There are several procedures on how to bind a Quiet book. For this basic quiet book binding, you should prepare fabric page bases as described here.
The instructions will show you three parts: how to make quiet book sheets out of the cover & activity pages, how to make the inner and outer spine, and how to bind everything together.
In these instructions, I will use the temperature, steam, and time conditions for the fusible interfacing, which you can find in our store. If you are using another fusible interfacing, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
If you just started planning your quiet book, I suggest you read the Quiet book Guide, where you can find out what is the general procedure of making a quiet book.
BASIC QUIET BOOK BINDING
SEWING INSTRUCTIONS
If you haven’t already, first, create activities you want to have in your book.
Check if you have everything you need to make this basic quiet book binding.
Quiet Book Sheets
STEP 1
First, you have to make the quiet book sheets out of the cover & activity pages. Decide in what order you want to have activities in the book.
As you can see in the schema, you will make the first sheet out of the front cover page and the activity you want to have at the beginning of the book.
Then you will have three intermediate sheets of the activities, and you will make the last sheet from the back cover page and the activity you want to have at the end of the book.
TIP: If you have activities with buttons, any plastic clips/metal rings, or bulk page (Dog page, Bicycle page, Clock page, Helicopter page, Horse Page, Shoes page, Ladybug page), combine them with the cover pages or the activities that are flat and only made out of felt (Plane page, Hippo page, Gloves page, Watermelon page, Color Pencils page, Mouse & Cheese page).
This way, you will put the fusible fleece, which goes in the sheet on the page that is flat (see the next step).
For this tutorial, I will use a template with numbers, so it will be easier for you to see how to bind everything together.
STEP 2
For every pair, decide on which page of the pair you will iron on the fusible fleece. Always take the flatter activity without the buttons, clips, etc. if that is possible.
If not, take the one on which you will iron on the fusible fleece more easily.
Before you start to iron on the fusible fleece, remove all the removable parts if the activities have them. Then iron on the fusible fleece. Use the maximum temperature and no stem. Don’t iron, just press iron down.
Now you should have 5 pairs of pages. And one page of every pair should have fusible fleece ironed on.
STEP 3
Put the front cover page and the first activity page together. Make both pages have the same orientation.
Use pins or sewing clips. If you used the template when making your fabric pages, the pages should now align together well. Don’t worry if there is a little deviation. Do the same with all the other pairs.
STEP 4
Put all sheets in a pile, so you will see how the finished book will look. Flip through pages again, to make sure you like the layout and that all the pages are orientated right.
STEP 5
Make the pile again, with the front cover page on top. With an erasable pen, mark all the edges on the left side of the pile: on the cover page, on the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth activity. These edges are the edges you do not sew.
STEP 6
Sew together three edges of every sheet EXCEPT the last one.
STEP 7
If you want to make a quiet book without any closing strip, sew the last sheet the same as all previous ones. In this case, you prepared the quiet book sheets.
If you want to make a quiet book with the closure, take the following steps:
Take the last sheet, with the eighth activity up. With an erasable pen, mark the middle of the right edge (10.5 cm; 4⅛ in). Then, insert a closure with the wrong side up in between the eighth activity and back cover page.
STEP 8
Put all the removable parts back to the activity pages and make a pile as your quiet book will look like when you finish it. Now you have the real thickness of your book.
Put your closing strap on the cover page. With this, you will see how long strip you need. Align everything.
STEP 9
Open the closing strip. Make a mark of how much strip should look out of the last sheet. Pin the strip on the sheet and sew the three sides of the last sheet as before (do not sew the left edge of the sheet).
You have all the sheets you need for the binding.
Making Inner and Outer Spine
STEP 1
First, put all the removable parts out of the activities again.
Take the fabric piece for the inner spine, 37×17 cm (14⅝ x 6¾ in). Iron it and fold it in half on the long side (the right sides together).
Measure 17 cm (6¾ in) from the fold and draw a line with an erasable fabric pen. Pin the fabric and make a seam along the marked line.
STEP 2
Iron the seam, turn the inner spine side out, and iron again, so the seam will be in the center of the fabric.
STEP 3
Fold the spine on half. Then open the fold and make another fold in a way you put short edges to the crease you just made. Iron it. You now have the inner spine with three creases, perpendicular to the seam. The inner spine is ready.
STEP 4
Take a cover fabric, 21×14 cm (8¼ x 5½ in), and iron it. Fold it on half, wrong sides together, and iron it a little. Open the fold, align the stiff fusible interfacing with the crease, and iron it.
STEP 5
Fold the fabric again, this time the right sides together. Pin the fabric and make a stitch on both short edges of the fusible interfacings. Make sure you sew 1mm from the interfacing (you sew together only the fabric).
STEP 6
Cut corners and turn the fabric inside out. Iron again, so that fusible web stick together both sides of the fabric. To make nice corners, you can help with the pin.
STEP 7
Take fusible web (or strips), 5×17 cm (2 x 6¾ in), and put it inside the outer spine. Make sure the fusible web is smaller than the fabric piece. Iron it so the fabrics sticks together. The outer spine is ready.
Binding Quiet Book Sheets Together
STEP 1
Take the first sheet. Along the open edge, mark the place 1.5 cm (⅝ in) on both edges. Then, make another mark 2 cm (¾ in) from both edges. Check, if the inner and outer spine fit well inside the marks you made.
STEP 2
Take all other sheets and make marks along the open edge 2 cm (¾ in) on both edges. You can use pins or an erasable pen.
STEP 3
Make a 1 cm mark on the inner and outer spine. Insert them in the first sheet. Make sure that you see the inner spine (but not it’s seam) when you look at the first activity, and outer spine, when you look at the cover pages. Pin everything together and make a straight stitch along the open edge, needle in the left position.
TIP: If the pages are not well aligned and the difference is more than 1mm, it can happen to you, that you won’t sew both pages together. In this case, just sew the part where there is no stitch.
STEP 4
Fold together the next crease and make a 1 cm mark from the fold. Insert the fold inside the next sheet and align it with the 2cm marks. Check the orientation and the sequence of the pages. Make sure you sew only the sheet with the inner spine inside, not anything else.
Sew the next two internal pages (but not the last one) as above:
- first, make the mark 1cm away of the fold on the inner spine,
- insert the fold inside the sheet (make sure the orientation and the sequence are correct),
- and sew the remaining open edge of the sheet together.
You have bound together all the sheets, except for the last one. Right now, the book looks like this:
STEP 5
For binding the last page, make a 1 cm mark on both sides of the outer spine.
STEP 6
Take the inner spine and align it with the outer spine.
If the inner spine edge is not straight, align the lowest part of the inner spine with the edge of the outer spine. Check if the whole length of the inner spine is under the 1cm mark on the outer spine.
STEP 7
Draw two 1.5 marks with an erasable pen on the eighth activity and the back cover page. Insert the outer spine with the inner spine in the last sheet and align the outer spine with the marks. Check the orientation before you pin everything together. Then, make the final stitch along the entire edge of the last sheet.
And here it is: you did it! You finish the Basic Quiet Book Binding!
Put all the removable parts back on the activity pages and then admire your creation; congratulations! You made the whole quiet book by yourself, well done! Don’t forget to show me some photos, so that I can celebrate with you. 😉 I am so proud, and you should be, too!
