Fort-tastic!

We've had a REAL cold couple of weeks here & because of the weather haven't had much of a desire or opportunity to play outside.  (Boo.)  The resulting boredom inspired Grady & I to create a fun little fort for him under our dining room table.  I didn't have a pattern & just kind of winged it with supplies we had at home, but I think it turned out pretty cute!  (PS, Grady likes it too.)

Here's what our dining room table looks like.  It was pretty easy to sew a "slipcover/tablecloth/whatever" for it because it's a simple rectangle.  A little more precision would have to go into making a fort for underneath a round or oval table, but it still wouldn't be hard by any means.

I started by cutting out a rectangle the size of our table top & added 2 inches for seam allowance & some extra wiggle room.  I didn't want it to be difficult to slip on and off.  Then i cut out a very long (18 foot) piece of fabric to wrap around all four sides of the table and overlap a few inches in the front where the door opening would be.  (One looonnnggg piece = less sewing.)  I attached two buttons and loops on either side of the door so Grady would be able to hook the doors open if he wanted to.  Easy peasy & took maybe an hour to sew from start to finish.  (And maybe 10 minutes to string the lights underneath.)

And for good measure, a picture of the outside...don't mind the cat sleeping on top, as I've mentioned before, his nickname is "art cat" & he's ALWAYS in the middle of projects.  He just can. not. resist.  :)

There's something totally magical about forts.  I still remember one specific "pirate ship" fort that my brother & I created when we were little that we were never able to replicate again no matter how many times we tried.  It was epic!  I wish my mom would have taken a picture before we cleaned it up!  :)