Dylan's Busy Book

I am so excited about how this turned out, and I even finished it by her birthday party! If you didn't see my fiasco of attempting to cut fabric with the cricut (testing it so I could make a quiet book), you can read those posts here for part 1, and here for part 2.It works, though I would make some changes. It looks so cute. I wish that I knew how well Dylan likes it. At least I know she uses it. My mom said she has difficulty pronouncing busy and it comes out as Disney. So she says Dylan's Disney book. Cute. If she asks for it, that must mean that she likes it right? Well, I also added two coloring book, 12 colored pencils, and a pack of 8 Ariel the little mermaid crayons that she colored with at our house. Gotta love stuff from the dollar bins at the stores! :) So I wrote down the measurements of the fabrics so I could share. :)

I cut fabrics to these measurements. I should have added a half inch all around. The coloring books are a tight fit.

(4) 11.5"x9" - inner and outer cover

      (4) interfacing I used pellon fusible
(2) 11.5"x1.5" - inner and outer spine
      (2) interfacing
(2) 11.5"x14" - coloring book pockets
      (2) interfacing, I used Heat-n-bond here
(1) 2"x9" - snap flap
(4) 2"x15.5" - handles

I folded the pocket in half so it was 11.5x8 and the edge for the top of the fabric was finished. I changed from a straight stitch to another more decorative one to fancy up the folded edge. Sew one of the pockets to the inner cover. Line up the 11.5" edges. Sew along the sides, I backed over the top just to make sure that it stays.

One the other pocket, I still did the fold in half and decorative stitching, but this is where I added the fabric for the pencil pocket. I did not write down this measurement. But I know I used 5/8" for the pencil spaces. It probably should have been 6/8 or 7/8 instead. But you can line up the total number of pencils on a paper and measure out how much fabric you need. I think I at least used 10" and folded in half like the book pockets.

I sewed the two pieces to the inner spine and began working on the outer cover. I sewed one of the cover pieces to the outer spine and waited to sew the other piece on until after I did the applique. I wish I just bought iron on letters instead. But after I finished the applique, I sewed that piece to the other side of the spine.

For the handles I would cut (2) 4"x15.5" then fold in half (right sides together), sew the open end then turn right-side out. I did a finishing straight stitch on each side to prevent twisting and hold the seams together. I probably would still have done this even if I folded it in half and sewed it together.

For the snap, I folded it in half length wise (right sides together) so from 9" it went to 4.5. I stitched the sides to finish and hold it from twisting as well after turning it right side out. I used this with the inner and outer pieces to determine where I wanted the snap to be. I placed the snap on the cover and the flap

I pinned the handles and flap where I wanted them, directing them toward the center. To sew the inner and outer covers together, place right sides together and sew around. Leave an opening about 5 inches to turn right side out. when you turn it right side out, stitch the opening closed.