I am so excited to share this fun project with you today. Your American Girl Little Bitty Baby doll is going to love having her very own perfectly-sized seat! I created the chair with TurtleStitch, a block-based programming language.
For my papercrafting friends, no coding is necessary. All the files for a five inch chair are included in the file resources section.
I created this TurtleStitch code with a built-in scale feature that's like magic! Want to make a chair for your other dolls too? Just change that scale number and voilà! You can create perfectly sized chairs for:
- Your full-size 18-inch American Girl dolls
- Barbie and her friends (11.5 inches)
- Any baby dolls you have around the house
- Really, any doll in your collection!
Isn't that amazing? You're not just learning one project - you're getting a whole chair-making system for your doll family!
File Resources
I know not everyone wants to dive into coding right away, so I've prepared all the files you need for the Little Bitty Baby chair. Just pick what works best for you:
TurtleStitch Project: View and modify the original code - For the adventurous souls who want to make different sized chairs.
Ready-to-Print PDF: Download PDF file - For hand cutting
Silhouette Studio File: Download .Studio file - For your Silhouette machine.
SVG File: Download SVG - Works with any cutting machine
Components of the Chair
This little chair has just three simple parts.
- Chair frame: The back and sides
- Seat: The bottom
- Legs: You'll cut four of these sturdy little supports
Assembly
The legs are designed with a really smart folding trick. When you fold the sides inward, you create these diagonal creases that turn flat cardstock into strong, three-dimensional supports. It's like origami meets furniture making!
Putting It All Together (It's Easier Than You Think!)
- Cut everything out from 65 lb. cardstock: One frame, one seat, four legs. I used chipboard for the upholstery version for the chair frame and I cut an additional chair frame to sandwich the glued sides together.
- Fold the legs along the diagonal lines to make them stand strong
- Glue the legs to the four corners of your seat
- Fold the frame at right angles where the creases show you
- Pop that seat right inside the frame and glue it in place
And just like that, you've got yourself a chair!
Want to Get Fancy? Let's Talk Upholstery!
This is where you can really let your creativity shine! If you want to give your chair the full designer treatment, add some fabric before you start gluing things together.
Fabric Tips
- Go lightweight: Heavy fabrics are tricky at this tiny scale
- Think thin and flexible: These will cooperate much better with your glue
- Watch those patterns: Big prints might overwhelm such a little chair
- Test first: Some fabrics are just stubborn about sticking to cardstock
Cover your chair frame and seat with fabric by cutting the fabric about a 1/4 inch larger than the pattern piece. Glue the fabric to the cardstock. Two chair frames are glued together to make a sturdy chair frame.
Why I Absolutely Love This Project
This little chair project has everything I adore about crafting: it's thoughtfully designed, uses clever techniques, includes helpful calibration tools, and works for any size doll you can imagine. Plus, the engineering principles work beautifully no matter what scale you're working in.
The scalability feature means you're not just making one cute chair - you're mastering a system that can furnish dolls of all sizes!
Happy crafting, friends! 💕
For those of you who want to resize the TurtleStitch design using the Silhouette Software
Change the scale factor for the new doll chair size
Scale Factor = NewDimension / Original Dimension
Make a new chair pattern
- Run the program with the new scale factor.
- Export the TurtleStitch design as a DXF file
- Import into Silhouette software
- Release the compound path to access individual components
- Look at the reference one inch square for its measurement
- Calculate scaling factor: (1.00 ÷ reference square measurement) × 100
- Apply the calculated percentage in the Transform Panel
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