tutorial :: making peg doll beds

On Monday I 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 post on creating tiny doll beds.  Next Monday 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 on Monday for a tutorial on making tiny tables.