A Sleepy Halloween

A few weeks ago for a date night, my husband and I built this doll bed for Kitty using the plans from Ana White. I love that lady's website. So many things to build, so little space/time/money... 

I still haven't finished the bed yet. I need to pick up some more wood filler and then I will paint it white. Until then it is already well loved. Not only is it good for sleepy little marsupials, but I have seen a couple of kids sitting on it like a bench. It is certainly sturdy.

Yesterday, after watching General Conference, I had the desire to sew something. I've had a stash of Halloween fabric sitting around for a while now, and as I was looking at it, and then saw the bare doll bed, I suddenly decided that it was perfectly acceptable to have seasonal bedding. I may need to seek therapy for my Halloween fetish.

Meanwhile, I shall share with you how I made my mattress and bedding. (Mostly so I have a record and don't forget, but also in case anyone else wants a little more guidance in that department).

I started with some foam. I wanted a 1" thick sheet of foam that was 11"x 18 3/4". But foam can get pricey. Then I discovered at Walmart some Foam Seat Cushions in a 4 pack. They were 16" x 16" and, if I remember correctly, around $6 or so. Since I knew I was going to be making a few beds, that worked perfectly for me. I just cut the foam to the width I wanted and added a strip to the end to make it the correct measurements.

 I may have used a highly technical method for joining the two:)

 Then I realized that with adding batting, it would make my mattress fatter than I wanted, so I trimmed 1/2" off the length and width. If you want to spare yourself this step, just start out with the mattress measuring 10 1/2"X 18 1/4". This fits the modified version of the Ana White Farmhouse Doll Bed plan with only 4 slats.

 I wrapped quilt batting around one and a half times (because that is what I had and it looked good and covered).

 I trimmed along the long edge even with the side.

 Then I bent up the ends and trimmed the excess there.

 Then I stitched with a quick whip stitch around the edges.

 On the ends I tucked them up and in and gave it a nice boxy finish.

 Here is another view- I tucked the top down and folded up the bottom, with the sides trimmed so it was square.

 This is what it looked like when I was finished.

 Next I took some plain white fabric and cut two rectangles and 20 3/4" x 13". To get that measurement I simply added 1" for seam allowances ( 1/2" seam allowance on each side) and 1" for the thickness of my mattress to the size I wanted the final product to be.

 I sewed all the edges, leaving a gap to insert the mattress into, and trimmed the corners.

 To make the box corners, I opened the corners out and flattened them with the seams lined up in the center. Then I measured down until I had a 1" line and drew along that line with a fabric marker.

 I sewed along the line I had drawn and trimmed the corner. I repeated this step for all four corners.

 After I was done with that step, I turned the fabric so that it was right-side out and stuffed the mattress inside.

 I got the corners all lined up and everything where I wanted it and then used a blind stitch to close the opening.

All finished with the mattress!

After I had the mattress done, I needed some pillows. I wanted some good king size doll pillows for the Koalas to sleep on.

 This fabric is actually folded along the bottom edge. I cut it out at 8" x 11". If you wanted to sew all 4 sides then you would just add and extra 1/2" (and cut 2 at 8"x 6").

 I sewed along the edges with my 1/2" seam allowance, leaving an opening for turning and stuffing, then trimmed the corners.

 I even ironed before I stuffed my pillow:) Then I used a blind stitch to close the opening.

 For the pillowcases, I was using an end piece of fabric, so I did my measurements the long way. I started with a piece of fabric 17" x 6 1/2".

 I folded it it half and ironed it. Then I ironed the ends under- I folded it in about 1/2" and ironed, then folded it again that much and ironed again for a nice clean edge.

 I sewed along the top and bottom edges.

 Because I anticipate the pillowcases being taken off frequently (I know my children), I decided to do a french seam to finish off my pillow. I started by sewing about an 1/8" seam with the right sides facing out- this is after I folded the pillowcase in half so that it now looked more like a pillowcase.

 Then I turned the pillowcase wrong-side out and sewed about a 3/8" seam along the edge.

 Finished pillowcase after I turned it right-side out again.

For the sheet I took two pieces of fabric, 20" x 20". On one side I sewed some 1" bias tape about 2" down.

After I had the bias tape on one side, I put the two pieces of fabric right-sides together and sewed with a 1/2" seam allowance around the outside edges, leaving about a 3" gap. I clipped the corners, turned right-side out, and ran an 1/8" seam around the outside edges, closing the gap and finishing it off.

I ran out of fabric that I wanted to use for sheets, or else I would have made a fitted sheet as well.

My husband commented that it might be a little scary to sleep in. Hopefully Kawana and Kierra don't have too many nightmares.

 This was my first attempt at piece quilting. I went off of the instructions on this website and made 3" squares, sewn together with a 1/4" seam allowance. The binding instruction was not so clear so I found this binding tutorial to finish the edges.

 It is even reversible. Now I just have to finish the bed:)