Plastic Canvas Doll Furniture Crafts

Making your own dollhouse furniture gives you extra flexibility in design and size, and making it from plastic canvas lets you make the construction part of the decoration. Plastic canvas can be cut to almost any shape and bent to form realistic curves to sofas and easy chairs, but instead of trying to fold sharp angles, such as for legs on a table, attach separate pieces or use other materials.

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      Cut to Fit
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            You may want to plan your furniture on graph paper, and even cut the pieces out to be assembled with tape before you begin cutting sheets of plastic canvas. Plan for edges to come as close as possible to crossbars of the canvas for a smooth finish, but you can easily cut a graceful curve at the back of a sofa or chair seat and bend another piece to fit perpendicular to the seat.
      Upholster and Assemble
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            Work full or half cross-stitches over the flat pieces with yarn to resemble upholstery. Make contrasting outlines for piping or to suggest couch cushions. Bind exposed edges with a blanket stitch to hide the plastic, then use a combination of long and short stitches to assemble the furniture and give it rigidity.
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      Be Creative With Other Materials
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            Plastic canvas may be too difficult to work with for narrow legs on tables and chairs. Try bamboo skewers, which you can stain in appropriate wood colors, or thin dowels that can even show through the corners of a chair seat. Other materials, such as pipe cleaners, may need to be covered with yarn to match the plastic-canvas flat parts of the furniture.

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