Fabric Dollhouse

Whew! Many hours were logged for this project and I have to say, I think I redeemed myself after the bear/elephant/pig/anteater-thingy. I am in love with this little house!! Before moving forward, I just have to say, this (like all the other posts on this blog) is NOT a tutorial. The more in-depth stuff is basically for me to look back on, should I ever decide to make a duplicate. Or, if you've come across this blog by chance by searching for help, maybe you can find a little help here! OK, onto the fun stuff!!

Here are some of the supplies I needed. I added some embellishments toward the end that didn't make it into this picture.
The fabric getting measured and the mesh canvas:


The start of the mesh cutting:


Sewing the batting around the mesh: (I knew I was close to needing to change my needle so I made sure to get all of the mesh stuff out of the way and then put in a fresh one)


Now comes the assembly. Many steps and very detail oriented. Glad I am!!

The mesh pieces all covered and organized like the book says to do:


The side, outlining the side on the fabric, the completed side:


Putting the pieces in order into the fabric:


I sewed a piece of felt to one side of the ribbon. The directions didn't say to do this, but it's shown like that in the picture. Just like the door and windows I added. I feel so accomplished putting stuff on this that isn't in the directions!


Extra points to the person making any craft who also has a couple of cuties doing their own crafting at the same table:


A much needed breath of fresh air for dinner with aforementioned cuties:


After said cuties go to bed, plug away at further assembly...

This is the strip all sewn before turning it right-side out. I failed at taking a few of the in-process pictures, as I got too involved. And forgot. But inside this strip are the 2 sides, 4 of 5 elastic straps and one of the ribbon handles:


And this is what it looks like when turned:


After putting each mesh piece into its appropriate spot, I sewed a strip to hold it into place. The bottom piece was left open in order to add the second ribbon handle and the last elastic loop. Here's what it all looked like pinned and ready to sew:

The directions say to hand-stitch this step but I HATE hand-stitching so I used my machine. So there.

Getting the house pinned and ready to stitch the sides:


As I just mentioned, I hate hand-stitching. But I must say, I don't particularly suck at it. Not great, but I've certainly done worse:


The back with the top button:

By the way, this is the first time I've ever sewn buttons like these on. I'm not 100% happy, but know that I can only get better!

Side view with one of the other buttons:

Also, I haven't added the 2 extra buttons that it calls for, near the bottom part of the roof. I don't think my 2-year-old will have the patience for 5 buttons. I'm guessing only the top one will be used as it is.

Opened with a little scene I'm trying out. Pond, a table with place mats and 2 seats: (I only safety pinned them on so we can change around the scenes as desired).


I added a little Polly Pocket and another little doll and this is how my cutie is going to find it in the morning!


Things I learned:
*How to measure for a roof peak.
*How to sew batting.
*I love my new fabric marker.
*Hand-stitching is made easier when done in the company of your cuties while enjoying a little boob-tube with them.
*How to sew on decorative buttons. Kind of.
*The anticipation of seeing your cutie find the finished project is a little bit like a mini-Christmas.

Pillow Cases

After my last project, I needed to do something easy. I have a few other projects planned, but in the meantime I made some pillow cases for the kids. I used a different book I have called Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. The pillow case pattern is in the Nest chapter. I foresee future projects from this book!

Liam picked out another Batman pattern and I picked out Tinker Bell for Nora, as this is her current fave.

After measuring and cutting, you need to fold, press and sew each seam on the open end of the pillow case.



Then you fold one hem 4 inches and press it flat. This is the closure of complete case:


You then place each side together, wrong side out, and turn the flap over and pin like this:


Then sew around the three edges. Trim corners and do a zig-zag stitch around hem to keep it from fraying:


Your machine may try to eat the edges if it moves over too far:


Here's a close-up of the finished open edge and one of the flap inside:



Finally, sneak into your sleeping kids' rooms and put the pillow cases on their pillows so they can wake up to them in the morning!


Please don't mind the ripped wall decal...Nora likes to pick!

Things I learned:
*Zig-zag stitch inside hems to keep them from fraying.
*Sometimes it's a good thing to pick an easy project.
*There is satisfaction in straight lines.
*Doing a simple project is very calming.
*Don't hit the wall with your camera when sneaking into a sleeping child's room to take a picture of said child.

Cuddly Bear Cushion

Not quite a year later and I'm finally getting my machine out again! I have to give credit to a friend of mine because she needed some pants hemmed. We got to looking at my One Yard Wonders book which I left out after she left. In the morning Liam found the book and begged to "help" me with the Cuddly Bear Cushion. (AKA the bear/elephant/pig/anteater) So off we went to get the supplies. I let him pick out whatever fabric he wanted, so he chose a Batman print. (This is actually a good thing, as the finished project had some flaws that needed camouflaging and the busy pattern helped hide the "bear's" birth defects.)

First, I pinned the pattern pieces to the fabric. Looks like it's going to be an easy enough project at this point:


Here are all the pieces cut out and ready to go. Notice the planet nose. Liam's choice. Still looking fairly easy...


The first step was to sew the gussets together (back and belly portions that will connect the two sides of the body). In the middle is the cute little tail:


Then came the difficult part, sewing the straight gussets to a curved body. I got pretty caught up in the whole process, and by caught up I mean frustrated, so I didn't take any more pictures. I should have, because then the final product may make more sense to you.

Here he is, in all his glory. Please don't be drinking anything while you look at the following picture, for you may spit it out at your laughter at my absurdity to post such a thing:


At least Liam has no prejudices and loves him just as he is:


I asked him to hold it so you could see the nose, errrr, snout:


So yeah, not my most proud moment. But I'm learning! And my kid loves it, so I'm happy. Oh, Nora asked for one. I quickly found another project to do for her...

Things I Learned...
*What a gusset is.
*How to sew a straight piece of fabric to a curved piece of fabric. OK, I didn't really learn this yet. I have quite a bit of work to do on this point....
*Take more pictures throughout a project...it helps to understand where I went wrong.
*The final product doesn't always look like the picture in the book.
*My kids will love just about anything I make for them!! (Most important!!)