Casa de bonecas: www.ikatbag.com

Do you know those doorway puppet theaters that were all the rage a couple of years ago? Well, I thought they were ingenious, but I also thought it was time to move beyond the hanging, two-dimensional idea to the realm of the three-dimensional shapeshifting tent houses.

This is Kate's birthday present. I decided, after making a round princess pavilion table tent and a little blue PVC-frame house, I needed a totally new structure on which to build the last of the trilogy. Come on in!

All you need is three (or more) strategically-placed tension rods, and you'd have  a morphing house

that can also have a table-tent-esque flat top

or a vertical townhouse facade (and everything in between)

and that, because of the adjustable tension rods, can be jammed into doorways to amuse/confuse the living daylights out of postal workers

or suspended over staircases for a faux loft feel. Not.

Disclaimer: I wouldn't encourage obstructing stairways, of course, but I had to do this today to get decent lighting. So don't show your kids this photo, OK?

The point of this multi-location photoshoot is to say that you don't need much to put up this house - unlike table tents and PVC frames and those blankets-over-chairs forts that my kids also love, all you need for this is two things between which tension rods can be wedged. 

I also want to add that I chose to use just enough fabric for the front of the house, plus a little back roof overhang, because that's what 54" (the width) got me. If you used a longer piece of fabric than I did, and several more well-placed tension rods, you'd be able to make a full house, including the back. And then it would be so much fun for the kids to pick their own house shape each time they set it up, just by adjusting the relative positions of the rods. 

Now let's break it down! 

I'll walk you through the how-tos, but don't be disappointed with the lack of templates and dimensions. You can figure those out yourself, and in so doing, take just my idea and make a house that's truly your own.

First, the roof - 

channels were sewn on the wrong side of the fabric for the tension rods. Choose where you want these channels to be and you have created the dimensions of the house.

The particular channel for the roof apex was split into two to allow the hanging of light fixtures.

As we said, with the tension rods, the roof can take on different shapes and heights.

The shingles were bias tape (I made my own, since I needed about 7 yards) sewn into scalloped curves.

The windows were first cut out to final dimensions in interfacing, which was ironed onto accent fabric,

as was the doorframe.

The windows were sewn on like the welts of welt pockets, or floating inset pockets, and then curtains added,

along with tie-backs.

The mailbox was also a welt/window

shaped with interfacing fused onto the wrong side. The door was also interfaced since I was using hopelessly floppy cotton.

As with the windows, the seam allowances were folded into the wrong side and pressed to give crisply folded edges

and the entire mailbox top-stitched down as an appliqué, with the door inserted into its bottom edge.

This is the wrong side of the house, with contrasting thread to show the top-stitched outline of the mailbox.

Other details were layered on by appliqué - the light sconces

the tulips

the white picket gate

and the flowers on the welcome doormat.

All fasteners (for the gate, mailbox, tiebacks) were hook-and-loop tape aka velcro. I didn't even consider ribbon because while pretty, they also frustrate small children who haven't yet learned to tie bows or knots. 

Also did you notice that I used zero print fabric? Even the gingham curtains are a sort of weave pattern. I was going for a Land of Nod look, see. Or rather, it's what I would sew if LON employed me as part of their design team. Ahhhhh..... a person can dream. 

How long did it take me? Compared to the little blue house and the princess pavilion? Nothing. Milliseconds. No piecing, no joining seams, no fitting - everything was simply embellishment on a flat piece of fabric. Also, I know it's fashionable these days to reveal the cost of one's projects, so I'll tell you - $3.51. That's what I paid for the yard of white "sportswear" twill fabric, anyway. The tension rods we already had, but you can buy them from Walmart (or any store with a home dec section, like Target) for under $3. All else came from my stash. I suppose it would probably cost more if I bothered to total up the various scraps, but who can be bothered? That's why we have stashes, right? So we can dig in and use up and feel like we got freebies?

 So there -one flat piece of fabric - 

turned into a little house-in-our-hallway.

Manta de bébe - Daqui deliacreates.blogspot.pt

The blanket I created is out of a soft, chunky acrylic yarn which yields some very important benefits.

One, it's very washable because it's acrylic - big plus for me.
Two, the chunky yarn makes a blanket pattern take less time.
Three, it's so so plush and soft. I wish I could make one my size actually. :)

This type of yarn can be pricey to buy, but if you use coupons or wait for a good sale you can make a blanket for anywhere from $12 - $30. I just saw it go for $2 a skein at Michael's a few weeks ago.

I used a size N hook which also helped the blanket pattern move along quickly. I normally dislike making crocheted blankets, even baby ones, because it takes forever, but this one wasn't too bad.

Please bear with me as I am not a crochet pattern writer. If you notice something that might improve the pattern, please speak up. I would love to edit it to make it better for my readers. I also took notes and lost them when I re-organized the house to make room for the baby {sigh}, so I'm re-writing the pattern from just looking at my blanket.

Here's what I did...

Yarn: 5 skeins of cream and 1 1/2 skeins of tan for the border.
Hook: Size N
Stitches: chain, sc, hdc, dc, fpdc, bpdc


ch. 68
Round 1: In third chain from hook dc. Dc in each chain across. (67 dc including the 2 chains)

Round 2: Ch. 2 and turn. *Four fpdc, four bpdc.* Repeat from * to * 16 times. Hdc in last stitch.
Round 3-5: Repeat round 2.

Round 6: Ch. 2 turn. *Four bpdc, four fpdc.* Repeat from * to * 16 times. Hdc in last stitch.
Round 7-9: Repeat round 6.
Round 10-13: Repeat round 2.
Round 14-17: Repeat round 6.
Round 18-21: Repeat round 2.
Round 22-25: Repeat round 6.
Round 26-29: Repeat round 2.
Round 30-33: Repeat round 6.
Round 34-37: Repeat round 2.
Round 38-41: Repeat round 6.
Round 42-45: Repeat round 2.
Round 46-49: Repeat round 6.
Round 50-53: Repeat round 2.
Round 54-57: Repeat round 6.
Round 58-61: Repeat round 2.

You can repeat round 6 for another four rounds if you like, but that requires another ball of yarn. I felt an almost square was good enough for me.

Add a border.

Sc around every stitch all the way around the blanket. 3 sc at the each corner stitch.

Repeat 3 times. Or finish the edge however you like. Weave in all your tails...and you're done!

Crochet: ponto da manta de bébé

Vestido menina com papoilas - Daqui www.lemonsqueezyhome.com

Let’s make this Poppy Dress, shall we? The dress portion is very easy and sews together quickly. While adding the poppies takes longer, it’s a great touch!

You’ll Need:

-fabric (how much depends on your measurements you’ll get below) *I used white cotton fabric, but the turquoise you see pictured behind Miss B would look great with orange poppies! **Please note: thicker fabrics and doubled layers tend to shirr a lot less, so the thinner your fabric, the better it will shirr**

-orange thread

-thread matching fabric

-elastic thread

-marking tool, optional

-felt (or other fabric—You will want to pre-wash your felt and see how it reacts to washing, and also any shrinkage that may occur. Mine was just the cheap stuff from Walmart)

-lighter

-tweezers

-fusible interfacing (I didn’t use any, but it might be good to back the sewn-on poppies)

Take your measurements. B is 2 1/2, but a little large for her age. I’ll give you the information you need to make this dress for any size, but also the dimensions I used for my dress.

FOR THE DRESS PORTION:

First, measure around the chest, just under the arms. B’s was about 21”. This is for the large rectangle used for the dress portion. Add at least half that number. **Remember, it is better to add more than less, depending on how tight your fabric shirrs.**

Next, determine the length you need. I wanted to make a dress, so I measured from her neckline to her knee, giving me about 17”. You could shorten it for a shirt. Add about two inches to that measurement for hemming.

I only added one inch to the length measurement because I planned on using the selvage edge for the top of the dress.

SO, for the dress portion I cut a 32” x 18” rectangle.

FOR THE SHOULDER STRAPS:

Measure from just below the armpit in the front, to just below the armpit in the back. B’s was about 11”. This is for the shoulder straps. Add at least half that measurement to the length. Also determine the width you would like. I wanted 3” wide straps, so I cut my two strap pieces 4” x 16”.

Ok, now that your fabric is cut, let’s move on!

If the top edge of your dress fabric piece isn’t the selvage edge, then fold over 1/4”, then another 1/4” and sew. You could also serge, then fold down 1/2” and sew.

Since I used the selvage edge, I just started to shirr. Wrap the elastic thread around the bobbin, not too tight, but not too loose. Research online to see if your machine is the best candidate for shirring this way. *Shirring is VERY easy! Don’t be afraid of it! HERE is a great tutorial for you from Disney of Ruffles and Stuff. Set your thread length to the longest stitch (mine is only a 4). You’ll want to sew on the RIGHT side of the fabric, so the elastic thread is on the wrong side. I just used my pressure foot edge to guide how far apart I wanted the shirring lines.

Shirr, shirr, and shirr some more. I left a 1” gap for design after shirring for rows. Shirr as far down as desired, and whatever pattern you desire. You might just want to do row after row and not leave a gap, how most dresses are that have shirring.

Wrap your now shirred rectangle around the person who will be wearing it and determine how much you need to take off. Do not cut it until you sew it! You don’t want to loosen up that elastic thread! After sewing, try it on again to make sure it’s how you like. Then cut away any excess.

I serged mine, but you could sew it and then zig-zag the raw seam edges if you are worried about fraying. You can see how I kind of slowly tapered out, so the bottom portion of the dress under the shirred part was a little bigger.

Hem the bottom of the dress as desired.

On to the straps. Fold over the long side 1/4”, then 1/4” again and sew each long edge. I serged, folded, and then sewed.

Shirr all or just a part of the sleeves. When you leave it like this pictured below, you get a nice ruffle on the edge.

Try it on and pin the straps in place, being careful not to poke them with the pins while taking it off!

Sew straps in place, and the dress is finished. Time to add those poppies!

Take your felt and draw a whole lot of circles.

You can make them whatever size you please, but here is about the size of mine.

Using the tweezers to hold the circles…

start burning the edges with your lighter. See how the edges are just slightly darker?

I like the swiftly burn over the top of the circle as well. It makes it have more color, plus it starts to curl the circle edges more, making it look more like a petal, in my opinion.

Pin them on in place. (If you opted to use fusible interfacing, iron those on inside the dress where you will be sewing the flowers on.)

Sew a line through each poppy. If you are worried about them being pulled off, sew around each circle. You could add beads, but I was afraid it would make it less washer-friendly if I did that.

Thanks for letting me join in the Color My Summer series! Yay for COLOR and SUMMER!