Making a play house similar to the Win Green cottages - help and advice needed

[BernadetteRostenkowski]

I want to make a playhouse for my girls to play in and I was thinking of buying a set of poles from Win Green (here) and a set of connectors to use as my frame and then make a tent to fit over the frame. The frame would cost me £35 then there'd be the cost of the fabric but it would still be cheaper than the Win Green cottage for £235.

Has anyone done something like that? Any advice?

I'm fairly crafty though my sewing machine is on the way out so might need to find a new one for a big project like this.
Where could I go to get lovely fabrics for it? Are any online sites good or is just the local Dunelm?

Such a good idea. There are lots of sites where you can buy cheap fabric....you'll obviously want a lot for the base colour but for the additional details like window frames etc. I would buy cheap quilts or look in charity shops for fabric.

this site is good

What a great idea!!!!!!

Can you recommend a sewing machine? Mine has died a death, it was an old 70s one I inherited. I could only really spend about £100 but was hoping to be able to afford a decent but basic one.

I was thinking about either this Brother one which I've found for £99 or this Singer for £90. Do you think they would be good enough?

That Brother one is like the one I have ordered! I just don't have 100 pounds so after YEARS of wanting a machine, I have ordered one from Littlwoods catalogue!

I think I will pay about 30 pounds more in the end....but it's a case of desperation! I can afford to pay a fiver a month but I simply never manage to keep 100 pounds for something like a machiine...even though it's going to end up saving me cash!

I think it looks fine....it's had good reviews...

I thought it looked like a nice one. I've made about £100 selling things on ebay this week so fancy the idea of a new one. There are always so many things you can use a machine for. I really fancy having a go at one of these pillow case dresses here they look so cute and I have some fabric that would be really cute.

Mumbling Only just looked at your link and it made me chuckle, I used to live about 5 miles away from the big Abakhan! It was excellent, didn't know they were online though.

That's a great tutorial...I have made one of those before by hand! I must have been desperate! I can't wait for my machine as I can do cushions and dresses at last...without them taking days!

Last night I looked out all of my fabric in readiness!

With your tent thing, if I were you I would try to get something stronger than ordinary cottton...maybe a canvass or an upholtery fabric...or perhaps you could buy some of those painterscover-up sheets and dye them? They're strong if you get the good quality ones and its a lot of fabric for your money...you could dye it pink and use it for the base fabric.

x posts Bernadette! Fancy you living near Abakhan! I live in cheshire and often go to the Welsh one and the one in Chester.