How to Bind a Quiet Book

There are a number of ways you can bind a quiet book. I personally love the way a fabric-bound quiet book looks. It is also a very durable and lasting binding. In this post I will walk you step by step on how to bind your own quiet book.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

Supplies needed:

• at least 1/2 yard Fabric (depends on size of your quiet book) buy here
• Rotary cutter buy here
• Quilting ruler buy here
• Self-healing cutting mat buy here
• Batting (optional) buy here

I used 1/2 yard of fabric for the entire binding of my quiet book (8 pages). Depending on the size of your quiet book you may need more or less.

First, I cut a piece of batting that is slightly larger than the felt page. I place this batting in between the two felt pages. Note: This step is not necessary if you don’t like the look of the thicker pages. If you use felt sheets for your pages you do not have to use batting but will provide a “puffier” look which I personally like. However, if you use fabric for your pages, I highly recommend inserting a layer of batting between your pages.

Next, hand sew around the perimeter of the pages and trim the extra batting. Your stitches can be few and very large. The purpose of this is to hold the pages together as you sew the perimeter binding.

Once you do this to all your pages, you can begin the perimeter binding. There are two ways you can do this. For this particular quiet book, I cut out strips 2.5 inches wide for my pages and ironed them in half. This way you do not have to tuck the fabric when sewing on the opposite side. You can, however, leave the fabric as is and tuck on the opposite side, whichever way you prefer. 

Next, pin your fabric to the side of your quiet book page. Start halfway on the side that will be bound.

Sew about a 1/4 inch or so from the edge until you reach the last 1/4 inch. For this last 1/4 inch sew towards the corner of the page.

Next, lift sewn piece up, then pin the fabric down for the next side.

Sew the same way, a straight line a 1/4 inch from the side until you hit the last 1/4 inch of the page then sew to the corner.

Continue doing this until you have sewn the entire perimeter.

When you have finished, cut the remaining fabric and flip the fabric over to the other side.

Now, starting with the side, sew a straight line to the corner.

Do the same with all remaining sides.

Once you have bound the perimeters of all your quiet book pages, you are ready to bind it all together! To bind all pages together, you need two long strips of fabric right sides sewn together then turned inside out. My two fabric strips were 18 inches long and about 6 inches wide.

For this long piece of fabric you can sew a top-stitch around the perimeter if desired. You are going to sew this piece on to your cover page first. Leave enough fabric on the right side to eventually wrap around the bound portion and sew to the last page. 

As seen above, you are going to wrap this fabric around the cover page and sew one line right next to the perimeter binding of the cover page. Now, to see where you need to sew for the second page, put the second page right next to the first and lay the fabric on the second page. Pin on the top and bottom of the fabric just beyond the perimeter binding.

Now flip over first page and fabric (with pins in place) and lay on second page.

Now, wrap fabric around the page and sew where the pins were.

Continue this process over and over again until you have bound all pages.

When you get to the end, you can cut the extra fabric. Now, wrap around the fabric from the cover to the back page and sew. You can also create a buckle if desired by sewing a snap to the cover and fabric shown below. Sew right sides together then turn inside out. 

Once you sew the fabric to the back page and sew on your buckle, you have completed your quiet book. Congratulations!

I hope this tutorial has been helpful to you in learning how to bind a quiet book. Subscribe for updates to your inbox!