Hey everyone. Today you will learn to make a soft fabric counting book with padded pages a baby can actually grab, bend, and turn.
Paper books tear and get chewed. A cloth book is soft, washable, and quiet in the car. And the counting pages turn playtime into learning, one number at a time.
Batting between the pages gives each page real body, so little fingers can grip and turn it. Interfacing keeps edges crisp, stops applique numbers from stretching, and helps the book hold its shape wash after wash. Two helpers, two jobs. Here we go.
Why Batting Plus Interfacing
Batting alone is too soft. The page flops and the number puckers. Interfacing alone is crisp but flat and papery.
Together, you get both. Batting adds padding. Interfacing adds the backbone. I use low-loft batting here. High loft is too puffy. You want pages that stack flat, about like thick felt.
Fuse interfacing to the back of your applique fabric first, so a bold five does not wiggle while you stitch. Completely up to you on colors. High contrast helps babies see the shapes.
Materials
- Cotton fabric for pages — six squares cut 9 inches for a five-number book, plus scraps for numbers and pictures
- Low-loft batting, like a crib-size poly batting package — cut 8 1/2 inch squares, one per page spread
- Lightweight fusible interfacing for applique backs and page edges — about 1/2 yard
- 50-weight thread to match, plus a contrasting thread for stitching numbers
- Size 80/12 universal needle
- Iron, press cloth, rotary cutter, ruler, and marking pencil
- Pins or clips, and a hand needle for closing
- Optional: ribbon loop and a fabric cover square for the front
How to Make It
- Plan your counting pages. One spread per number works best. Left side gets the big number. Right side gets that many pictures. One apple. Two stars. Three fish.
- Fuse the applique pieces first. Press interfacing to the wrong side of your number fabrics. Draw shapes backwards on it, then cut. It stops fraying and keeps prints flat. Just like that, your shapes behave.
- Stitch the designs down. Pin your number and pictures in place. Stitch around each shape with a short zigzag, about 2 mm wide and 1.5 mm long. Go slow around tight curves, or the needle jumps the edge. Ask me how I know.
- Build the page sandwich. For each spread, layer two finished page squares right sides together. Lay the batting square on top. The batting is cut 1/2 inch smaller, so it stays out of the seam. That one choice keeps your seams flat instead of bulky.
- Sew and turn each page. Stitch around three and a half sides with a 1/4 inch seam. Leave a 3 inch opening on the spine edge. Trim the corners, turn right side out, and poke the corners gently with a chopstick, never scissors.
- Press, then close the opening. Press each page flat. Slip-stitch the opening closed, or topstitch close to the edge all around. I like the topstitch. It looks finished and helps the page hold its shape.
- Stack and bind the book. Stack your pages in number order, cover on top and bottom. Line up the spine edges. Stitch straight down the spine through all layers, about 1/2 inch from the edge. Use a longer stitch length, 3 mm, and take your time. Thick layers are fine if you go slow.
- Do the toddler test. Bend every page ten times. Tug each applique corner. If a number lifts, add stitches now, not after the first wash. Wash the book once before gifting to soften it and prove your stitching holds.
Tips and Variations
Add a crinkle page. Slip a clean, washed crinkle layer inside one page alongside the batting. Babies love that sound. Keep it to one page, or story time gets really really loud.
Skip the applique if you prefer. Use a bold numbered print fabric for the right side and plain fabric for the left. Fuse interfacing behind the print so the numbers stay square. Super duper easy, and still sturdy.
And here is your permission beat. Your numbers might sit a little crooked. Mine did on my first one. Babies do not count crookedness. They count the fun. It does not have to be perfect to be loved to pieces.
You are your own worst critic here. Take your time. It's not a race. If I can do this, y'all can do it.
Thanks for sewing along with me today. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop Hobbs Polydown Batting Package — Crib 45" × 60" at Linda's Electric Quilters.
