Quiet Book Dollhouse – Kitchen Page

Having a little boy, I don’t often get to do super girly sewing projects. I really wanted to design a dollhouse quiet book, so I decided to go for it!

This page is sponsored by American Felt and Craft, who provided the beautiful wool blend felt. It is such a delight to work with! The feel of it really doesn’t compare to craft felt. If you can afford to spend a little more, I really recommend using wool blend felt. It has been holding up so much better than the acrylic.

You’ll notice from the photos that this page is laid out different than my others – there is no blank area on the side to allow for the binding/grommets. This is because I plan to fold the pages in the center and sew them together as a mini book that is 6″ wide x 9″ high when closed. I will be posting each double page separately, then showing how I bind it all together. You could use the elements from this page to design a regular quiet book page, but you’ll need to rearrange and shrink some things.

The book will contain one felt doll (or possibly two) with Velcro underthings. I plan to make two outfits per double page. They will be stored on the bedroom page, but there will be places to put them on each spread. Here the table is a pocket. This page also contains many little food items that were a great way to use up felt scraps! Because they are tiny, I’d recommend this page for a 4 year old unless you are supervising. The colors I used are all totally changeable, so just think of them as suggestions. I was in love with that green “honeydew” color and wanted to pay homage to the avocado appliances I grew up with.

What I Used: The pattern, felt (in pink tutu/pink, soap sud/pale gray, white, honeydew/spring green, hot pink, salt & pepper/dark charcoal and bisque/flesh), felt scraps (in lilac, gold nugget/gold, peacock/aqua, rainy day/light blue, big apple/red, cilantro/olive green, rubber ducky/yellow, orange juice/orange, chocolate/brown, banana nut muffin/tan and gray flannel/gray), clear vinyl, white snag-free Velcro, size 1 sew-on snaps, 7mm mini buttons, ric-rac and ribbon scraps.

I sewed this entire page by hand, but you could certainly machine stitch some or all of it.

Background Elements: I started by sewing a strip of felt down for the floor. I used “soap sud” which is a white with a pale tint of pink and blue to it.

For the frame hanging above the table, I cut a rectangle of clear vinyl to fit the opening, then straight stitched it onto the back. I sewed the frame to the wall, leaving the top open so you can slide in a photo. (I stitched across the top of the frame just so it would would match the other sides – but it isn’t sewn to the background.)

For the window, I cut a rectangle of light blue and sewed it down with a + shape of white back stitch. I sewed a strip of white to the bottom for the sill, then sewed the curtains on, leaving the bottoms open for volume. I made two little aqua blue bows and sewed them on as curtain ties. I stitched through the knots so they won’t untie.

I added a shelf under the window to hold the tea set. It is just a strip of hot pink felt sewn down over a small pocket of clear vinyl. The vinyl holds the tea set in place while it looks like it is just sitting on the shelf.

Oven: I sewed down the inside of the oven with snaps in the upper corners, then sewed down the stove top above it. I added 4 7mm buttons (from the craft store) as dials and two felt burners. I made the door by sewing the matching snap halves to the upper corners of the inner door felt and sewing some ric-rac to the door front as the handle (I added squares of felt over the ends of the ric-rac to hide where it was sewn on and prevent fraying.) I then sandwiched clear vinyl between both door sides and sewed them all together. I sewed the oven door to the oven along the bottom, making sure the snaps lined up.

Refrigerator: I started by sewing down a white rectangle the size of both doors. I also sewed a strip of the door color down to separate the freezer from the fridge. I cut scraps of clear vinyl and sewed them down into pockets to hold the food. I added one snap for each door. To make the doors, I sewed ric-rac handles to the front pieces the same way I did it on the oven. I sewed the matching snap halves to the white inner door pieces, then sewed the two sides of each together. I sewed the doors down along the left sides, making sure the snaps lined up.

Table & Chair: I started with the chair (half a chair, really.) The table is sewn as a pocket so the doll can “sit” at the table. I added the top portion of a chair to make it look like she’s sitting. I did some decorative stitching, including a daisy stitch in the center. I sewed it down so the bottom would be hidden behind the table. To make the table, I sewed the hot pink trim to the bottom of the tablecloth. I added an extra layer of white felt to the back of the table top (the oval shape) so the bright chair wouldn’t show through. I also added a line of stitching in gray to show the edge of the table. I sewed the table down along the sides and bottom to make a pocket.

Tea Party Items: For the tea set, I cut a front and back piece for each item (one tea pot and two cups) and sewed them together. With the cups, I left the tops open.

The cookie sheet is made with tan ovals sewn to the top layer of the cookie sheet, then the front and backs are sewn together.

For the fruit bowl, I sewed together two layers for each fruit, then sewed the bowl around them, so they are stitched in place and can’t get lost.

I did the same with the ice cream bowl. (I didn’t have extra pink, since I used the full sheet for the background. I ended up cutting a square of felt out of the back of the page behind the oven and using that for the strawberry ice cream!)

For the cake, I started with the flame, sewing the back and front together. I then sewed the two sides of the candle stick together around the base of the flame. I sewed the two layers of the plate together. I sandwiched the end of the candle between the two cake pieces and sewed it down around the top of the plate.

The milk has two identical sides – each with an M sewn on. Then, the two sides are sewn together.

Doll: The doll is made with colored felt on the front and plain white on the back. I started by sewing the hair on to the body piece around her face. I then embroidered her features on. For the mouth, I used the same technique that I used one my princess finger puppet, but I added a stitch of white for teeth between her lips. Her nose is a dashed stitch that is tilted up a bit. I started the eyes by stitching the almond/eye-shape with white thread. I made a French knot in the center, and made a tiny stitch from the edge of the knot through the center to really hold it in place. I outlined the tops and outer corners of the eyes with brown thread, then back stitched eyebrows. Her under clothes are cut out of snag-free Velcro to hold her outfits on. I sewed them down the same way I would sew felt. I sewed a tiny belly button, but it’s hard to see. Once she was decorated, I sewed her backing on.

Clothes: Her red dress was decorated with black back stitch at the cuffs, collar and hem. The buttons are pink French knots. Her apron is a cherry ribbon I found at Dollar Tree. I folded the bottom under into a curve as I sewed it on. I made her apron belt with a scrap of pink ribbon. I sewed Velcro to the back piece, lining it up with her body, then sewed the front and back together.

The green dress has a gingham ribbon scrap sewn on as a belt. I sewed on a white collar and added two 7mm mini buttons. I sewed the Velcro on to the back then sewed both sides together.

Stay tuned for two more double pages for this dollhouse book, followed by the exterior of the house and book construction! I am posting progress photos on the Facebook page as I go. I am also working on a solar system page, so photos of that may pop up too.

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