I Spy Softie Tutorial

I keep looking at all these fun novelty fabrics and I wanted to do SOMETHING with them. I spy quilt?? Didn't really satisfy my craving to have a project done in an hour. So.....I was thinking of a little quiet book for kids that's fun to look at. It's quiet, sneaky, incognito but best of all it's WASHABLE and the pages won't tear!

So for the little spy in your family.................Here's how I did it.

You will need:
20 - 5" Square Novelty Prints
Look for interesting scenes and colors.
For this size book, you want to make sure your novelty print isn’t too large.
6 " - of medium RicRac
1 yard (30-36") of small Ric Rac
Fray Check

1) Choose two of your favorite squares that you would like to see on the front and back covers. Before sewing these 2 together, baste the 6" piece of medium RicRac on the left hand side of your front cover. With right sides together, sew your front and back cover together. Trim just a bit of the seam allowance off, because of the bulk from the Ric Rac. Press seam open. You should see half of the Ric Rac showing on the right side now.

2)With the rest of your squares, sew them into pairs of 2.
Hint: It’s okay to put like colors or subjects (like my letters and numbers) by each other, because once they get into the book form they will be separated. EXCEPT for your center page. This pair will be the only pair that will appear as you sewed them.
Press the seams open.
You now have 10 sets of two.

3) Lay out your sets. Pair up a set of 2 with another set of two. Place them back to back with wrong sides together. Be sure to check that any directional fabric is facing the same way as what is on the back or vice versa. Matching your center seam allowances, sew 1/4" around the entire ‘rectangle.

4) After your pairs are sewn together, rotary cut around the edge with a pinking blade or use any decorative shears that will go through fabric. Just take a little bit off the edge. Doesn’t have to be much. We’ve used a scalloped edge shear. As this is a raw edge book, the pinking will help with fraying. If you don’t have any of the above, don’t panic. Your book will still be just fine. You’ll just be pulling off a few strands of thread for a while. Your book won’t disappear, it’ll be just fine!

5) With your front/back cover set, sew on the small RicRac around the 1/4" sewn line. When you complete the rectangle with Ric Rac trim the Ric Rac to just match up with the starting place. Apply a drop of Fray Check to the edges of the cut Ric Rac.

6) It’s time to put your ‘book’ together! Lay the front/back covers face down on the table. Watch your direction. Layer the 4 other sets on top of this. The 2 prints you chose earlier to be by each other, will be your center pages. 7) You will sew down the center of the book, through all thickness. Do the sewing on the front/back covers on the Ric Rack. Match the color of your thread to the color of the Ric Rac so it’s not so noticeable.

8) You’re ready to start spying!! I like to have the book closed and then say to the child,

"Can you find a rabbit with a hat?"

"I spy a purple spaceman! Can you find him?"