Merry Christmas Josephina!

For Christmas, I really wanted to give Ruby a bed for her American Girl doll, Josephina. The American Girl brand beds are pretty expensive, and we aren't in the market for pricey doll beds. So, at the end of the summer I asked my yard sale-master mother-in-law to look around and see what she could find. She didn't find any doll beds at yard sales, but did find an old doll crib in her basement. It was in pretty bad shape, and was a crib, which isn't the bed for a 9-year-old doll (Josephina is 9 years old, according to Ruby).

Here's what it looked like when I got it. It had a drop side, which was broken pretty badly, and missing rails. The metal guides for the side were all bent up and loose. There were old broken wheels on three legs and the whole thing was worn and loose and wobbly. It had been played with a lot, and had crayon and marks and dirt on it. For some reason my camera made the finish look pretty good, but it was in bad shape.

Old Broken Doll Crib

I had some work to do, but I thought I could make it into a really nice daybed--two pieces of furniture in one!. When I was a kid, my grandpa built us a bunkbed for our Cabbage Patch dolls and my grandma made all the mattreses and blankets and pillows and everything. With lots and lots of detail. The mattresses were made with ticking, there were fitted sheets and top sheets, and felt blankets with the ribbony top, and quilts, and bedspreads that folded over the pillows, and oh, they were so fancy. I probably don't even remember all the details that were in those bed sets. I wanted to do all the wonderful details my grandma had done, but I didn't have that much time, so I did what I could. Those bunkbeds were my inspiration.

First I removed the wheels and drop side and tightened and fixed the bed to make it sturdy. Then I cleaned the living daylights out of the thing. Here's how it looked cleaned and ready to start working on it, and you can see a little better how worn the finish was:

Cleaned up and repaired

Next I used Restore-A-Finish by Howard to restore the worn away stain. After that I used a Feed-N-Wax polish to make it shine. Both are great products. I had originally wanted to paint the bed white, but it's too cold to paint outside or in the garage and I don't have anywhere to paint in the house, so I went with a stained wood instead. It looked really nice when I was done. The beeswax polish does a really nice job making the wood shine. I think I'll use it on the rest of the furniture we have that's looking at bit worn. I bought a piece of hardboard at Home Depot and had them cut it to size for the base of the bed. The tag on the board said it was 24 inches, exactly what I needed, and I had the guy measure it to be sure, but he cut the piece off the other end of the board, which was not exactly 24 inches, so there's a little gap on the ends (if the tag says 24 x 48 inches, it really should be 24 inches on both ends). I took some little plastic cupboard door bumpers and cut them in half and they ended up being just the right size for the gaps. I have the rest of the board, so later on I'll probably cut a piece that fits properly.

Stained with new base

Once the bed itself was finished I turned to the task of making it comfy. I made a tufted mattress, two side pillows and a bolster for the back. I used some muslin I had kicking around and I had a bag of stuffing already, so up to this point, the only money I spent was on the hardboard, stain and polish. To help make them all less lumpy, I lined the insides with quilt batting (which I also had) before stuffing. I also made box corners for everything. I was really happy with how they came out. That side of the mattress that looks flat, I ripped open the seam and stuffed it some more after the picture. It looks better now.

Mattress and Pillows

Next up: a sheet for the mattress, a duvet, duvet cover, bed skirt and pillow cases. Everything is made with envelope openings, so she can take them off easily. The sheet goes on like a pillowcase so it doesn't slip off. I forgot to take a separate picture of the duvet, but I made it with baffles to look like a down comforter. It's made out of the same white fabric as the bedskirt and has a layer of quilt batting. It's cute.

With Bed Linens

The duvet cover and pillows have a darker pink on the back so she can have different looks depending on her mood. Eventually, when I feel like sewing again, I might make her a set in different colors so she can change the look of the bed. Maybe darker colors for winter.

When I was at the fabric store waiting in line at the cutting table, I had the bolt of the dark pink fabric and I was planning to get a yard of it cut, and there was .98 yard piece in the remnant bin. Remnants are 50% off, and the fabric was already 30% off--Score! Deal Of The Day!

Reversible!

Here's a picture of Josephina in her nightgown (Ruby has a matching one in her size) in bed. Ruby told me Josephina loves her bed.

Goodnight Josephina!

Josephina got a new friend for Christmas, her name is Kit. Here they are getting to know each other on the daybed in its couch mode (you can kind of see the baffle indents on the duvet in this picture). The bed is wide enough that both dolls can sleep at the same time. The bed is also tall enough that I could make a pull-out trundle, which I might do sometime. It's just the right height to fit three plastic shoeboxes that she uses for the doll clothes and accessories.

Sharing with her new friend Kit

I started this project the afternoon of Sunday the 23rd, went to Home Depot & the fabric store for supplies the next morning and worked all day the 24th and finished up around 5:00 a.m. Christmas morning. I was so full of adrenaline when I finished I couldn't get to sleep. I got started so late because I finished my knitting projects late, and since they had to be mailed, I had to get them done first.

Overall, this was a great project. I wish I had been able to start earlier so I wasn't so rushed, but it sure looks great and Ruby loves it. Which is the most important thing of all.