My Grandmother made my sisters and I busy books when we were little and I still have mine. It’s how I learned to tie a shoelace.
I decided to give it a go for my new niece. Naturally, I didn’t use a pattern, or know what I was doing, and I had a tight deadline. I managed to pull it all together somehow and I quite like how it came together.
Initially, I thought I would do birds of Panama, A-Z, but when I realized I had a deadline, I knew I wasn’t going to have time to hand embroider all 26 birds. (Also, I realized that 26 pages in a busy book would be incredibly thick) I opted to use the ones I had already finished and then fill in holes as needed. To do so, I ran around the house looking for items that might be appropriate. I cut the mirror off of an old toy, took buttons, elastic, and a zipper from my sewing box, and ran to a store to find a strip of fabric that would be fun to play with but would be as baby proof as possible.
I had two choices with this project. 1. Cut corners and get it done on time, or 2. Be perfect and not get it done on time. I cut some corners here and there. Most notably, the pages didn’t line up especially well when I bound it, but oh well. Babies don’t care about perfection. They just want something to chew on.
For anyone wondering: Sometimes I will draw something out if I want to do hand embroidery, but I have found that printing off a photograph can be really helpful. I stitch over the top and rip the paper out as I go. I generally take creative liberties with it as needed, but follow the general shape of the paper.
Quirky Quilts 