Tutorial: Hardcover Needle Book

This nifty little needle book came about the other day when I needed a safe place to store my large collection of sewing needles. I searched the internet for a basic hardcover needle book tutorial, but had no luck finding one. What to do?! Make my up my own project, right?! Well, I couldn't create a new project without eventually posting a tutorial on how I did it on my blog, so here it is!!

Step 1: Collect supplies.

You will need the following materials:

- Cotton fabric of your choosing

- 4+ different colors of matching felt

- Embroidery floss in 1-2 colors

- Large hole sewing needle

- 2 Buttons

- 1/8" Satin ribbon

- 2 small sheets of thin cardboard or a cereal box

- Strong multi-purpose glue or other thick glue

Step 2: Cut cardboard and fabric.

Cut 2 pieces of cardboard to desired size for your needle book cover. The one shown is approximately 4"x5". Cut 2 pieces of fabric making sure to add 1/2" seam allowance so you can fold over the edges.

Step 3: Glue corners.

Lay your fabric pieces right side down and place your cardboard pieces in the centers. Dab glue onto cardboard corners and fold over the corners of your fabric onto the cardboard. Work on only 1-2 corners at a time to prevent glue from drying while working. Continue until all 8 corners are glued down.

Step 4: Glue edges.

Put a thin layer of glue on an edge of a cover. You'll want to get glue on the cardboard as well as the edge of the fabric corners as shown in the picture. Fold up edge of fabric and press onto glued area. Make sure the fabric is pulled somewhat tight against the cardboard cover. Repeat until all edges are securely glued down.

Step 5: Glue felt to inside covers.

Cut 2 pieces of felt a little smaller than the covers (by about 1/4" shorter on all sides). Lightly dab glue on exposed cardboard and attach the felt pieces to each cover. Don't worry, the glue won't be the only thing holding the felt in place.

Step 6: Sew felt to cover.

Use 3 strands of embroidery floss to do a basic running stitch all the way around both covers. Be sure to hide your starting knot and finishing knot under the felt.

Step 7: Cut the felt pages.

Cut each felt page a little smaller than the covers. Cut one page out of each color of felt.

Step 8: Stack the felt pages and covers as you want them to appear when done.

Step 9: Stitch the book's binding.

Use a blanket stitch to bind the layers of the needle book. For this part, I prefer to use the entire 6 strands of embroidery floss for a stronger and more visible binding.

FutureGirl has a great tutorial on how to do the blanket stitch if you're unfamiliar with it; you can find it HERE.

Step 10: Sew front button.

Use 3 strands of embroidery floss to sew your front button to the front cover. You'll want the button to be raised off of the cover a little so that your ribbon will fit underneath. I suggest sewing a few loose stitches through your button and onto the cover then wrap your thread multiple times around the thread that's between the button and the cover. Add a few more stitches attaching the button to cover, making sure you don't tighten it too much.

Step 11: Create ribbon & button closure.

Select a length of ribbon to form the loop closure. The length should be long enough to close securely, but not too long as to have a loose fitting closure. Attach the ribbon to the back with a stitch then begin sewing on the button to cover the ribbon ends.

ALL DONE!