A felt needle book
Felt pages keep hand-sewing needles together where you can see them, provided the points remain fully inside the pages.
Make the pages smaller than the cover
Cut a felt cover 18 × 12 cm and two inner pieces 16 × 10 cm. Folded, the book measures about 9 × 12 cm, or roughly 3½ × 4¾ inches. The cover extends beyond the pages to help contain their edges. Unlike woven fabric, felt does not unravel into loose edge threads, so a firm material can keep its cut edges unfinished.
Cut one inner piece first and try your longest needle in it. Leave space between the needle point and the page edge. Pushing a needle farther into an undersized page does not solve the problem: its point may emerge through the back. Adjust the page dimensions to your actual tools before cutting the remaining pieces.
Check the pages while folded
Fold the empty felt layers before binding them permanently. Inner pages can project slightly because each layer travels a different distance around the spine. The effect is minor with thin felt but clearer in a thick stack. Trim the inner outside edges only after this trial so they remain within the cover.
A small sewn label can identify the needle type. Attach it near the page edge before binding. Adhesive in the eventual needle area can harden or contaminate the needle. Leave open space beside the label so the needles remain separated and visible rather than disappearing beneath the wording.
Bind through the center
Mark the center line of the cover and both page pieces. Stack them with an even border around the inside pages and hold the layers with clips. Stitch along the center through all the layers, using a suitable machine needle or short hand backstitches. The line becomes the book's spine.
Avoid pulling the thread tight enough to gather the felt. Open the book after a few stitches and check that the pages still move freely. Very thick felt may need only one inner piece, which creates two pages when folded. Extra pages are useful only if the book can still close without being forced into a bulging bundle.
Add a closure that stays attached
A narrow ribbon can wrap around the closed book. For a hidden attachment, sew its midpoint to the outside of the cover at the spine before binding the pages in place. Leave enough length to tie the ends comfortably. Skip loose beads or small decorative parts that might come away each time the book is opened.
Separate needles by size or use, adding small sewn labels if helpful. Pass each needle into and out of the felt, then tuck its point back into the material so a useful length of shaft is supported. Inspect the closed book from every edge. Soft felt is not puncture-proof; a rigid outer case is still sensible when the book will travel in a tightly packed bag.
