I think every child needs a table fort!! Am I right? Of course I'm right. Pure happiness and giggles accompany this little fort. I climbed in there with them which they thought was the best thing ever. Man these little guys are pure joy to me.
I had this whole idea of what I wanted to do in my head. I knew I could wing this project as long as I had the table dimensions. So I started off with getting the dimensions online, of the dining table my kids bought at Ikea. That was easy and then they didn't know what I was doing. So, I cut the top the same as the table top dimensions along with 1/2 inch seam allowances on all sides. This fabric was something I had left over from curtains I had shortened for my granddaughters room. Perfect!
I had a few thoughts of what I wanted for the main body, but wandered around the fabric store with my 40% off coupon looking and looking. Finally this caught my attention as it was 31" as opposed to 44/45 and I wouldn't have to cut it down. There was not quite enough of what I wanted on the bolt, but I figured I could make it work. This looks like ticking, but it's actually canvas. It was so stiff when I bought it, the lady who cut it couldn't even get it to fold. So, of course I washed, dried and ironed it and it is the absolute perfect weight and softness.
I folded the top piece and found the middle in the back, marking it with a pin. I folded the canvas, marking it with a pin and matched those. I pinned this fabric all the way around to the front discovering I was short about 1/3 yard! Shoot! So I started digging around in my fabric scraps to see what I could come up with. I had made aprons for the dads at my daughters wedding (they were our grill guru's) and I had these two pieces left over that were basically the shape I needed. Score! So I used some binding I had made for a quilt project and finished the outside edges.
I then made some pleats so that it wasn't overlapping too much. I then
pinned and sewed the fabric all the way around, pleating the corners as I went.
The look I achieved was far and above what I had originally anticipated! I had
extra of this fun fabric and decided I would use it to coordinate my windows I
wanted. I decided I wanted windows that looked like they were framed from the
outside, but clean on the inside. So I practiced on some scrap material.
My pra
I cut out two squares that would be my window size for each window. I stitched them, right sides together, cut a hole in the middle, turned them, pushing out the corners. I then pinned them to the inside of the tent, where I wanted my windows, measuring very carefully; I wanted them all aligned.
For the front windows, I stitched them so the blue would be on the outside. Once I stitched the seam, making sure it would be enough for a framed look, I trimmed the seams and made a cut to the corner. I turned them to the front and stitched them down. I loved this idea for a couple reasons. It gave the framed look I wanted and because I used two strong fabrics for the frame, it stabilized the window so it wouldn't sag.
My side windows were a big larger and I wanted the frames even wider, so I could add tiny curtains. Again, measuring very carefully as the placement would need to look the same on all sides.
The inside was perfect as I wanted a completely clean and finished look. This "winging it" thing is working out quite well!
My table is not the same size, so trying to see how it would look pretty much failed, but I was just too excited at this point to see!
I had a tiny hexie I had made just for fun, because it was so little. I figured I would never use it as I wouldn't make a hexie quilt that small. But a flower on the outside to make it look like a front yard? Yes! So I did a leaf stitch on the fabric and then hand stitched the flower on.
I found this fabric in
the remnant section for a couple dollars. I was very excited as my little guys
love, love, love animals! This would be the little curtains on the inside.
I cut
material twice the size of the window, hem stitched all the four edges, gathered
and stitched them on over the frame, making sure my stitch was above the
outside frame. This ensured it would not cover much of the window and they could
peek out.
The curtains are in and my fort is done!! Done! Of course I had to crawl in there with them each time. They boys are such a blast!
