I made this little felt needle book for my mom to keep her embroidery needles in. (That much more accomplished piece of embroidery it's sitting on is something she made me for my birthday last year. Right now it's an apron, but I'm going to have to find a different way to use it. It's too pretty to wipe my dirty hands on, but too pretty to sit folded on a shelf.)
The needle book is a simple project--cut two rectangles of felt for the cover, and a slightly smaller one for the inside. Stitch a design on the front, then sew the two cover layers together using a running stitch. Place all three layers together and backstitch down the spine (there's probably some official bookbinder's way to do this but heck, I just ran with it.)
I still find embroidering on felt really challenging. So I'm all the more impressed by other people who are so good at it.
But the nice thing about making something for my mom is that I don't have to worry too much about how it comes out. I don't mean that it's an invitation to slapdash work, and I did unpick and restitch several places. But that then I was able to simply let the wonkiness be and enjoy the making, because I know that when she receives it she won't focus on or maybe even notice the imperfections. And so making this was like reliving a bit of my own childhood. Try your best. Fix your mistakes if you can. Let go of the rest. If only I could pass that down to my daughter as easily as a necklace or a needle or a piece of finely embroidered cloth.
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