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!!)

Wristlet

My first sewing project not from One Yard Wonders!! (Oh, besides the capes...) I had been talking to my sister-in-law about what I wanted to make and I mentioned that I wanted to try something *smallish* to try my hand at my first zipper. So she emailed me a couple of patterns for wristlets. (You might recognize the fabric from the Not Ugly Car Trash Bag.)

Here are the pieces cut out, the zipper and the strap already made. Also, each piece has fusible interfacing, to give the bag more shape:


"Sandwiching" the zipper to sew the first side:


First side of the zipper completed! I added the pocket...not on original pattern:


After sewing the second side of the zipper and laying it open to line up the strap:


I pinned the pieces together to sew the entire thing together:


Completed bag, with lining outside before putting it all together:


Lining tucked inside:


All done!


Things I learned:
*How to sew in a zipper.
*How to make a lined bag.
*To make the lining just a few centimeters smaller than the outside so it lays more nicely inside.

Firefighter's Hat

This is the Firefighter's Hat from One Yard Wonders. I made it for one of Liam's friends, for his birthday. He is crazy about anything firefighter, so I thought it'd be perfect!

I didn't take pictures until after I got going...I was really on a roll with this thing! First, I had to cut twelve triangles for the crown of the hat. 6 of those got fusible interfacing ironed on and then I sewed those together to make the underside of the crown:


Then I sewed the other six together to make the top of the crown and sewed on some patches:


This part of the crown is sitting on top of the interfaced part.

The brim was fairly easy. I put interfacing on both pieces and then sewed them together:

I didn't cut the hole out until after sewing the two pieces together. After cutting the hole, that is how I turned the brim right side out.

Then I cut plastic canvas, like you would use for cross-stitching, into the shape of the brim and stuffed it inside:


I cut the hole out of the canvas in order to sew in the crown pieces. This part of the sewing was the most technical part of the project. The book called for hand-stitching it in, but I really, really don't like to hand stitch. So I used my machine and made it work!

The front of the hat:


The back of the hat:


The side view of the hat:


I may have more pictures after I give this to the little guy...can't wait to see him try it on!!

Things I learned:
*To shape a hat using triangular pieces.
*Interfacing plus plastic canvas gives great shape!
*When something calls for hand-stitching, I can make it work otherwise!!
*It's very motivating when I'm making something for someone else, with a birthday deadline.