49. Felt Sewing Book

MATERIALS

One 5 x 7 1/2" piece of Heavy felt
button
Three, 4 3/4 x 7 1/4" pieces of Lightweight felt
needle & thread

Sewing kit items
extra buttons
needles
pins

INSTRUCTIONS

When clothes need mending, reach for this book—its felt pages are designed to keep sewing supplies organized. Devote one page to extra buttons that come with garments, one to pins, and another to needles (pre-threaded with your most-used colors).

1. To make the cover, cut a piece of heavy felt into a 5-by-7 1/2-inch rectangle. Sew a button halfway up one short end, 1/4 inch in from edge. Make the tab closure by cutting a 1 1/2-by 2-inch strip of heavy felt, rounding it at one end. Sew the straight end of the tab to the end of the cover opposite the button, halfway up the cover and 1/8 inch in from the edge; make a slit in the rounded end of tab to serve as a buttonhole.
   
2. For the pages, cut three 4 3/4-by-7 1/4-inch pieces of lightweight felt. Fold each page in half, and iron along the crease. Open the cover, and center the opened pages on top. Close book, and use a blanket stitch to bind cover with pages, 1/2 inch in from folded edge.
   
3. To make the blanket-stitch binding, you’ll need an upholstery needle and embroidery floss. Hold the book in your lap with the fold at your waist, and start in the left-hand corner: Draw floss out through the fold from inside the book. Insert needle down into fabric, 1/2 inch up from fold, 3/8 inch in from edge; bring it out at the edge, as shown, keeping the floss loop under the needle. (See illustration below.) Continue stitching, working from left to right, until book is bound.
   
   

Source: Martha Stewart