Sutton's Playhouse

I have been meaning to get this blog post together since Sutton's birthday! I came across a pattern for "The Card Table Playhouse" last spring. When I saw it, I immediately thought, I HAVE to make this for Sutton's birthday. It looked quite daunting, but I was determined! I also found several tutorials online. I used these tutorials and the pattern for inspiration, measurements and places to find materials!

This was my HUGE box of felt that I ordered from fabric.com.
It also required a few additional colors of felt and lots of wonder under/heat n bond!
I decided to use felt because it does not fray, therefore I didn't need to finish any of the edges. (Except I did finish the edges of the mailbox opening and the door with bias table. Felt can stretch.)

Then, after HOURS of tracing, ironing, pinning and sewing the big box of fabric looked like......
this!
Welcome to 1002 Sutton Lane!!!!
(I came up with that house number because 10-02 is Sutton's birthday! Since it was also a birthday present, I thought it was perfect!)
We've left the door open and the porch light on, so come on in for a tour! If you live too far away, feel free to send him some mail. He loves to open his mailbox and check for mail, or throw anything else through the opening. Hey it's fun!

Sutton has a blooming flower box and a garden outside one of his windows. Plus a little pink birdie to sing some songs! I love the flowers in the flower box. Each stem has a piece of pipe cleaner in it, so they can be picked and replanted as often as we want!

I loved the corn from the homemade by jill tutorial. I made little pockets from two pieces of green leaves. I did a little primitive basket weaving to make the corn. I thought they turned out very cute! Sutton also has lettuce and carrots that he can pick and plant over and over (with Velcro).

I think my FAVORITE idea that I came up with, is the fishing pond!! I saw the idea for a felt fishing game a while back, but wanted to add it to the playhouse! I decided to put a pond on one side of the house and use clear vinyl to make little pockets for the fish to go in. Daddy made Sutton a fishing pole out of a dowel rod with some fishing line and a magnet on it. Sutton can "catch" the fish because each fish has a washer in it's mouth for the magnet to be attracted to!!!

The last side of the playhouse has another window and two pumpkins in the garden with a basket that can hold all of the garden harvest! There is also a beautiful tree on the corner. I am quite proud of how it turned out with all the leaves and the little owl sitting on a branch.

Sutton has had quite a bit of fun in his playhouse. I think his favorite thing to do is throwing all the "pieces" (i.e. flowers, veggies and fish) in and out through the mailbox! I believe Sutton and Sophie will have hours and hours of fun in here over the next many years!

I also seem to agree with most of the people who have made one of these playhouses, out there in blog land! I don't know if I will ever attempt to make one of these again! I would LOVE to make some for all my nieces, nephews and friends. While the skill level isn't too high, the time and patience involved is HUGE! Every time I thought I was done, I would see another detail that I had forgotten. I finally had to give myself permission to STOP!!! (That's why my owl and the fish still don't have the wiggly eyes that I intended to put on them!)

**FYI, a few things that I learned
*It's so much easier to put wonder under on all the pieces then sew them on. Keeps them much neater, smoother, and provides more support.
*Trace your shape on the wonder under, iron it on the felt, and then cut it out. Saves lots of time and pinning.
*Buy and MEASURE your card table before you make it and put it all together. I used the pattern measurements, but the card table I bought at Target was a little bit shorter. So my playhouse drags the floor a little bit.
*make a list of all the things you want to put on your playhouse. It helps you keep track of what you have and have not cut out yet!!!
*Layout all your pieces on all 4 walls before you iron on anything. If I had skipped this step, not everything would have fit, and I would hate to have thrown anything away because I had no room for it!
REMEMBER, WHEN YOU USE THE WONDER UNDER, IT WILL IRON ON OPPOSITE (mirror it) SINCE YOU HAVE TO FLIP IT OVER. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT. (I had to cut my pond out twice because I forgot this...and that was a big piece to mess up on!