Roman’s birthday is coming up at the end of the month so don’t be surprised if you see a few gifts for him appearing on the blog.
Ever since I first saw these fold out houses/mats, I’ve been dying to make one! They just look like so much fun. Fun to play with and lots of fun to make! I followed the tutorial by Narelle at CookCleanCraft to put this together. I made a few changes along the way. The outside looks like a Mechanics and I also added some template plastic between the 2 layers of felt so that it’s nice and stiff and holds up well when being carried.
It is all put together with a combination of craft glue and a bit of sewing. The sewing wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to play with the decorative stitches on my machine. I used a few of the different satin stitches for the grass and waves, blanket stitch in several places, the bricks for the train station, herringbone stitch around the petrol station car park and a few other cute ones.
I also tested out the alphabet on the machine making a plaque to go on the front of the garage. I used blanket stitch around the edges of the handles to secure the felt together.
Other features were drawn on with Crayola fabric markers and then set with the iron.
Here are some of my favourite bits.
I love the little duck pond! The grass came up so cool and hubby made the cute little ducks!
For the animals in the zoo I used a piece of Safari quilting cotton I had. The carwash pops uo so you can actually drive a car through it!
The Church had to go on there and I decided to hand embroider the gold on the domes. I tried to do it on the machine, but that was a big fail! I love how the beach turned out! My machine has a satin stitch that looks pretty random and messy, but it worked perfectly for the sea foam.
It also has a helipad and train line so that Roman can play with his trains and choppers on it too. The construction site takes care of any trucks. There’s also a McDonald’s, because who doesn’t love chippies and some city buildings so he can visit Dad at work.
To top it all off, it had to have Roman’s initials on it so he knows it’s his! And seeing as it will be full of cars, I thought a Mechanics garage was perfect for the outside of the mat.
If you want to make your own, take a look at Narelle’s tutorial, or for a more simple house, head on over to UK lass in US and take a look at her fold out house.
Roslyn@Sew Delicious says
Oh my gosh Abby that is amazing! Roman is going to LOVE it!!
thingsforboys says
Thanks Ros. It was so much fun to make!
Anna says
I love it so much- beautiful finish!
Trimble says
Seriously, amazing!
Laura says
That is so cool, what a lovely mum you are, I’d love to make one of these. I loved Narelle’s version and your changes are really fun. The zoo and duck pond are fantastic, and the car wash, actually I love it all.
Narelle @ Cook Clean Craft says
I love seeing people’s own take on my tutorial. Every one is so unique and special. Love the car wash! I hope Roman uses it as much as my son does – more than 18 months and still going strong!
Erin says
Wow, wow, wow! What a fun birthday gift. I’m sure he’s going to have tons of fun playing with it!
Jo says
Wow! It’s amazing! Lucky boy 🙂
Crystal says
This is fabulous!
Annie B. says
I’d love to know how people clean these. I’m making one for my grandson, and you know this is going to get dirty. Recommendations for cleaning? (mine is on a flannel base with felt pieces glued, hot glued and / or sewn on pieces… )
thingsforboys says
To be honest, I haven’t really thought about how to clean it. Ours still looks pretty good, but Roman only uses it inside. It might be worth spraying it with some scotchguard or other waterproofing spray. That would help keep a bit of dust and grime off it. Otherwise spot clean with a damp cloth. Hope that helps!
Alysa Oyerly says
Did you use the interfacing? When and how did you put it on if so?
abby says
I used template plastic to stiffen the base, roof and handles. I cut it a bit smaller than my left and glued them in between. I didn’t use any interfacing.