14.1.16

making peg doll beds :: a re-post


On Monday I re-posted a tutorial on creating a little house for peg dolls (of course other sorts of dolls are invited to use it, too!).  However, little doll houses need little furniture, so today here is a re-post (originally posted July 22nd, 2015) for creating tiny doll beds.  Next week there will be a tutorial on dining room furnishings, and after that, there will be another secret surprise tutorial.


The furniture I've created for my little doll house is utterly simple.  I used only scraps -- bits & pieces I already had in my cupboards (i.e. I did not buy anything special or fancy for this project). I also kept the furniture designs simple enough that a child around age 5 could have success completing much of the project on his own.  I'm enjoying the fact that my own 5 year old is moving toward doing more product focused craft (as opposed to process focused art), so it's fun to figure out projects he can do with little assistance.

SUPPLIES
-- Small cardboard jewelry/gift boxes.
    My smaller box measures 2 1/4 in x 3 1/4 in
    (5 1/2 cm x 8 cm). My larger box measures
    3 5/8 in square (9 cm square)

-- Decorative card-stock  or plain cardboard
    (which can be painted or embellished)

-- Fabric scraps (I used wool felt, but cotton
   flannel makes nice doll bedding, too.)

-- Scissors and (optional) pinking shears

-- Needle and thread

-- PVA/white craft glue

-- A pencil and ruler


STEP 1 :: Measure the height and width of your little jewelry box. Cut a piece of decorative card-stock (or cardboard) which is the same width and twice the height of the edge of the box.  Trim the top edge of the headboard into a decorative shape.  Your headboard could be topped with a simple curve or it could have corner bedposts -- whatever you wish.

After you have designed the head board, repeat the process for the footboard. Note: the footboard is generally not quite as tall as the headboard, but it's your little bed, so you get to design it to your own preferences!

STEP 2 :: Use PVA/white glue to affix the headboard and foot board to opposite sides of your box (see photos).


STEP 3 :: To create mattresses, I cut strips of felt which were the same width of the boxes, rolled the felt so that I had approximately 5 layers, and then sewed my layers together using a simple running stitch. You could achieve the same effect by cutting 5 pieces of felt to fit the interior of the box and stitching the layers together.  Just for fun, I added a stitch in the center of each mattress.


STEP 4 :: Cut small squares of fabric for "pillows" and larger rectangles for blankets. I like the effect of cutting the edges of the blankets with pinking shears but plain edges are fine, too.  I have also knit tiny blankets for dollhouse beds which look very cute.


STEP 5 :: Tuck your wee dollies beneath the blanket and sing a lullaby.


I hope you will join me again soon for a tutorial on making tiny tables.

1 comment:

  1. Great timing to see this again. I think my daughter would love these at the moment.

    ReplyDelete

I know that word-verification makes it difficult to comment, and that, due to moderation, your comments seem to vanish into thin air once you've hit "submit," but your comments will appear after approval (really!) I read every comment and love hearing from you (truly!)