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!

http://uklassinus.blogspot.com/2008/08/fabric-dollhouse-tutorial.html

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

The Project continues

POCKETS, POCKETS, POCKETS!!

I took a little break from my friend's purse to make some things for my daughter and some more things for my shop. I still have lots more projects in the works but really wanted to get to work on this purse again. I am still totally in love with the fabric and really want to see the finished results.

I added pockets to the inside and outside of the purse today. The outside pocket has a flap that closes with a magnetic snap to keep everything safe inside. It is big enough for a cell phone, a set of keys, chewing gum, CD's, a small notepad, or whatever else a person needs close and easy to access.

There were only supposed to be a few small pockets inside but I really like lots of places to stash things when I need to, so I added extra big pockets to the inside and then split them up in a few places. The result is lots of places to keep all kinds of great things.


I got the rest of the lining finished too and am hoping to put together the rest of the outside over the next week.

I bought some leather handles, which will look really sharp. They arrived a couple weeks ago and I have been getting anxious to put them on the purse and see the final effect.

Reusable Holiday Gift Bags

It's that time of the year - the Holidays are here!!

We are all busy shopping for and wrapping the perfect gifts for everyone on our holiday lists.

Who says being green has to be boring? These bags are functional and they look great!

Enjoy the holidays and help look after the environment. Avoid sending all that gift wrap, tape and ribbon to the landfill.

These reusable bags make gift wrapping a breeze - just open the bag, pop in your gift, pull the ribbons closed and you are done.

• Use for wrapping holiday gifts or storing decorations


• Smart alternative to gift wrap or plastic gift bags


• The perfect way to beautifully wrap all the gifts you get for everyone on your list


• Compact & lightweight


• Double satin ribbon drawstring closure - bags are made of 100% cotton fabric


• 100% Canadian Made

These bags are a great way to avoid using mountains of gift wrap and tape for all your holiday gifts.

Use one of these handy Reusable Fabric Gift Bags in place of expensive paper gift wrap
OR
Wrap your gifts and use one of these bags to keep multiple gifts for one person all together.

After the holidays these bags can be used year round to store toys, books, DVD's, CD's, beauty products and anything else you need!

The bags come in 3 standard sizes: Medium, Large & X-Large.

These bags are also available in custom sizes to accommodate any sized gifts. Let me know the size bag that you need and I will be happy to create it for you.

Machine wash, tumble dry – these bags are handy and easy to use.

All seams are serged / overlocked for extra durability. These bags are not lined.