Selvedge NeedleBook Tutorial

I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this before Christmas as a gift for my crafty Mum, it’s so easy, took about half an hour to whip up and the finished result is awesome. So if you need a place to keep stray needles and have a few selvedges laying around, read on!

Apologies in advance for the poor quality of the photos, NSW has been drenched in rain since boxing day so finding any kind of natural light was a struggle.

You will need:

• One 4.5×8.5 inch piece of white cotton/muslin.





• One 4.5×8.5 inch piece of white felt (I used acrylic because it was all I had on hand in white, but I highly recommend a woolblend.



• Three inches of ribbon



• One button



• A collection of selvedges from quilting cotton. Cut about an inch from the edge so you have some excess fabric to sew, I’m in the habit of trimming them off just roughly with a pair of scissors whenever I crack into some new yardage, they all get stashed in a little box until I find the right project for them.

Read the full tutorial after the jump>>

Place your first selvedge on the bottom edge of your rectangle. I put it fractionally above just so that you don’t lose too much writing in your final seam. Run a stitch down the bottom edge to secure it.

Place your second strip above the first, covering up the excess printed fabric. Run a line of stitching along the bottom edge of your second selvedge.

Keep going! Continue in exactly the same way until you cover the entire foundation rectangle. You don’t need to worry about raw edges as each one will be covered up by the following piece. Eventually you’ll end up with a piece that looks similar to the above.

(also check out my awesome Japanese bird colour dots, I’m running low as I haven’t bought any Japanese fabric for ages, but it always has the prettiest selvedge)

Iron and then trim the excess fabric off using the foundation rectangle as a guide.

Fold your ribbon in half, pin it on the left hand side on the right side of the fabric and secure it in place with a tacking stitch close to the edge.

Place your felt on top and run a stitch a quarter inch from the edge, leaving a small gap for turning. Trim your c0rners to allow for neater turning and flip inside out.

Once it’s the right side out, iron it on the cotton side only. Run a top stitch close to the edge the entire way around, making sure to catch the fabric in your turning hole.

Run a stitch down the “spine” of your book – this makes it a lot easier when putting needles away to make sure they’re not too close to the middle and so don’t jab out and poke you (voice of experience speaking!). If you want to add any more felt “pages” for extra needles, this is also the time, just cut them 4×8inches and secure them with your spine stitch.

Use the ribbon to work out the best place for your button and sew it on to secure the needlebook closed. Fill with needles, pins and you’re good to go!