Sew a mini busy book with this simple sewing tutorial. All you need is a little felt and a needle and thread to bring bear’s house to life! Click here for more sewing tutorials.
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Bear’s House: A DIY Mini Busy Book Sewing Project
What You'll Find on This Page
I love sewing with felt, and I had a blast designing this mini busy book. The pieces are tiny, but it’s still easy to sew and will come together pretty quickly. Don’t get intimidated!
Materials
You only need a few basic materials for this project:
- Felt. Ideally wool, which you can find on Etsy and Amazon.
- A needle and thread. You want a sharp tip with a slightly large eye.
- Scissors to cut out the pattern and the felt. Applique scissors are helpful for cutting out tiny details like this little bear in this pattern.
- Thread. I love Gutermann brand, but if you prefer you can use embroidery floss for all of your stitching.
- Embroidery floss for stitching the blanket stitch around edges.
Click to read also: Handmade Gifts for Children
How to Sew This Busy Book
First, you need to cut out all of your pieces (download the pattern at the end of this post). They should look something like this:
If you are struggling to cut out tiny pieces (especially the bear), try using applique scissors. Cut out the larger shape first, and then snip out the details.
Next, you need to stitch the door, windows, bathtub, bed, and car on using an applique whip stitch. This YouTube video demonstrates this style of whipstitch applique:
When you stitch correctly, the stitches on the front are straight while those on the back are diagonal, like this:
Don’t worry, none of those backside stitches will show by the time we are done!
Make sure you leave sides open on the door and the top of the bathtub, bed, and car so that bear can slide into place. You can see this in the image below.
Bear’s pillow, blanket, and bath towel are not attached to the book, but they can slide into the bathtub for safekeeping when not in use.
Putting Together Bear’s House
Use as blanket stitch to first stitch together the first two and final two pages, and then to bind the edges of the entire book. Here’s a simple blanket stitch tutorial:
I recommend double stitching along the book binding. This makes the book sturdier and also helps the multiple rows of blanket stitching to look and feel more intentional. Here’s a video showing how the finished book should work.
Well done, you’ve finished your book! Now it’s time to play. I purposely made this little house small enough to fit into even a compact bag for on the go entertainment and storytelling.
Download the Pattern for this Mini Busy Book
Just click on the image below to download your free PDF pattern for this miniature busy book.
Please share photos if you make this mini busy book!
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
It’s super cute! I might make one for my niece.
I would love to see photos if you do! It comes together pretty quickly.