Lofty Ideas

 "So, you get paid to have birthday parties in your daughter's room?" That's not a question that most people are asked- unless you're me. It wasn't my intention for things to work out that way; but they did. We moved our home and business to this location when Lily was 3 1/2. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning we had kids over for our Paint & Play Mom's Day Out program. Lily became friends with all of these children, and we had them over for other playdates, parties, etc... Initially, during working hours, we kept children out of Lily's room. But then, for the children who had been over to visit outside of working hours, the lure of all of those wonderful toys in her room was just too much to bear. They would all ask: "Ms. Missy, can we go in Lily's room?" After a while, it just seemed pointless to say no. As new children entered the picture, they were also able to play in the room. And the rest is history. I know that it won't be able to stay this way forever, and that it is an extremely unorthodox way of life. But then, I always knew that my life would never end up normal. :-)

This kid would never end up normal.

Over the past two and a half years, the room has seen quite a transformation. No longer is there a dresser in the room, or a conventional bed. The walls have gone from a boring bone color to a vibrant blue and green. Brightly colored flowers and toys are everywhere. If you didn't know any better, it would simply look like a (very cool) playroom.

I love this room!

The only catch is that Lily sleeps in it when she is with me, which necessitates a bed of sorts. Our first solution was an adorable bed tent with a mattress on the floor. She loved sleeping in her tent, and children loved playing in the tent. It went well with the grass green and aqua blue walls, and was visually appealing in her "magic garden style" room.

Ah, glorious naptime. You were perfection!

Too cute... Lily's "garden cottage" tent.

Recently, my mom stared telling me that I needed to get Lily a "real" bed because it wasn't good for her to sleep on the floor. I don't know about the health consequences, but I do know that my mom put a bug in my ear- so I started combing the Internet for cool playhouse-style loft beds. There are a lot of great options out there but, for one reason or another, none of them fit the bill. The idea seemed easy enough; fabric suspended from a loft bed, usually with cut-out windows, curtains, and a door. Once upon a time, I sewed a lot. I knew that I could make my own, if only I applied myself.

Best laid plans! Posting this on Facebook kept me accountable for completing the project. :-)

The first step was to find a bed. The main priority was to find one that could have a detachable or hide-able ladder. During working hours, I didn't want children to even TRY to climb the ladder. Another consideration was height. I wanted the bed to be high enough for children to play under without having to crawl or stoop. However, I didn't want it to be TOO high- Lily was concerned about that, too. Last but not least was the issue of price. I didn't want to spend more than I had to. After a thorough online search, I chose a white steel loft bed with integrated side ladders. I bought mine from Amazon and got free shipping with my Amazon Prime membership. The same exact bed is also available from Walmart, but buying from them would have added tax and shipping costs.

The next step was to decide what to use to create the playhouse. It didn't take long to settle on felt. Felt by the yard is surprisingly affordable and can often be found for $2.99/yard (sometimes less!). Another great thing about felt is that it is a generous 72" wide. A little goes a long way. There are many blogs and Pinterest posts that feature little playhouses made out of felt that fit over standard card tables. The motivation to use felt is also based on the fact that its edges don't have to be finished as other types of fabrics do. It is available in an array of colors and can be easily cut and hot-glued. You can also add hand or machine sewn decorative stitching, embroidery, etc..

I bought my felt online at Hancock fabrics for $2.99 a yard. There were about 12 yards total.

Though I found many pictures of felt playhouses on card tables and even on low loft beds, none of the photos showed what I had in mind. In the case of the low loft beds, the playhouses always looked like beds because the railing was seldom a part of the design. I didn't want our bed to really look LIKE a bed, so I based my project on a wooden playhouse bed from a paint advertisement.

I sketched out a design on a printout of the bed, then went to work figuring out how much yardage I would need. Lily got to choose which colors would go where. She didn't want a scalloped roof at all- but I "talked her into it" by telling her that it would create a more finished look. What I didn't tell her was that her dear old mom had her heart set on it. :-)

The design idea, sketched over the bed.

Math!

 I determined that I would need: 

5 yards for the house itself (in this case, blue)

3 yards for the roof (yellow)

1 yard each for trim, windows, door, curtains, etc...

(If you are using these amounts, make sure that your felt is 72" wide!)

Hancock Fabrics delivered my felt in 2 days- I was so impressed by their speed and service. The bed was also delivered in 2 days from Amazon. I started the planning process on Monday and was working on the project by Thursday. I love it when a plan comes together! 

I started by cutting the blue felt for the front of the house. I measured 80" of felt, then trimmed the top edge off to create a piece with the dimensions of 55" x 80".

Next, I folded the piece in half, lengthwise, and measured out the door opening. I wanted the door to be tall enough for most pre-k children to walk through, but not so tall as to take away from the integrity of the structure. By cutting out the door with the felt folded in half, it ensures that the door will be centered and symmetrical. If you are planning on creating a roll-up door, just cut the sides (no across the top). I decided to make ours completely open because of #1: light and #2: potential of fighting. Just trust me on this one!

Fold in half, lengthwise.

Cut out door in the size/shape of your choice.

Keeping the fabric folded, as shown above, I folded back the top layer of the fabric so that its edge touched the edge of the door. This created a fold in the exact center of the distance between the door and the edge. Then, I cut out a window, approximately 18" x 12" (be sure to cut out only half the width of your window). I repeated the process to create a window on the other side of the door. 

Fold the top layer back to find the center. Cut out your window.

When both windows were cut out, the fun of sprucing up the playhouse could begin!

Doors and windows, cut out and centered beautifully.

To make the front portion of the roof, I cut out a piece of 80" wide felt, then trimmed it to approximately 24" (creating a 24"x80" piece). The roof is only about 12" high, but I wanted to cut the fabric wide enough to hang over the railing in a secure fashion. To make the scallops, I traced a 6" plate on paper, cut it out, then cut the circle in half. For easier cutting, I stuck the hook portion of peel and stick Velcro to the back of the template. This allowed me to stick the template on the felt to cut out each scallop along the roof's edge. The Velcro helps because it prevents the template from sliding around and also eliminates the need for any sort of pinning. I only cut out scallops on the front edge of the roof- the other edge is folded over the bed railing and cannot be seen.

The side portion of the roof was cut out later, but if you are using these instructions to help you create a similar playhouse, you may want to go ahead and cut out the side roof now. You will need a piece of felt 42" wide by 24" high. Cut out the scallops on one of the long edges, as earlier described.

Cutting out scallops with the paper template.

 To give the roof a roof shape, I folded the roof lengthwise (as it would be draped on the bed) then cut a diagonal line from the bottom to the top of one edge (see final photo). To create a symmetrical shape, I folded the roof in half and repeated the same angle on the other side of the roof. I repeated the same process with the side roof.

Creating windows was probably the most time consuming part of the project. Each window is made with 12 strips of felt, which I eyeballed and cut to about 2" wide. I hot glued the felt strips to create a window sash on the front of the house, then turned the piece of felt over to glue on the window "screens." I'd read online that it was a good idea to use something in the windows to deter little arms, heads, and possibly children, from reaching and crawling through. The blog I read suggested using the net that those $1 pop up laundry hampers are made of. What a happy girl I was when I discovered I had one in the laundry room! I cut out 4 rectangles, one from each side of the hamper. I only ended up using 2, but saved the other 2 for a rainy day.

Once the screens were glued in place, I used the remaining strips to create a window sash on the "inside" of the house. 

Once the windows were finished, the shutters, flower boxes, and grass came together easily. I also added a faux stained glass transom above the door. There are so many cute things that anyone could do to the facade of their playhouse. I've seen pictures of bird houses, dogs, mailboxes, vegetable gardens, and so much more. 

Shaping up nicely!

For the inside of the windows, I created some purple curtains with printed heart tiebacks. I gathered the fabric on the top edge with an exposed running stitch done with purple embroidery thread. I hot glued the entire gathered curtain on the window. I also added some homemade pom pom flowers, hot glued to felt circles then hot glued the the window/window box.

Outside the window, and inside the window.

When it was time to hang the house, I wasn't sure how I would go about it. First, I sewed on some loops of Velcro and looped them around the bottom edge of the bed (shown in the photos below). However, I didn't like the way that the curtain and roof created a sort of gap. I cut the loops off and decided to try sticky back Velcro instead. Worked like a charm. The Velcro IS NOT applied to the felt house- it is only applied to the bed. Felt will easily stick to the hook (rougher part) portion of the Velcro. I put seven 3" strips of Velcro along the edge of the bed and attached the playhouse directly to the Velcro. Along the sides of the bed legs I used some of the little coin hooks to hold the house in place. The little coin hooks were also placed on the top rail of the bed and intermittently where the roof needed to be held in place. It works great! I learned the hard way not to use cheap off-brand dollar store Velcro. It really isn't the same. 

Velcro and hot glue! Who knew?

The roof folds back when Lily wants to climb up- it's safer for her to grip the bars than the slippery felt. Safety first! :-)

There is still more to come... I can't wait to show you the inside, if I ever get it finished. I'll also discuss the side walls and how to go about making them. If you've gotten this far, I'm sure you can figure it out! Have fun!