Forts by Penelope

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No recipe today. I didn’t make any interesting food over the weekend.

Penelope is obsessed with dogs. She asks every neighbor with a canine if she can babysit their dog. This weekend she built a little house for one.

melissaesplin-penelope-forts-2

We have this deal that she’ll get a dog when she’s 12 years old. And every day she looks at me, stretches tall and says, “I’m bigger now. Can I have a doggy?”

We have these floor mats. She insisted on building a fort out of those mats for her new dog. You wouldn’t believe how hard she cried when Felix pushed it apart.

melissaesplin-penelope-forts-1

We got these mats in California for free from a neighbor. I recovered only three of them and lost interest/energy. I didn’t even recover them so the covers could be washed. So I’m scheming on recovering them. I think I’m more patient and better at sewing now. I just need to find the right print/fabric that will go with our house.

Which reminds me . . . I’m heading to LA at the end of the month! I’m going with my friend Mim and a bunch of other sewing bloggers to hit up the fabric district. I can’t wait! I hope to find some great yardage for these mats there.

Do you have half-finished projects lying around your house that have aged so poorly you have to just start over again? This is just one of many around my house.

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    1. Hanna says:

      More than one! The worst is a chair that I’m partway through reupholstering. Not only did I bite off more than I can chew, skillwise, but I stained the wood black and am currently getting rid of anything black in the house. Maybe if I leave it long enough I’ll like black again?

    2. alana says:

      Jealous of your trip to LA! If you find any shops that carry leather, please post! I only got into sewing a while back when I lived in NYC and certainly didn’t take advantage of all the fabric and notions stores there.

      I have some fairly good quality foam and am wondering: to make mats like that, would you end up with a better product if you wrapped the foam in some kind of batting first? I think to soften the edges and let the fabric sit a little tighter. I saw a tutorial a while back for a child’s cube/ottoman that used that technique.

    3. maddie says:

      Gosh, don’t you wish it were socially acceptable for adults to make forts? I just think they are so cool!

    4. Heidi says:

      Ha! There are more half-finished projects than I can count in my house. Like that child-size metal folding chair that I pulled apart a few weeks ago to recover…
      Penelope is so sweet. I love that you have an age set for getting a dog. Only a few more years, huh? ;)

    5. Sarah says:

      I thnk we should have a half-finished project party.

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