Bennett's Quiet Book

In anticipation of the plane ride to New York, I decided to make Bennett a quiet book for those awake times on the plane where he'd have to sit still.  I'm not really crafty in the ways of fabric but I've been doing a lot of little projects in the last few months on a borrowed sewing machine so I thought I'd attempt it.  I thought I'd put pictures of all the pages I did.

 

To those who are thinking of attempting such a thing:  Don't.  That's my advice.  Just buy one if you can.  This took way too much time and by the time it was all over it was more expensive than if I had found one online.  When I was first looking up patterns and things everyone was like "just make it out of scraps you have lying around."  Well, I don't sew, so I had no scraps.  No fabric, no buttons, no velcro, nothing.  Which made buying everything very expensive very quickly.  Of course, if you're already a pretty good seamstress and actually do have things lying around, then making your own book probably wouldn't be as big of a deal.

 

Anyway, all these little projects have definitely improved my meager sewing skills tenfold, so while I'm still not ready to sew any clothes or anything, I do have an increased confidence around a sewing machine, and that's what it's all about, right?  Plus I learned a lot about what tricks I used that worked well, and what totally bombed that I should do different if there is ever a next time.

 

Left: Brush the monster's teeth (which are foam so they don't fray).  Bennett just brushes his own teeth instead.
Right:  The wheels are buttons so he can kind of turn them.  I need to sew them on better.

Left:  Sensory page with different fun ribbons.  I think this would've been a bigger hit when he was a little younger.
Right:  Mix 'n' match animals, velcro.  I'm probably most proud of this page, it took a lot of work.

Left:  I used Pocket's old collar and leash so Bennett can actually leash the dog.
Right:  Magnetic fishing.  Bennett surprisingly LOVES this page and will spend half an hour on it.

Left:  Practicing tying a bow.  Wayyy above Bennett's head right now, obviously.
Right:  Put candles in the cake.  Real candles was a mistake.  They break and fall out easy.

Left:  Match the socks in the washing machine to it's mate!  Little old for B right now.
Right:  I sewed a little LED keychain to the inside of this rocket so the flames light up when you push it!

Left:  Monkey parachuter.  Except I still haven't got around to sewing a parachute on. . .
Right:  Fill the piggy bank!  Coins from the Dollar Store.

Left:  Tent was supposed to have a zipper, but I ran out of time.  Hugely unpopular page.
Right:  Abacus.  Bennett doesn't really get the point of it yet but maybe when he learns to count.