How to Make a Needle Book

How cute is this little patchwork needle book? I had a lot of fun making this quilted needle book with some scrap fabric so I thought I would share how to make it. This is a great palette cleanser and scrap busting project since it uses such little fabric. You can use it to hold needles for hand sewing, thread, buttons, embroidery thread and even some tiny scissors.

When I was in middle school I went to a quilting class after school and my teacher made all the students needle books with our names embroidered on the inside. I still have mine all these years later and use it to store my hand sewing needles and scrap thread for sewing buttons on garments (see photos below).

This needle book is super easy to customize by changing up the size, adding ties to keep the book closed, or adding more pockets. Like I mentioned, it uses little fabric so it’s a great way to practice small scale piecing or quilting. You could try piecing squares or triangles together and My articles How To Sew Squares Together and How to Cut and Sew Triangles walk you through those steps.

Some other great scrap busting projects are these fabric alphabet letters, lined zipper pouch, scrunchie or my Edgewood Sling Bag (a great intro pattern into bag making).

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Things You’ll Need

• Fabric scissors
• Coordinating thread
• Pins
• Point turner or knitting needle or chopstick (to poke out corners)
• Rotary Blade + Cutting Mat (optional)
• Fabric marker or chalk
• Fabric – I used a mix of linen and cotton in my example
• A small piece of felt – If you don’t ave any felt, you could try some wool fabric or layers of flannel fabric sewn together.

Step 1: Cut Out Pieces

So I chose to make a patchwork “cover” for my needle book, but you can also make it out of solid fabric pieces. The size is up to you as well!

Main Piece/Cover

To make this patchwork version, I cut 2.5″ (6.5 cm) squares to make half square triangle blocks and arranged them in a pattern that I liked. I then sewed the two blocks together and my finished main piece was about 7″ x 4″ (18 x 10.2 cm).

For instructions on how I made the half square triangle design head over to my tutorial How to Make Half Square Triangles.

Batting

Cut a piece of batting the same size as the cover.

Inside Lining

Pick a lining fabric, and cut it the same size as the outer main piece – mine was 7″ x 4″ (18 x 10.2 cm). You can measure to be exact, or just lay your main piece on top and cut around. I used a ruler and rotary blade to make sure the line was straight.

Pocket

The size of the pocket is up to you! I made mine about half the width of the lining piece and added 1/2″ (1.3 cm) for seam allowance along one long edge.

Note: Another option for the pocket is to cut a wider piece and fold it in half so that you don’t have to hem one edge. If you’re using fabric with a obvious right and wrong side, this would be a good option if you want the inside of the pocket to have the right side of the fabric showing.

Step 2: Sew Batting

Next, sew the batting to the wrong side of the lining. Place a few pins to keep the layers from shifting, and then sew your desired pattern. I chose to stitch-in-the-ditch (sew right along the seam) vertically down the middle of the patchwork blocks. Since these were small pieces, I only stitched three lines to keep the batting attached to the main outer piece.

Hand quilting would also be a lovely option here!

Step 3: Prepare Pocket

Time to get the lining and pocket ready! Fold over one long edge of the pocket piece twice to make a hem – I folded mine 1/4″ (0.6 cm) then another 1/4″ since my seam allowance was 1/2″ (1.3 cm). Press in place and stitch close to the edge.

Place the pocket piece right side up on the lining piece, lined up along the bottom raw edge. Pin in place, and then baste (use a long stitch length) along the edges within the seam allowance. *If these stitches end up showing later on, they are easy to remove.

Step 4: Assemble Needle Book

Now it’s time to sew everything together! Note: If you want to add ties to the book, now would be the time to do that.

Sew Main and Lining Together

Place the main outer piece and lining piece right sides together and pin in place. Make sure to leave an opening about 2″ (5 cm) wide. Sew around the edges with a 1/4″ (0.6 cm seam allowance, stopping and starting before the opening.

Clip all the corners – this reduces bulk – and turn right side out.

Poke out all the corners (chopsticks or a knitting needle work great for this) and then press well making sure that the lining doesn’t show on the right side of the needle book.

Hand sew up the opening that you left with a slip stitch.

*You could also trying sewing this with a sewing machine on the next step – just make sure you catch the seam allowances.

Here’s a video on how to sew a slip stitch if you’ve never tried it or need a refresher:

Topstitch Around Edges

Next, topstitch all the way around 1/4″ (0.6 cm) from the edge. If you have a hard time getting started at the beginning, place a piece of cardboard (or use a hump jumper) to help get over the bulk (see first picture below).

Press the needle book again to get everything laying nice and flat.

Then, fold the needle book in half to establish the middle fold line and press well.

Sew Felt Inside

Now it’s time to add the felt “page”! Cut a piece of felt, really any size you want. I just made mine about half of the width of the book. Also, keep in mind that it will need to be long enough to overlap the middle of the book by about 1/4″ (0.6 cm) (you can always trim it back later if needed).

Place the felt in position and mark a center line over top of the felt and down the middle of the book. I used chalk so it would show up on my dark fabric, but you could also use a fabric marker. Pin the felt in place.

Stitch down the middle of the book securing the felt in place, backstitching at the beginning and end. I also stitched from the right side as well to help establish the fold line.

Press the needle book again and you’re done!

I like to use mine when I’m hand sewing on the go and I keep the buttons and a small pair of scissors in the pocket. If you like to embroider, you could also use it to hold embroidery thread and needles.

I made a larger one with scrap triangles from my Eva Quilted Tote Bag but I don’t like the larger size as much (see photo below). Although, the larger size did give me inspiration to expand on this idea and make a tool kit to hold small knitting notions. I could add more pockets, maybe a zippered pocket or add more “pages” for organizing – maybe soon I’ll work on one! 🙂

Thanks so much for reading and happy sewing! 🙂