small world land: Simple Dollhouse Sofas

Monday, May 21, 2012

Simple Dollhouse Sofas

It is incredibly easy and fun to make a sofa out of a sponge.
Here's how to do it:
First, you will need

(and some straight pins)

Take a small kitchen sponge and cut an inch off the length.

(We tried a "wavy" sponge for this tutorial, which is just a little bit more work, than the straight sponge. You just have to be sure to pull the fabric tightly against the waved edge.)

Wrap this piece and the larger piece in the fabric of your choice. Use fabric glue or a hot glue gun to attach the fabric, using straight pins to hold it in place while the glue dries. Wrap it like a present. Trim excess fabric so it isn't bulky and try to tuck in edges so it lies as flat as possible against the sponge.

Glue the smaller sponge, onto the large sponge, making a back for the couch. (at this point, it was easy for the 4 & 6 year old to really get involved. Glue and hold is a good job for them!) Let it set a few minutes to dry.

We made feet out of wooden beads, stuck into the bottom of the sofa with straight pins and glue. Glue the feet onto the big sponge piece.
We added "Rick Rack" to this couch, and some fancy trim to one (below) , but you could also leave a trim off completely. The fancy trim turned out to be a bit of a nuisance because it totally frays where it is cut and it is hard to glue down all the little loose pieces without having it show on the front of the sofa. If you use trim, you may want to use something that will cut with a neat edge, not something bulky and inclined to majorly unravel.