Fabric 'pairs' game with pocket pouch

I am constantly thinking of my 'next' sewing project, what can I make next? Is craft an addiction? Sometimes I wonder.

On twitter, I found a link to a blog (naptimecrafters.blogspot.com) with a fantastic idea for a children's game, a matching game card reader, using felt and fabric. Do you remember playing 'pairs' with cards as a kid?



This inspired me to make my own from my stash of thrifted fabric. Now I don't have a lot of felt left, and I don't want to buy new, so I used what I had, and instead of cutting shapes, I had another idea using this childrens sheet I picked up from savers:


I bought this fabric as I thought the little animal squares would be great for pockets on my chalk mats. However, a lightbulb moment - why not use some of the squares in a fabric memory card game.

I used the same principle, cutting my fabric with pinking shears, but the remaining white felt I had left over in my stash I cut straight with scissors, and machine stitched together.

I got the check fabric free c/o freecycle. Has anyone used freecycle before? My friend put me onto it, people can post things up on online of things they no longer require, to see if someone else wants it. I got a box full of fabric from a lady that, sadly, no longer sews because her eyesight isn't so good.

I had a slight hiccup, the edges of the check fabric still frayed even though they were cut with pinking shears, so what to do? I remember reading about using hairspray or nail polish to prevent fray, so thats what I used. Having said that, I do not like using chemicals, so I used my organic nail polish, which is water-based, and doesn't have that god-awful smell that regular nail polish has. Anyway, it worked well - a little time consuming, but it worked.

Here it is:

I made a 'pocket' envelope with velcro fastening from my sewing stash, with one of the dog squares on the outside.








I tried it out on my 2 year old. He is still a little young to understand the pairs idea, but he enjoyed looking at the pictures. I suspect 3yrs might be a good age for the game?