18 inch Doll Furniture for Living Room Doll House

I was needing some furniture for the living room in the granddaughters doll house.  Dear hubby said he would make me a couch and chair.  Here is our tutorial on making the 18 inch doll couch and chair.

He used craft pine  board 3/8 inch thick,, 6 inches wide, 36 inches long from Lowes (bought 2).  He used his table saw, table router, drill press, nail gun and wood glue. He did not have a pattern.  He took the doll and measured her and decided to make the furniture sitting low the ground so the doll would sit more naturally.  He made a decorative scroll on the front panel of couch
and chair.

 Shown in photo's below he drew a layout by penciling in where to pre-drill holes for nails. Used drill press with 1/8 inch drill bit - lining up holes for front and back.  In photo in lower left hand corner, used a larger drill bit for counter sinking nail heads.

Using Black and Decker orange drill, he us pre-drilling holes for nails in front, back seat, and scroll panel.

 In photos below, he instered nails - paneling nail with ridges. Used Tight Bond wood glue to attach sides.  Used  counter sink punch to tap in nails to counter sink.  In photo in lower right hand corner, used wood filler to fill in nail head holes for smooth finish.

Various views of the chair.

  For the arms of the chair, he routed the edges off to make them smooth and curved.

He did a curve on each side panel on couch and chair with using the band saw to make a decorative curve. View the above photo in the lower left corner. 

We cut one long piece of foam that we purchased from Hobby Lobby and two pieces of foam for back cushions on the couch.  For the chair we only cut two pieces of foam one for bottom and one for back.  I did not have a pattern to make the coverings for the foam cushions.   I measured the foam and added 1/4 inch seam allowance and cut my fabric. I made a pattern using freezer paper.  For the strips I measured all the way around and added 1/4 inch to end and sides to allow for sewing.  

  Measurements for fabric for the bottom  foam cushion on couch was  14 1/2 inches x 6 1/2 inches (cut 2).  Strip was 39 inches x 1 1/2 inches wide - cut one.

 Fabric for back seat cushions on chair and couche  were 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 (cut 2 for each cushion  which was 8 total) and strip was 22 1/2 inches x 1 1/2 inches wide (cut 4 for the four cushions.  The bottom cushion for the chair was the same.

I am using straight stitch on my Brother sewing machine.  I decided which side was the back and I started sewing the strip in the middle.  I did not sew right end of the strip.  I left about 1/4 so that when I brought the strip around I could join the two by sewing them together, then laying the fabric down and finish attaching the strip to the fabric.

I left an opening in the back, inserted the foam and then did a straight stitch and finished sewing up the back/bottom piece.

I made some pillows.  I just cut a 4 x 4 square, sewed the sides, turned right side out and stuffed with poly fil stuffing and folded the end that was open down and placed under sewing machine foot and closed with a straight stitch.

I think I need an end table and some wall decor.  The flat screen TV - made from $1.00 photo frame from Walmart.  I made a copy of Saige's book - Paints the Sky and cut it out to fit the fame.  Used command strips to hang on the wall. 

I hope you have enjoyed this doll furniture tutorial.  If you have any comments  leave below or questions please ask. Be sure to click on the right side of screen - Follow this blog to see more inspirational, creative and fun things to do for you American Girl dolls or other 18 inch dolls.  As always, thank you for stopping by.

GiGi