w w w.prairiemouse.t ypepad.

com LOUISE HATCHARD

This easy-to-stitch little felt house is a perfect project for a young sewer with a little
experience. It can be made in any combination of colours and decorated however you like,
perhaps with buttons or felt flowers.

FINISHED SIZE

22 cm x 7 cm (8 in x 3 in)
TOOLS

Tracing paper
Pencil
Gluestick
Lightweight cardboard (an old cereal box

is perfect)
Erasable fabric marker
Scissors
Pins
Sewing needle (a darning needle is best, as the
eye is large enough for the yarn to fit through,
and it has a pointy tip that is good for sewing
through the felt)
Stuffing stick (or pencil or chopstick)

MATERIALS

Wall, window and base fabric

a 28 cm x 15 cm (11 in x 6 in) piece
of white felt
Roof and window-frame fabric
a 25 cm x 9 cm (10 in x 3 in) piece
of light-blue felt
Door and heart fabric
a 10 cm x 8 cm (4 in x 3 in) piece
of terracotta felt
Decoration
a piece of braid 25 cm (10 in) long and about
1 cm (38 in) wide
a 1 cm (38 in) button for the door handle
Yarn
short lengths of tapestry yarn or wool knitting
yarn (4 or 8 ply) in white, blue, terracotta, green
and dark grey. (If using a very fine tapestry
yarn, its a good idea to double it.)
Stuffing
polyfill or fleece

Note
Make sure you use good-quality wool felt. Ive used
thick handmade felt from Felt Works, available in
Australia from craft stores and in New Zealand from
Ribbon Rose (www.ribbonrose.co.nz)

INSTRUCTIONS
1 Print out the pattern provided and glue it onto
the cardboard. Cut out all the pattern pieces.
Place the cardboard pieces on the appropriate
fabric and trace around them using the fabric
marker. Cut out all the shapes (try to cut just
inside the line you have drawn this gets rid of
the pen marks). You will need to cut 2 wall shapes,
1 base shape, 1 door shape, 2 roof shapes,
1 window-frame shape, 1 window shape and
1 heart shape.

2 Thread your needle with white yarn. Place one

roof piece on top of a wall piece, so the bottom
(short) edge of the roof is lined up with the top of
the wall piece. Pin together. Use a running stitch
or back stitch to sew the pieces together across
the top. Repeat with second roof and wall pieces.

3 Open up one of the joined roof and wall pieces

and place right side up on your work surface (this
will be the front of the house). Cut your length
of braid in half. Place the long edge of one piece
of braid along the seam, letting the ends of the
braid hang over the edges of the wall piece. Pin
in place. With the white yarn, use a whip stitch to
sew along the top of the braid and then along the
other long side of the braid. Repeat with the other
joined roof and wall piece (this will be the back of
the house).

4 Thread your needle with terracotta yarn and

sew the heart onto the front roof piece using a
straight stitch. Then sew the door onto the front
wall using straight stitch. Sew on the button for
a door handle. (Dont use a button if making the
softie for a child under 3 years of age.)

5 With blue yarn, sew on the window frame using

straight stitch. With white yarn, sew the window
on top using straight stitch. With the marker
pen, very lightly draw lines onto the window (as
marked on the pattern). With dark-grey yarn, sew
along these lines using straight stitch or back
stitch.

6 Draw some vertical lines beside the door for

grass. With green yarn, sew along the lines using
straight stitch or back stitch.

7 Place the back house piece right side down

on your work surface. Place the front house
piece right side up on top, neatly tucking the
overhanging braid in between. Pin the house
pieces together.

8 Thread your needle with blue yarn and sew

the roof pieces together using blanket stitch or
whip stitch. With white yarn, sew each side of the
house together using the same stitch you used
for the roof. Make sure the ends of the braid stay
tucked inside.
9 Use your stuffing stick to push small amounts
of stuffing into the roof. Then gradually fill the
house until the stuffing is firm and even.

10 Take the white base piece and fold it in half

lengthways. Using the marker pen, draw a line
along the fold (this line will sit on the inside of the
softie so you wont see it). Match up each end
of the line with one of the side seams and pin at
each side (make sure the line is facing the inside
of the softie). With white yarn, sew from one side
seam around the base to the other side seam.

11 Add a bit more stuffing now if you think you

need to, then take the base template made from
cardboard and tuck it inside the softie so it sits
flat against the felt base piece.
12 Finish sewing around the other half of the
base. Push and squeeze the softie a bit to make
the stuffing even and the base flat.

Template shown at 100%. Seam allowance is included

wall

cut 2

base

cut 1

window frame

cut 1

window

cut 1

door

cut 1

heart

cut 1

roof

cut 2