Quiet Book Page – Zipper Fun
Materials
Items I bought through Fabmo or from before
- Fabric swatches
- Zippers
- Thread
Specific items I bought off of Amazon
- 108″ Unbleached Muslin Natural Fabric by the Yard
- Pellon Fusible Thermolam Plus White Fabric by the Yard
Like the reverse side of this page, weaving a pie, I started out with a rough outline on how I should make my page. Instead of sketching out the final picture like I did with the pie I instead wrote out the order of operations in making the page.
Plan out your quiet book page. I knew I wanted to create a patchwork of textures and colors behind my zippers but had to decide on how and the sizing.
I started by going through the zippers I had on hand and then choosing which ones I should use and which order. I ended up picking five zippers in total: one unique neon yellow one for in the center, two burgundy zippers for either side of the first, and two grey ones to go on the outside. Just make sure they are similar lengths to each other unless you want to build up the height. I was going to sew the zippers together first and then attach them to the page but realized then you could peer underneath each one into the other zipper area and so decided to sew each zipper directly to the quiet book page. Because of that choice I measured the width and height of the zippers as a whole so I’d know what size to make the hidden area underneath the zippers. I made sure to measure the zipper width with no overlap (max width 5″) and again with the maximum amount of overlap (min width 3.5″) along with the zipper’s height (7″) so I’d know what the range of sizes in the hidden area could be. I then created a template out of excess cardboard so I could compare the fabric samples easily to know if it was too large or too small. You could easily measure them instead but I liked the quick comparison.
Started by sewing my squares together into strips. Be careful testing the joins as some of my squares ripped apart and I had to resew.
Pin and sew your two strips together.
Finished grid is sewn together.
The back of the fabric samples after being sewn together.
Once my fabric samples were sewn together and trimmed I then went on to mark the seam allowance and grommet space on my page, pin the swatch, and then sewed it to the center of my quiet book sheet.
Pin the grid in place on your page and sew along the edges to keep it in place.
After sewing the swatch down I decided to reinforce it and make it more appealing by adding decorative stitching over the squares. After each set of stitches I used a hand sewing needle to move the top thread underneath the page and tied a knot with the bottom thread so it wouldn’t unravel.
I also used other colors of thread and sewed decorative stitches to show through the zippers.
Pack of the page after the fabric samples were sewn on.
It was now time to sew on the zippers. I started with the center zipper and worked my way out from there.
I had five zippers to attach so I started by centering the middle zipper and sewing it on.
Then pin and sew on the next two zippers on either side of the center.
After I finished sewing down each zipper individually I then sewed all around them with a decorative stitching to make them all go together and, most importantly, to keep the top of the yellow zipper from gaping open too much and reinforcing the zippers as they’re going to get a lot of action. As the sheet still looked a bit empty I then added a decorative stitch going up the left and right sides of the zippers to frame them. I tied down the loose threads on either end of the decorative stitching, but wasn’t too worried about them coming apart as it will be sewn down when sewing this sheet to its other side of the page. Now all that’s left is to pin the sheet to its reverse page, sew along three sides, put right side out, sew the hole closed, and add grommets.
After sewing on the outside two zippers I sewed a decorative stitch on either side of the design.
The back of the page after sewing it all together.
Pinned it to the other side of the page, right sides together.
Sew on three of the sides or more.
Flip it right side out.
Marked where to sew for the grommet space.
Sewed the end closed.
Finished zipper fun quiet book page.
If I were to do this again I would…
- Test out the zippers a bit more before choosing which ones to use. The neon yellow zipper is a bit harder to zip open and closed compare to the others.
- Add fabric swatches between the zippers (maybe sew the zippers directly to the swatches and then sew the entire thing to the page by sewing on the swatches directly centered between the zippers). That way the child using the book could unzip and then lift the edges of the zipper to see more instead of just the space directly beneath the zipper.
You can check out my previous posts if you want more information on how I created my quiet book covers, joined my quiet book pages together, or to see all my quiet book pages. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
