How to Make a Fabric Fairy House - a Refashion & Tutorial

You are in for a treat with this project, because although it took me a while to create, this fairy house now tops my list of favorite creations! So who is ready to have more fun than you can imagine creating this gem using a shrunken sweater, a corn meal container and a few odds and ends from around your house? 

Supplies needed:

• empty corn meal container
• X-Acto knife or box cutter
• embroidery floss: 2-3 shades of green, brown & beige
• felt or felted wool sweater (a shrunken sweater)
• 1 button (for door knob)
• beads - from old necklaces
• fabric water soluble marker
• 9001 Epoxy Glue, clear
• thread
• scissors
• small pieces of lace curtains or netting
• optional items: decorative bird and or butterfly (I purchased mine from a dollar store)
• green felt or felted wool for the leaves
• 3 pipe cleaners
• cut 3 pieces of green felt 7/8" x 13", cut one end of each piece like this: 
  

Download templates for the door, window and leaf foundation color patterns HERE and the basic house pattern HERE.  

Cut two fairy house leaf foundations from felt and one from stiff interfacing.

1.  Draw the door onto a corn meal container.
2.  Turn the container upside down, using a sharp box cutter or X-Acto knife, cut along the door lines.
3.  Tape the windows in place and draw around the window pattern.  
4.  Cut the windows out with the box cutter.

5.  Wrap the felted sweater around the container. Cut enough fabric so it goes around the container and add at least 3/8" for a seam allowance.  Cut the felted sweater as follows:

Now, pin the door onto the fabric and cut out the door opening.

6.  Pin the window pattern directly over the cut out on the container.  Trace around the pattern with a fabric marker.

7.  Cut a small hole through the back side of the fabric and cut around the traced pattern.

8.  Cut out the door from felt. With a fabric marker, trace the wood lines onto the felt.

9.  From old lace curtains (or netting) cut 3/4" overall larger than the window pattern.  Pin over the window openings and sew in place.

10. Using two contrasting colors of embroidery floss, chain stitch around the openings of the windows.

11.  Sandwich interfacing between the 2 felt doors and pin. Zig zag using various widths the wooden lines onto your door. 

12.  Finish the edge of the door with a blanket stitch.

13.  Stitch the fairy house together to form a circle. Using a straight stitch, sew the door to the left side facing on the door opening.

14.  Blanket stitch all the way around the door (I hand embroidered this area.).

15.  Pin the door over the cut out area.  Add elastic cording by machine stitching to the right side facing of the door 3" from the bottom. Add random beads around the door opening.  Hand sew a button for a door knob to the door.

16.  Sandwich interfacing between the fairy house leaf foundation and sew around the edge at 1/4". Now sew the centers of the leaves. See the pattern for all the leaf details. This pattern is the actual size of the foundation.

17.  Blanket stitch the felt around the pipe cleaner.  

18. Pin the leaves to the top of the fairy house.
19. Stuff the felt vines into the hole at the top of the house.
20. For the rose leaves, make a stem that you'll attach the leaves to by cutting off some of the "fuzz" from the pipe cleaner.  Then apply some tacky glue to the pipe cleaner.  Now, wrap reddish brown embroidery floss all around the pipe cleaner.  I wrapped 3 1/2" inches for my stem.  Add the rose leaves to your house and glue on a rose or two.  
21.  Put strong adhesive all around the outside edges of the corn meal container, especially the windows and door.  Pull the house over the container and press the edges into the glue.

22.   I added paper clips to the door area to hold the house tightly against the corn meal container.  Set the house aside and let the glue dry.
23.  Add the house onto the leaf foundation and pin in place.
24.  Sew the leaf foundation to the house.
25.  If desired, add a few additional extra leaves, a butterfly and or a bird to your house using your adhesive.

26.  Create several fairies and watch your child or grandchild have fun!  For fairy creating tips see THIS post.


This fairy house is for that child in your life that likes playing in a world of make believe. You can turn this into a darling night light by tucking an LED light through the door. Just look at the soft glowing light that comes through the little windows once the light has been added:

Take your house outside for a while and see if any fairies want to take up residence in this cozy, whimsical little home.

If you don't want to take the time to actually make a fairy house but love this one, please stop by my Etsy shop.  xoxo Grandma