Monday, November 14, 2011

18" Doll: Upholstered Sofa - Part 1

Today we will start our sofa build.
This one is modeled after the Ikea Karlstad sofa, low and modern!


Part 1 : "SOFA FRAME"

SHOPPING LIST: (You may have some of these pieces on-hand as SCRAP)
1 - 1x8@ 21" (for seat of sofa)
1 - 1x6@19.5" (for back of sofa)
2 - 1x3@ 7.25" (for arms of sofa)
4 - knobs (to be used as feet on your sofa)

Drill / counter-sink bit
2" screws
2 large clamps (to hold pieces while drilling)
square
tape measure / pencil
level
wood glue
small hand saw
120 Grit sand paper
wood putty to fill holes and knots
***Paint or stain to finish your piece (if desired)  ***I left mine unfinished because I was upholstering.
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INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Cut out all of your pieces of wood to the sizes specified in the shopping list.  Sand all cut ends smooth.

2.  On your 1x8 sofa seat, measure in 2 inches from each "cut" end, and 1" in from each side, and mark with lines at those points:

 3.  Your piece should now look like this:
 4.  At your intersecting-line points in each corner, drill a COUNTER-SINK hole down through the board, making sure that the screw head (for your knobs) will be able to sit down inside that hole:
 5. Place your knob screw in the hole from the top and then attach your knob to the screw from below:
 6.  Set the sofa back onto your sofa seat (base with knobs attached), making sure that the back of the 1x6 board is flush with the back edge of the sofa base, and then mark where the front of the 1x6 rests on your sofa seat (the inside of the sofa):

7.  Flip your 1x6 forward and rest it on your sofa base.  Drill 4 holes into the base (as indicated in this picture on the light-colored bottom board to the left).
 
 8.  Now flip your 1x6 back up (onto the pencil lines you drew earlier), making sure to leave even spacing at each end for the sofa arms (you may need to set them up there with it to measure):
 9.  Once you have the sofa back centered, use a clamp to hold it in place, and then flip the sofa forward onto its front:
 10.  Using your counter-sink bit, drill through each of the 4 holes that you previously drilled into the 1x6 board:
 11.  While it is still clamped, screw it together using 2" wood screws:
 12.  Now set your arms on each side and mark where the inside line of each arm sits on your sofa base:
 13.  Now drill 2 holes down into the sofa base (between the line you drew and the end) for EACH arm, Left and Right:
 14.  Clamp your arm to your base:
 15.  While arm is clamped, flip your sofa on its end and drill through the bottom (with counter-sink bit) into each arm of the sofa:
 16.  Before removing clamps, mark each arm on the FRONT face where it belongs (L or R) in relation to your sofa:
17.  DO NOT attach your arms to your sofa yet if you plan on upholstering it!!!!! We will do that later after upholstering the arms.  *****If you wish to have a "simple sofa" that IS NOT UPHOLSTERED, you may go ahead an attach your arms with 2" screws, paint or stain your sofa, and then sew pillows for the base and back.

PART 2: Upholstery
Coming Soon!

 Please feel free to use these plans to build furniture, for sale or for pleasure, but please do not sell the PLANS as your "own".  Please also give credit to me and link back here!  I hope you enjoy them!!
***I am NOT LIABLE for any plans featured here. Please take every precaution and use your own discretion to make sure these toys are safe for children to play with them.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this tutorial... you make it look fairly easy to do!

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    Replies
    1. Annette:
      I'm so glad that you have found us! You are correct. This is not a "difficult" project, but it will take you a little bit of time to complete. :)
      I hope that you send me a picture of your completed furniture!
      Kristi

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  2. Since a 1x8 is actually 7.25" wide, shouldn't the arms be cut to 7.25" to be flush? I cut mine to 7.5" and there's a huge overhang, which doesn't seem right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good catch! Yes….that was a typo on my part. I should have been writing 7.25" instead of 7.5" (left out that 2!!). I measured my sofa just to make sure… I DID cut it at 7.25". Sigh. I'm sorry that I didn't catch that originally!! Thank you for bringing it to my attention, and I will correct it accordingly! :)

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