Joan Dickhaut * seejoansew

Building set

Introduction

This project started because I was too cheap to buy Lanie's hammock.

And I wanted one that looked like the hammock we had when I was a kid.  Kind of like this.

 Except with white dingy-ball fringe around the edges.

So while I was visiting my sister, I told her about this and we decided to make one.  

We spent the next couple of days drafting plans, calculating angles, cutting, grinding, sanding, designing and arguing.  After multiple trips to the hardware store and a semi-successful attempt with copper pipe, we came up with this.

And we were very happy.
 
The hammock frame is made with wooden dowels and plastic (pvc) pipe fittings.  It reminded us of the Tinkertoys we played with when we were kids.  Build something, take it apart, build something else.
 
And we said, "Hmm, what else we can make?" 
 
And I made a ballet barre.
 
And my sister said, "Hey! If you get a ballet barre, I want a swing set!" So we added a few accessories and made this.
 
And the ideas just kept coming.
 
 
 

 

 
 

 
 
 The building set is made from 5 wood dowels cut into 24 pieces and 20 plastic pipe fittings.
 
All of the displays shown above were built using this basic building set however, you can only make one display at a time.  If you want to build 2 sets at once, you may need to cut more dowels and buy more plumbing parts.   
Please read this!
 
This is not a toy!
 
This was designed by adult collectors for display purposes only.  I do not recommend giving this set to young children.  It makes cute photographs and scenes but it is not good for play.  It requires some effort to get the pieces straight and  some of the sets have a tendency to twist and fall over.   It occasionally frustrates me, so I can imagine it would be very frustrating for a kid. Although, with some modifications and a bit of glue, I'm sure you could make displays that are child friendly.    

I've posted basic instructions so you can make your own building set.   But you're on your own when it comes to making the add-on pieces, including the swing set accessories, nets and other sewn and crocheted pieces.  I don't have instructions or patterns for those and I don't intend on making them at this time. 

Note:  Yes, I know these displays aren't to scale.  I'm playing with dolls that can't scratch the top of their heads or pick a wedgie so I'm not overly concerned about scale!

 
Craft at your own risk!