Sew an ABC, ME! Felt Book
Learn how to make a soft, splendid and surprising ABC book that includes a photo of your child.
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
ABC books are a big hit with little kids (especially between the ages of two and four), and if you have some kind of sewing ability, then it’s fun to make an ABC book of your own.
You definitely don’t need to be a super seamstress or professional publisher to do this!
All you have to do is cut out some felt shapes, stitch them together (by hand and/or machine) and add your child’s photo to a felt frame on the back cover to make it into an ABC, ME! book.
There’s also the option of making a little felt family album, with ‘M for Mum’, ‘D for Dad’ and ‘X for Xavier,’ or a mini-book about animals, colours or shapes.
Basically, any short, sweet words and pictures will work, and no matter how wonky your sewing is, this little book is a keeper!
Below are some basic steps to follow, and for more detail, check out the reel for this project on KindiCare’s Instagram or Facebook pages.
Step 1: Cut out some felt squares for the pages of your ABC, ME! book.
For a four-page book, you’ll need to cut out eight squares of felt, and we used sharp dress-making scissors (for adult use only!) and a variety of different coloured felt sheets, bought from our local $2 shop.
Step 2: Cut out some letters and shapes in contrasting colours of felt.
You’ll need the letters, A, B (x2), C, O (x 2) and K, plus basic shapes for an apple, bee, carrot and photo frame.
Step 3: Cut out a photo of your child for the back cover.
The pic needs to be slightly bigger than the opening of the felt frame, so you can sew it in without it slipping out.
Step 4: Sew the letters and shapes to their felt pages.
The letters B, O (x2) and K go on the front cover, followed by the letter A, then the apple, the letter B, then the bee, the letter C, then the carrot, and finally, the frame with the photo sewn in behind it.
Step 5: Sew the front and back of each page together.
A zig-zag stitch around the entire edge of the squares works well if you have a sewing machine, or else do whichever hand-stitch is easiest for you.
You’ll need to sew the following squares together, back-to-back:
- BOOK and the letter A
- Apple and the letter B
- Bee and the letter C
- Carrot and the photo frame
Step 6: Bind your four pages together to make a book.
Unless you have an industrial-powered sewing machine, it’s best to use a thick darning needle and a piece of wool to bind your pages together, as all that felt is super chunky!
Try to stitch close to the left-hand edge of the pages, so your book opens flat.
Step 7: Read the finished book with your little one and treasure it forever.
Your ABC, ME! book is fun to touch and read together, and we hope your under-five gets a great surprise when they see themselves at the end!
