Saturday, January 15, 2011

Fabric Dollhouses

Finally, my work on my bachelor's degree is done and now I can concentrate on some fun things. I have a whole list of great blog posts to write and I hope that some of them are useful and fun for others as well.

Every year I make my daughter something special for Christmas. This gift is something just from me and it has become a cherished tradition in our house. As soon as Christmas is over for the year I start dreaming and looking for next year’s gift. 

I saw this tutorial from UK lass in US sometime during the summer and thought that a fabric dollhouse would make a great Christmas gift for my little girl.

I got the first one about half done and thought that if my little girl would love it, so would her friends. I figured out how many of her girl friends we would need birthday gifts for this year and cut out 4 more – one for each of them and 1 spare just in case I needed it. They are all different and have their own personalities, just like her friends!

It was a little tough, at first, to figure out how all the pieces were supposed to go together but once I got the first one done the other 4 came together quickly.  I used felt to make the details like windowsills, a fireplace, complete with a toasty fire, and the door. I cut little pieces of fabric and positioned the pattern so that someone was looking in or out each window.

The first dollhouse I sewed the felt details onto and that took a very long time! The other 4 houses I used fabric glue instead. It worked great and was much faster too. I used some rick rack and sequins to fancy up the doors as well. I also bought some little dolls to go with each dollhouse.

My daughter loved her little house and plays with it nearly every day. It has gone on car trips, trips to the grandparents and even the grocery store, though we only brought one doll along on that trip so there was less for me to keep track of.

Check out the tutorial yourself here and make one for yourself!

Thanks so much for the tutorial! I had a great time making it and my daughter loves it!