Viking Rope Bed for American Girl Doll

What you need

• (1) 1" x 2" furring strip board (8' long)
• 9 yards of string
• Wood glue and small nails (1 1/4" long)
• Masking tape
• Sandpaper
• Drill and 3/16" drill bit
• Saw

How to make the bed

1. Cut the following pieces from the furring strip
   (2)  10 1/4" header and footer (A)
   (2)  22 3/4" side (B)
   (4)  4 3/4" legs (C)
2. Smooth all sides and edges with sandpaper.
3. Take piece (B) and draw a parallel line 1/2" from one of the long edges.
   On this line, mark the center.
   From the center mark, mark every 1 1/2" inches until you have a total of 13 marks.
4. Take other piece (B) and align on top of each other. Wrap both ends with masking tape to keep the pieces together. Make sure you can still see your markings.
5. Drill holes with a 3/16" drill bit where marked. Disregard the large holes, I tried to make the bed with just pegs, no nails. It didn't work out so well, therefor the instructions with the nails :-)
   
6. Take one of the pieces (A) and draw a parallel line 1/2" from one of the long edges.
   On this line, mark the center.
   From the center mark, measure 3/4" in both directions as the first hole marks. Then mark every 1 1/2" from there until you have a total of 6 hole marks.
7. Take other piece (A) and align on top of each other. Wrap both ends with masking tape to keep the pieces together. Make sure you can still see your markings.
8. Drill holes with a 3/16" drill bit where marked. Again disregard the large holes in the picture.
   
9. Here are all the pieces you need (disregard the large holes).
   
   
10. Assemble the frame with glue and nails. Pieces (A) will be sandwiched between pieces (B).
    
    
11. Now comes the weaving of the string. To make it easier to get the string through the holes, I added a whole bunch of hot glue at one end, kind of creating a needle from hot glue.
    
    
12. Tie the other end into a huge knot then start weaving across the short side. Pull tight after each pass.
    
    
13. Then weave across the long side, going up and down over the short strands. Pull tight after each pass. Tie off at the end.
    
    
14. Use the free bedding instructions but increase the size to at least 23" in length to cover the bed.

You are done !!!

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