The finished play house

My grandson, a.k.a. The Prince of Sweetness is two and a half. I was browsing Pinterest and saw a play house that was cute. It led me to searching for more info and when I found a pattern at Empty Bobbin Sewing , I knew I was on my way. I used heavy weight felt, known as "premier" from Joann's for the main walls and roof of the house, also the white felt in the door frame and windows. The other colors are craft felt from the bolt. Sewing felt is easy. I didn't use interfacing and no finishing techniques are required, but I did double stitch the walls and roof, and then zigzaged the seam allowances. I did the door differently from Shea's pattern and ad libbed some of the embellishments.

Here is the front of the house before wall and roof assembly. The door is a flap which can be rolled up. The black lines you see are ribbons with matching ones inside for securing the rolled up door. The bow that ends in large bells under the porch light is my interpretation of a doorbell. The rectangles in the door are just decoration. The window in the door was done the same as the side windows which I will explain a few photos down.

Here is the mailbox open. I didn't photograph the mail that I made addressed to my grandson. I used white fun foam, cut into small rectangles. I drew the envelope flap on one side, printed his name and drew a postage stamp on the other. I don't know if I truly needed special foam markers or not for this, but I had another project coming up to do with kids and foam so I bought the pack of five colors. I am a sucker for craft supplies.

I did not cut away the red fabric from the door until after the walls were sewn together and the roof assembled. I pinned the ribbons and door in place during assembly. It went very smoothly.

One side wall called for two bushes and a window. I changed the window from an opening with felt framing that created a four paned window to what you see here. I had a flexible screening sold as Pet Screening from tote bags that I made a few years ago. I bought the screening at a quilt shop that featured the tote bag pattern. I think if you search for it online, it can still be found. I stitched the flowers to the bushes by their centers only to make them 3D. The dog was added for fun, my own design. His ears an tail are also 3D.

Here is a close-up of the window. I framed it in felt on the inside also. The second view is showing the visibility of the screening.

The other side wall also has a window and a vegetable garden. I saw the garden idea on a few sites but didn't bookmark them so I can't give credit, nor do I know who may have been the first to think of making pockets for the veggies.

My leaf lettuce looks a little sad and my potatoes seem be of a dark chocolate variety, but the carrots are cute.

The back of the wall has a tree. The original pattern had a tree that was partially on the side of the house, partially on the back. I knew I didn't want a window back there, I wanted a picture frame on the inside wall, so I redesigned the tree for the back. Leaves are in both shades of green shown in the garden photo, but the color is off here. I made apples with velcro to change out for the leaves along with one bird. I will probably make autumn colored leaves and maybe even a kite to get stuck on one of the velcro parts of the tree, but that will come later. The bushel basket is my own design and holds the spare leaves and apples.

Our family room is where our grandson's toys are kept. In that room is a watercolor and ink drawing of our home that I did a few years ago. The Prince is fascinated with that picture. I used brown felt and clear vinyl to make a photo frame for his house. It is on the inside with the top of the vinyl left open so that art work, standard printer paper size, can be inserted. For Christmas morning, a print of the front of his playhouse went in the frame, but I hope he will do his own artwork to place in there. These photos have a Fisher Price catalog page in them for display purposes.

I slightly changed the roof line trim from the original pattern. The pattern creates a play house that fits over a standard size card table. When it came time to fit the walls together, I placed them wrong sides out against the table and pinned the seams. My seams are deeper than the pattern recommendations, but not by much.

This was a labor of love, not something I would ever make and sell. I don't sell my crafts in the first place, and beyond that, many would be surprised at the money and time invested. Even below minimum wage, most would balk at the cost. I am fortunate that I've never had to sell my creations for income. I don't mind work, but if my hobbies became my work, the fun would probably disappear for me and the relaxation would definitely be gone.

 

This doesn't mean I would never make it again. The pattern was well written and you can probably tell that I had a lot of fun with the embellishments. If Colton ever becomes big brother to a little sister, there might be need for a girlier (like that word?) themed play house.