On the Internet you will find a whole range of free instructions and great patterns that you can use to make your own Quiet Book. Think in advance about what you want to design, which template or instructions you want to use and prepare all the materials before you get started.
We have put together a small checklist for you to make your own Quiet Book.
You need:
- different colored cotton fabrics
- Iron-on fleece in different thicknesses
- Polyester wadding/polyester fleece
- Felt sheets in different colors
- Sewing thread
- Fabric scissors and a small pair of craft scissors
- self-erasing or water-soluble fabric marker (for example the trick marker from Prym)
- Tracing paper or baking paper
- Pencil and pen
- ruler
- Patchwork or quilting ruler to mark right angles
- Fabric clips, pins, sewing needles
- Iron
- Cutter knife
- Rotary cutter
- cutting mat
- Circle
- and a sewing machine
Depending on the idea, activity or template, you will need additional materials. Don't get started until you have everything at hand. Do you perhaps still need cords, buttons, ribbons or zippers? Below you will find some sources for the materials.
Additional tips for choosing fabrics, felt sheets, and other materials you'll need to make your Quiet Book:
Cotton fabrics
Be sure to choose materials for your Quiet Book that are free of harmful substances. The most common certifications for fabrics are the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and the GOTS standard. Feel free to ask at the fabric store - many manufacturers offer these safety certificates so you can be sure that your child is protected from harmful chemicals.
For the individual pages we recommend pure poplin, a very tightly woven fabric made of 100% cotton. If you're making a Quiet Book with six activity pages, you'll need fabric for each page, the covers, and the inside and outside. If you choose a different color or pattern for each activity page, another fabric for the cover and another for the two inside pages, you will need a total of eight different fabrics.
To make it cheaper, you can use just one cotton fabric for all six pages and another for the book cover with the two inside pages, or simply buy a fat quarter bundle with different cotton fabrics.
For the activity sides, softer, light tones are ideal, either plain fabric or something with a minimalist design. This way the child's focus is more on the activity and he or she is not distracted by a busy background. For cover pages, in our experience, it's best to use designs with motifs that your child finds exciting. This could be a fabric with animals, vehicles, a star or a clown. Maybe you can personalize the Quiet Book with a small name embroidery or a photo tab into which the child can put their picture?
felt
1 mm thick polyester felt panels are suitable for the applications on the activity pages. To make your Quiet Book visually appealing, you'll need about ten different colors.
Our felt is OEKO-TEX certified because it is durable and hypoallergenic. When you buy felt, always ask for a certificate so that your child is not exposed to potentially harmful chemicals while playing, because there can be big differences in quality, especially with polyester felt sheets. You can also test the physical properties yourself by pressing the rough side of a Velcro strip firmly onto the felt several times. Does the Velcro stick on the felt? Then the felt is not of good quality and will quickly pill and fluff.
Inserts and iron-on fleece
To ensure that the Quiet Book is sufficiently strong and robust to withstand curious fingers and persistent play, we use up to three types of inserts and iron-on fleece.
For the pages themselves you will need non-elastic, woven iron-on fleece made of cotton, for example G700 and G710. The weight should be 80-100 g/m². For a Quiet Book with six activity pages, you need eight pieces measuring 21×21 cm.
To give the pages even more grip and volume, you will need a piece of fixing fleece measuring 19x19 cm each as an intermediate insert.
We also use very strong, woven cotton fleece for ironing on. Even if you only need smaller pieces, this fleece is important for stabilizing individual details that are intended for pulling or for all parts that are removed and reattached by the child during play. This cotton fleece is approximately twice as strong as soft iron-on fleece fabric and feels stiff.
Other materials you need
The choice mainly depends on what type of activity pages you want to design. Many of the things on this list are probably already in your home:
- Cords
- shoelaces
- Zippers
- Ribbons
- Snap fasteners for sewing on
- Mini clothespins
- clear vinyl film
- Buttons
- Pearls
- Clips
- carbine
- Velcro/Velcro fastener
For sensory activities you need fabrics with different structures, for example:
- Glitter felt
- Oilcloth
- flannel
- leatherette
- Velor
- Pompoms
- Faux fur
- Sequin fabric
Material selection can be time-consuming. You can find most of the accessories in well-stocked fabric and craft stores. If you don't have the opportunity to browse and shop locally, you'll definitely find what you're looking for here:
Ms. Tulip https://www.frautulpe.de
Siebenblau https://www.siebenblau.de/bio-stoffladen-berlin
stoffe.de https://www.stoffe.de
In the next blog post we will explain how you can make your own Quiet Book in 10 simple steps.