You want to bring a present, but flowers, a bottle of wine or a book just don't cut it. Sound familiar? Also, something purely useful would feel boring - if you knew what the person could use in the first place. Why not bring something that's plain simple lovely? And handmade, for sure! An accordion book for little things...
This one has 4 transparent compartments and can be used to hold memos, pics, gift coupons or locks of your little one. Essentially anything that's small, flat or a keepsake ...
You will need:
- 1 ready-to-craft cordion book or 2 pieces of strong cardboard, 7,5 cm square,
- red felt, 2 mm thick,
- light green felt, 1 mm thick (crafting felt),
- embroidery yarn in 4 colours (pink, light pink, white, light green)
- 1 sheet of light green copy paper,
- 1 transparent file holder,
- some invisible thread (nylon),
- a glue stick.
This is how it's done:
Cut out the cardboard covers or, if you use a crafting accordion book, remove the folded paper inside. The advantage of using a ready-made leporello is that they come with very stable and precisely cut covers which makes them very convenient to use.
Cut out the red felt plates adding 1 mm excess width per edge. Cut out the green felt plates subtracting 4 mm width per edge as compared to the cardboard. Subtract another 7 mm for the inner edge, where the plastic fold will take up some space.
One of the red felt squares will be embroidered. "Sketch" a stylized bloom using basting thread. I did it free hand which makes for a rather skewed result. If you prefer symmetry and precision, you could as well work with a template. The green square on the inside of the back cover will receive a smaller and "lighter" pattern.
Fill the patterns with running stitches as you see fit. Don't bother with the trailing ends on the backside, simply cut them back to 3 cm length.
The cardboard covers will be lined with the light green paper. Glue the cardboard onto the center of the prepared 11 cm square. Cut out the corners diagonally leaving about 1 mm at the inner corners which will cover the edges. Paste the paper with glue, fold it back, press and smooth it.
For the pockets cut a strip 6,7 cm wide off the closed side of the file holder. The fold will provide the pocket bottom once the accordion book is assembled.
Distribute the length of the foil (about 30 cm): reserve 1,2 cm for each end and divide the rest into 4 equal parts. Create the zig zag pre-folding the creases with your fingernails, then machine-stitch every crease with the invisible thread. Tuck the ends beneath the green felt and stitch them on.
You're almost there ... just assemble the prepared parts. Paste the cardboard with glue and attach the felt covers outside and inside.
Done! Enjoy your accordion book!
