A Guest, Tutorial, and Giveaway! Oh My!

Happy Monday, everyone!  I have a special treat for you today.  Lori from Chickadees is visiting today.  She has put together an amazing tutorial for how to make one of these adorable felt books.

She is also going to offer one lucky reader three 4x6 letter prints from her Downtown Charleston Collection in order to spell out their monogram.  Read on to meet this fantastically talented lady, view her tutorial, and enter the giveaway!

First, thank you Jennifer for not only allowing me to post on your blog that is so full of amazing ideas, but also for believing in me and encouraging me to put my work out for everyone to see!

Today I want to share one of my creations with you all, and teach you how to make your very own felt book.  You may be wondering, “What is the purpose of a felt book?”  Well, so far I’ve been using mine in two different ways, sewing needles and jewelry travel case. 

To make your own small felt book, follow these steps:

Gather your materials

• 3 different colors of felt
• Coordinating Button
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Needle and thread
• Sewing machine, if possible

Choose the color you’d like to use for the book’s “cover.”  Use the ruler to draw a rectangle 6 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches tall.

In the lower right corner of the rectangle, draw a small rectangle that is 1 3/4 inches tall and 1 1/2 inches wide.

Cut out the large rectangle, and the small rectangle so that you are left with the book cover and tab.

Select the color you’d like to use as your book’s “pages.” 

Cut out two rectangles 4 1/2 inches long and 2 3/4 inches tall.

If you want, round the corners of the book’s tab using scissors.  

Use the scissors to cut a slit in the tab for the button to go through.  Then hand stitch the edges of the button hole.

Line up the tab to the front of the book, and place the button in the appropriate place on the front of the book and sew securely into place.

If you want to decorate your book cover, you can also use the third piece of felt to cut out a design.  I made a bird for the front of this book. Hand stitch the design to the front of the book.

Place the pages on the inside of the book and center.

Use sewing machine, if available, to stitch down the middle of the book, creating it’s “binding.”  If you don’t have a sewing machine, you can easily hand stitch this part, as well.

Now you have a book with four pages.

Using your needle and thread, make a small stitch at the four corners of the bottom page rectangle.

You are finished with your felt book! Use it to hold sewing needles and pins...

or as a jewelry storage/travel case.

If using for jewelry, be careful not to place items that might scratch each other on facing pages! 

I hope you enjoy this simple and fun project.  You can see more of my ideas and art on my blog, [email protected], I enjoy working in many mediums: photography, gardening, painting, sewing, baking, graphic design, jewelry design, and whatever else might strike my fancy. 

Now for the giveaway!

There Are Three Ways to Enter:

• If you like what you see, please follow my blog (Chickadees Everything Blog) between today and September 9.  Leave a comment on this post that you are now a follower of Chickadees. 
•  You can also view my alphabet letters and other photography projects, jewelry, etc. on my Etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChickadeesbyLJ.  Pick out your favorite product, come back here, and leave a comment below telling me which product you like best.  Feel free to add the shop to your favorites while you are there.
•  Follow The Life of Jennifer Dawn.  (Current followers: just leave a comment that you are already following.)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  (Again, there are three ways to enter.  That means three separate comments.)

The winner will be randomly selected and will receive 4x6 prints of your three-letter monogram made from my Downtown Charleston, South Carolina Collection.

Check back on September 10 to see who wins.

I hope you all have a great week!

Thank you so much, Lori, for being my guest today!  Let the giveaway begin!