House For A Little Friend

With the sense of newfound freedom from not sewing the dress, I made something for the kids that had been on my to-do list for a while. 

It's for Bearaby. Remember Bearaby? She's Jenna's beloved sidekick, the one with the much-kissed nose.

Bearaby needs a house, Jenna has been saying for the longest time.

So I took a kid-sized table (SVALA, from IKEA) and sawed some dowels

and made Bearaby her house.

The front door is just a slit opening

that peels apart and buttons back.

Because I wasn't in the mood to be particularly original, I just gave it the typical ikatbag tent-house features -

windows with tie-back curtains

raised roof with dowel channels

and an attic window

and zippers 

to open up said attic

for snoozing in the sun.

Speaking of snoozing, here's Jenna's favorite part of the house - a loop of fabric tucked under the roof

that can be pulled down

and stretched across the ceiling when it's time for a nap in the shade.

With a house as tiny-cosy as this, foldaway beds are much better than actual beds. Especially beds that impersonate space-efficient lofts, don't you think?

Here - I'll show you how to make this hammock. It's really easy. Take a fat quarter and pleat it towards the midline,

then sew bands at either end to hide all the fraying folded end bits, as well as to keep the pleats in place

and open it up like a peapod to cocoon a sleepy friend.

This particular hammock was attached at one end to the roof. The other end was free and has velcro to attach it to the opposite side of the roof.

Jenna had also been talking about a doormat, so I made her one in those Color Me fabrics I bought for Emily's satchels last year.

I gave her a bowl of fabric markers to decorate her mat.

Her sisters wanted something to decorate too, so I serged random squares of the fabrics, christened them Napkins, Blanket and Pillowcase and everyone had something to work on.

As far as we know, Bearaby is very happy with her home, 

and has already placed orders for (cardboard) furniture, laundry service, catering and a possible tea-party/sleepover with her best friends.

Did you notice that I used print fabric? If this were for me, this house would be all solids, with applique. But it's for Jenna, who loves print so much she wears stripes, florals and polka-dots in as many colors as possible, in the same outfit. So you can tell that the roof I made for me, but the walls -oh, those walls! - are entirely for Jenna. 

How long did this take me to make? Two nights. I'd say this counts as "whipping up", as far as playhouses go. Certainly more fun than sewing a dress.

And speaking of the dress, I must go rummage in my closet for something to wear in lieu of that Dress That Never Was. And clean up the royal mess in the sewing room. And vacuum. And pack. And find food to turn into dinner. And do laundry. The fun never stops around here!