A Place to Rest Your Weary (Plastic) Bones

Creative Sewing

June 15, 2022

A Place to Rest Your Weary (Plastic) Bones

Last month it occurred to me that Pia might be tired of standing in the corner. I purchased a bed so she can lay down and close her eyes for awhile. After researching, I found the Ikea Duktig doll bed. It’s a pretty good value, nicer than some other doll beds I had seen and is a lot wider so she can actually roll over. It comes with a mattress, pillow and a flannel blanket.

Although it comes with these things, we both agreed that it was a sorry excuse for a mattress. I’ve been looking for the right mattress material. I wanted it to look old-timey. Everything I’ve seen has been either too thick, too thin or the wrong shade of blue. Goldilocks much?! Lo and behold, I found it at Joanns. It’s even called Mattress Ticking Fabric! It was a match made in heaven.

To create the mattress, I measured the top and side of the base and allowed 3/8″ seam allowance. Two rectangles were cut: 19.75″ L by 12.75″W.

To create the side piece, I measured around the perimeter of the base. This piece was 62.75″ in length. Since I wanted the mattress to sit higher in the bed (depth), I cut it 2″ wide.

When all is said and done it’s basically a box cushion with piping, lol. I stuffed it with leftover Poly-fil and handsewed it closed.

I showed it to Pia. She tested it out. But Little Miss Particular wasn’t satisfied.

Out of fear of her hulking out and turning into the Bride of Chucky, I went ahead and tufted the mattress. Yes, I created all six buttons and handsewed all six of them. I sewed until my hands ached. With every stitch I could feel her eyes over my shoulder, silently supervising.

In my stash I had 1″ button covers from Wawak. But they didn’t come with the plastic tool. No problem. I cut a 1.5″ x 2″ piece of fabric, gathered all around until it became a cup, stuck the button in and snapped the back into place.

As far as the pillow goes, that thing is as flat as the board it sits on! Who wants to lay on that… it’s practically a placemat for your head! I felt for her.

I thought the original was too long so I cut two rectangles 7.8″x 5.8″ and stuffed them again.

It ended up a little smaller than expected (should have used 1/4″ seam allowance, or even cut it larger) but it’s definitely an improvement from the original.