project // guinea pig book bands

If you follow me on Instagram, you're probably aware of my guinea pig obsession. And the pics I share are just a small glimpse into my crazy. Naturally, I had to make some felt piggies! And they're actually more helpful that the real ones because they wrap around my notebook to keep it from flopping all over the place.

They're already watching over my original sketch for this project!

The felt piggies, or cavies as they're also called, are inspired by my two pet guinea pigs, Lt. Nibbles and Capt. Cuddles. For me, it'll be like having them come with me wherever I go! You can make your book bands to look like my furry friends or customize them to make them like your own.



You will need:

Felt in guinea pig colors
Embroidery floss
Craft or fabric glue
Elastic
Scissors
Needle

DOWNLOAD THE GUINEA PIG BOOK BANDS TEMPLATE



Use the templates to cut out the pieces. The PDF tells which pieces you need to cut multiples of. You can choose colors to make the guinea pigs you like. Mine are inspired by my two piggies. You can also adjust the fur shapes if you want.



Cut two slits in the body pieces. To do this, hold the template in front of the felt piece and fold it in half so you can cut on the line. Just don't cut so far that you cut to the edge.



Embroider the faces. I used six strands and french knots for the eyes and three strands with back stitch and scallop stitches for the noses and mouths.



Use craft or fabric glue to attach the pieces to the front body piece (the one without the slits). Glue one ear to the front and the second ear to the back of the body piece.



Cut a piece of elastic that is long enough to fit around your book, plus a bit extra. This can vary depending on the book size and how much stretch there is in the elastic, but it's better to cut it a little too long than too short.

For fold-over elastic that goes around a standard composition book, I used a 17-inch piece of elastic.

Slide the elastic through the slits in the back body piece.



Tie a knot in the two ends of the elastic. This is where you can adjust the size a bit if you find that it's a little too long.



Glue around the edge of the back piece. Don't let the glue get near the elastic because it's best to let that have some movement.



Attach the front piece to the back and let it all dry. Then it's ready to slide around your book and hold everything together! You could even use this as a headband for a child. (I'm not quite so obsessed that I'll be wearing one...yet)



Are those the cutest little helpers? The truth is, even if these don't hold a single thing in my notebook, I'm happy to have them hanging around. I'd keep my real piggies around me all the time too, but the felt version poops a LOT less.

Yes, that's gross, but it's how guinea pig life goes!