the correct rhyme as you flip through the pages.

I used wonder clips to hold all the pages together, since it’s pretty thick and bulky.