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Fort – Table Cover

February 25, 2009 - By Ashley Johnston 39 Comments

Elli has a little cover that fits over a card table that my husband’s cute aunt made for her. I fell in love with it and decided to make another one that fits Elli’s little table we have out in our front room. And instead of just a fabric cover…..why not add some necessities; a door, a window, and some garden flowers. That’s how I came up this –

What’s underneath?

This.

Want to make one too??

Here’s what you’ll need: (**Note, instructions are based on my table that is 32L x 26W x 19H inches, so make adjustments if necessary.)

3 yards of base color fabric.
1/2 fabric for door
1/4 yard for curtains
extra wide, double fold, bias tape (one 3yd package for the doorway and window and then another package for the door.
10 x 10 inch of clear vinyl
velcro
felt and ric rac for flowers
3 pieces of grosgrain ribbon, 5 inches long.
thread
sewing machine
scissors

First you’ll need to cut out all your pieces. I have added 1/2 inch to all sides for the seam allowance, when necessary.

Cut a piece that is 27 x 33 inches for the top piece.
Cut 2 pieces for the front and back that are 33 x 20 inches.
Cut 2 pieces for the sides that are 27 x 20 inches.
Cut a door that is 16 inch tall and 14.5 inches wide.
Cut 2 curtain pieces that are 8 x 15 inches.

Now, lay the front piece in front of you and cut out a door hole in the center of this front piece, that is 16 inches high and 14 inches wide. Then, cover this raw edge of the door opening with the bias tape. Cut two strips for the sides that are 17 inches long and one strip for the top that is 15.5 inches long. Start with the 15.5 inch piece and one of the 17 inch pieces. Cut off one of the ends of each pieces of bias tape (where the two ends will meet) at a 45 degree angle, like this. (Make sure to start cutting on the fold and cut out and away towards the open ends.)

If you open up the two ends that you’re going to connect, they look like this.

Sew right sides together, in a ‘V’ shape.

Fold back the correct way and you will now have a nice corner. Do this to the other corner of the door opening, attaching the other piece of 17 inch bias tape to the other end of the 15.5 inch piece.

Slide the raw edge of the door opening between the open sides of the bias tape. Pin the bias tape into place and then sew.

Then cut enough bias tape to fit around your door and sew into place. However, you do not need to connect the ends before attaching to the door. Just attach bias tape to the sides of the door and then attach bias tape to the top and the bottom, allowing for enough at the ends to tuck under, hiding the raw edge.

Then attach your door to the door opening, on one side. Make 2 seams along the one side, for added strength.

On the other side, add a folded piece of ribbon to the back side of the door, in 3 different places. Then attach a piece of velcro to the ends of each piece of ribbon. I decided to attach the velcro to the front and back of the ribbon so that Elli could shut the door from the inside of the fort too. Add the opposite pieces of velcro to the front piece of the fort as shown, and then again on the inside, to allow securing the door from the inside too.

Onto the window.
Cut a centered hole on the back piece of the fort that is 9 x 9 inches.

Cut 4 pieces of bias tape, 10 inches each. Attach them at the corners, the same way you connected the pieces for the door opening. Sew into place.

Then pin the piece of vinyl over the window opening, from the back. Sew into place.

Next hem your curtains on all 4 sides by folding over a 1/4 inch, then another 1/4 inch. Sew into place.

Gather your curtain about an inch from the top and pin into place on one side of the widow. Do this to both sides. (No need to make them perfect…just scrunch them a bit.)

Sew into place.

On one of my side pieces of the fort, I decided to add some flowers. Make some flower shapes on felt, cut them out and cut some ric rac that’s long enough, for the stems. Lay the flower parts in place, pin them, and then sew them in place.

You can add more to the other end of the fort. I didn’t.

Now you’ll need to sew everything together. First connect all 4 sides, making sure that they are in the correct order. Now, cut 1/2 / x 1/2 inch squares out of all 4 corners of the top piece.

Then pin the top piece to the sides, with rigth sides together. Fold the little square opening together at the sides, creating a square corner as you pin.