Doorway Puppet theater

Hey, hey! We just rolled in late last night from a fun filled weekend in Albuquerque...visiting family, chasing hot air balloons, hiking, laughing, playing, and then a long long long drive back home.

And here it is Monday and my turn to post on poppies! Yea! I look so forward to this. A couple of weeks ago my middle boy turned 3. I thought I'd post about what I made him for his birthday...

A Doorway Puppet Theater

When I decided to do this particular project (a sewing project, that is), I decided to call my mom to solicit her help. You see, my mom is the quilter of the universe. I knew, with her help, I'd come up with a professional looking theater in 5 minutes flat. Unfortunately, my mom was heading to her quilting retreat that week (where quilters from the four corners of the earth come together and quilt 24/7 for a week or so only stopping to eat food and win prizes...something like that anyway...), so I was out of luck. I must brave this sewing project alone.

I started off at Joann's (40% coupon in hand) where I chose 2 yards of dark blue corduroy type fabric, 3/4 yard red sparkly and 1 yard gold rope. I then hit up another store for a tension rod and two 1/2" wooden dowels.

Then, I made some measurements on the doorway, had my little boy stand in the doorway to measure how high the window should be, etc. It was all very non-technical.

Then, I started cutting pieces. I ended up with 4 pieces of blue...the top strip, bottom section and 2 rectangles on either side of the window. Then, I just started hemming everything...inside of the windows, bottom of the top piece, very bottom. I also made 2 different casings...one at the very top for the tension rod and then one one the top of the bottom section (just below the window) for a dowel.

I took all the hemmed pieces and sewed them together and then hemmed the outside edges.

Phew. I think I'm almost done here.

Next, I needed something to hold on the curtain rod. I opted to sew on some tabs in the front, because I wanted the curtain to be able to open passed the sides of the window. Though, it would be more inconspicuous if you put them in the back. The 2 red curtain pieces had been hemmed with a casing at the top.

I cut my gold rope in half, folded it in half, and sewed it by hand onto the edge of the window to use to tie back the curtain.

Now, insert tension rod in the top. Put curtains on the dowel and ends of dowel in the tabs. Stick other dowel through the casing underneath the window and...Viola! A puppet theater that can be put up, taken down, rolled up and stored away. Lots of fun! I still think I might stitch on some felt stars or something on the bottom section for a little embellishment. But, it works just fine like this, see....

What I learned....

1. Not every doorway in my house is the same width. I ended up doing all my measuring against a doorway that is slightly wider than most others. I actually ended up liking it a little wider, though, so it was a happy mistake.

2. I have a hard time sewing in a straight line. Don't look too close at the stitches. :)

3. Costco has the CUTEST puppets right now. $8 for 5 of them....all different kinds (farm animals, bugs, dinos, winter animals, etc.)

4. There are a million different ways to do this project. This is just how I did it. I found some people that just used an old sheet for the background and other scraps for the curtains. The possibilities are endless...how fun!

Also, I obviously haven't figured out how to get that date and time off my camera. Working on that, I swear.