Hogwarts reading fort

Okay, I'm finally catching up on posts I promised and never delivered.

Here is the scoop on the Hogwarts reading fort I sewed  for our kiddos this year as a Christmas gift. 

The original pattern was supposed to fit over a card table.

After sewing for hours, I had the sinking realization that something was terribly wrong.  

There was no way it was going to fit even one of my kids (unless it was Diego). 

Boy was I hopping mad! 

Look at the picture on the pattern:

Notice how the fort is as tall as the kids shoulders, and the top of the door is higher than his waist.

That looks like there is plenty of space to accommodate a ten year old, right?

Wrong.

Check out the height of the real product next to my real ten year-old kid:

Beensy. 

The door is only as high as her knees and the roof is as tall as her waist.

Only one child could squeeze into the original fort.

So I decided to take drastic measures to save my creation.

We opted to skip the card table supports and build our own structure with PVC pipe, which would allow us the luxury of expanding Hogwarts and making it any dimension we wanted.

I doubled the size of the for by sewing two more walls and adding them as a back wing. 

Now everyone can fit inside the fort nicely.

Take a peek inside the fort. 

We have a long rug and comfy cushions creating a cozy and welcoming space.

We also ran indoor lighting inside Hogwarts. To avoid creating safety hazards, we opted for the rope lights instead of regular Christmas lights with the little bulbs. This way there are no bulbs that could be smashed, exposing live wires and creating perfect conditions for a fire.

 (Live wires +dry felt=the perfect tinderbox)

I used velcro cable ties from Lowe's to hold the rope lights securely in place around the interior of the fort. 

The fort sits rights next to an electrical outlet on the wall, so it's an easy thing to plug in the lights when children want to lounge and read. 

Yesterday they all squeezed inside and called our Pyrenees dog to join them! 

They all fit perfectly. 

I'd call this a success.