There are several procedures on how to bind a Quiet book. For bias quiet book binding, you should prepare fabric page bases for bias binding. You can also use a felt page base.
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.
This type of binding is suitable for the sewing method only.
BIAS 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 bias 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.
SLIKE
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
Before you will make bias edges on the page sheets, you have to prepare the bias strips.
Take the long strip of dotted fabric, 86 x 3.8 cm (33 ⅞ x 1 ½ in), and iron it. Don’t worry about the rough edges.
STEP 6
Iron the strip on half across the long side (1.9 cm; 6/8 in).
Fold one long edge to the inner fold that runs in the center of the fabric and iron it (0.95 cm; 3⁄8 in).
The bias strip is ready. Prepare all other four fabric strips.
STEP 7
You will sew bias strip on the page sheets. Be careful, because you have to sew them differently on the middle sheets, first sheet, and the last sheet. For better understanding, I will use the page sheets with real activities on them.
Middle sheets:
On the middle sheet I have two activities: clock activity page (activity no.2 – left side of the book) and color pencil activity page (activity #3 – right side of the book).
STEP 1
First, mark with an erasable pen, on which side of your page sheet you should start sewing the bias tape.
SLIKA
Start approx. 4 cm (1 ⅝ in) above the bottom edge of the page sheet.
Put the bias stripe on the page and fold the edge so that the new short hem will be aligned with the mark. Align the long strip edge with the page edge.
STEP 2
Sew the strap on the page. Align your sewing foot with the page edge. The needle is in the center.
STEP 3
When you are coming near the first corner, use the template (you align it with the bottom book page). Sew to the template, then make a finish towards the corner. Do the backstitching and cut the tread.
STEP 4
Fold the fabric, as shown in the photo. Make sure the folded edge of the fabric is aligned with the book page.
Also, check out the folded strip edge is alignet with the upper activity edge.
STEP 5
Align the template with the upper book edge and align the sewing foot with the right book edge. Start sewing on the spot where the needle is almost touching the template.
STEP 6
Take the same procedure when you come to the next two corners: use a template aligned with the bottom book page, sew to the template then finish the stitch towards the corner. Fold the fabric again. The folded edge should be aligned with the upper book edge. Sew to the next corner and repeat the process.
STEP 7
From the last corner, start sewing the same as before: align the template with the upper book edge, the sewing foot with the right book edge and start sewing right next to the cardboard.
STEP 8
Before you finish sewing, don’t forget to make another nice edge by folding the last cm (3⁄8 in).
SLIKA!
STEP 9
Cut off the excess threads on both sides of the sheet.
STEP 10
Turn the fabric strip on the other side of the page sheet.
STEP 11
Use the sewing pins to fasten the strip on the other (activity) page. Place the edge of the strip 1 mm (1/16 in) higher than the seam you made earlier.
STEP 12
For the corners, use the procedure as in the photos.
STEP 13
Sew the strip on the page. Align the center of the foot with the edge of the strip and move the needle to the left position. Sew approx. 2 mm (⅛ in) from the edge of the strip.
Sew all around the bias strip and put the sewing pins out.
SLIKA
Repeat the same procedure for another two middle page sheets.
Last sheet:
If you want to make a quiet book without any closing strip, sew the last sheet the same as the middle sheets, with one exception: the bias strip should be all around the sheet, so start sewing the bias strip in the middle of the page sheet’s edge (and not 4 cm above the bottom edge as on the middle sheets). When you sew all around, put the end of the fabric strip over the sewn part of the strip. The overlap of the strip should be about 1 cm (3⁄8 in) wide. Cut off the excess of the fabric…
…And sew the remaining strip over the sewn one.
If you want to make a quiet book with the closure, take the following steps:
Prepare the last sheet, book closure strip, and one binding strip.
STEP 1
Take the last sheet, with the eighth activity up. Put a closure with the wrong side up under the back cover page. The strip should be in the middle of the right edge of the page sheet (10.5 cm; 4⅛ in).
STEP 2
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 the closing strap on the cover page. With this, you will see how long strip you need. Align everything.
STEP 3
Open the closing strip. Make a mark of how much strip should look out of the last sheet. Now, make another mark 1 cm (3⁄8 in) on the left side of the mark you just made.
STEP 4
Turn the last sheet with the back cover page up.
Pin the strip on the middle of the left edge of a page sheet. Also, align the second mark with the left edge of the page sheet.
STEP 5
Take a bias strip and sew around all four edges. The procedure is the same as written above for sewing bias strip on the last page sheet without closing stirp.
First sheet:
Before you can make the first sheet, you have to make inner and outer spine.
Making Inner and Outer Spine
STEP 1
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 in 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 stick 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
Take the first sheet, the front cover page up. Take the outer spine and align it with the left edge, within the 1.5 cm (⅝ in) marks you made before. Pin or clip it on the page sheet.
Turn the page sheet around. Take the inner spine and align it with the edge, within the 2 cm (¾ in) marks you made before. You should see the seam on the inner spine. Pin or clip it on the page sheet.
Make a handstitch along the edge, so that you fix both spines on the page sheet.
STEP 4
Sew the spines on the page sheet. Use the straight stitch. Align the right foot edge with the page sheet’s edge and put the needle in the left position, so you have 1 cm (⅝ in) seam allowance.
STEP 5
Take the bias strip and sew it all around the page sheet, the same way as the last page sheet.
STEP 6
Turn the first page sheet with the first activity up, so you will also see the inner spine.
As you can see on the inner spine, you already have folds on it. Put the first page sheet inside the fold and pin it. Make sure that the page sheet has the right orientation.
STEP 7
Sew the inner spine and page sheet together. Use straight stitch, the needle in the left position. Don’t sew along the whole page sheet’s edge, but only where the inner spine is.
STEP 8
Repeat the procedure for all middle sheets. And then cut all the excess threads.
STEP 9
For binding the last sheet, first, make marks on the inner spine 4 cm (1 ⅝) from the page sheet’s edge. This way you will see if there is any excess of the fabric. Pin the inner spine on the last page sheet, on the side with the activity on it. Sew the inner spine and page sheet together. Use straight stitch, the needle in the left position.
STEP 10
Fold the corners of the inner spine and pin them. Make another straight stitch, this time align the center of the sewing foot with the page sheet’s edge and use the needle in the left position. Cut the excess threads.
STEP 11
Turn the book, last cover page up. You can see the stitches from binding the inner spine and the last sheet together. Put a masking tape right next to the stitches.
STEP 12
Make marks on the masking tape, on both sides 2 cm (¾ in) away from the edges.
STEP 13
Align the outer spine within the marks and the masking tape and pin it along the whole edge.
STEP 14
Sew the outer spine and the last page sheet together. Align the center of the sewing foot with the outher spine’s edge and use the needle in the left position. Cut the excess threads.
STEP 15
Remove the masking tape and put all the removable parts into the book.
Congratulations! You finished your quiet book!
