"I'm always coming up with new ideas for closet space," says DIY expert Pamela Macauley. With no closets in her 1850 Georgian home, the designer has had to get inventive, to say the least. This fanciful idea is perfect for storing dress-up clothes in daughter Charlotte's bedroom, and part of the beauty is that the base is an ordinary bookshelf from Ikea, transformed with paint and fabric. "The tent idea has a fun kind of medieval look about it," Pamela asserts, "but I've used similar concepts for storing towels in the bath and the TV in the family room."
How to make our tented wardrobe
1 Assemble your shelf unit. Cut a piece of fabric to wrap around the shelves and staple in place. Drill a hole 1 inch from each end of the wood strips. Thread the string through the tops of the four strips. Tie them securely but leave enough room for the strips to move. Drill into the uprights at the corners and screw frame into place. Install curtain rod if desired.
2 Cut a back piece, as well as 2 side and front pieces from main fabric, adding 5/8-inch seam allowance along sides, 1 inch turnover for top and 2 inches for hem.
3 To make curtain, stitch each side to the back piece, right sides facing. Turn over and stitch a hem along the edges of the curtain. Secure the back of curtain onto the unit with tacks. Pleat and tack the side/ front piece around the unit to meet in the middle front, overlapping 2 inches. Screw a hook into the sides of shelf unit to hold curtain open.
4 Measure and cut a pattern for the roof out of newspaper, working out how many zigzags you need across. Add 5/8-inch seam allowance around each piece.
5 Cut 2 front roof pieces from contrast fabric, then cut 2 side roof pieces. Cut 2 facings. Add 5/8-inch seam allowance around all pieces. Notch the sides of each roof piece 2 inches below the point.
6 To make the roof, pin the roof sides to one of the front roof pieces along the diagonal and border edges, keeping right sides together. Stitch from the notch to the border edge. Join the other front roof piece to the sides. Press seams open. Pin and stitch the 2 side roof facings to each side of one of the front roof facings, right sides together. Then pin and stitch the other front to the side ends. Press seams open. Mark out zigzag border on the wrong side of the facing with chalk or pencil. Pin facing to the roof border, right sides together, along the zigzags and stitch along the line. Trim the excess fabric and clip at the points. Turn right side out and press. Tack the free edge of the facing to the inside of the roof. Wrap foam ball in a piece of fabric and tie at the bottom with string. Secure at top of roof with a few stitches. Place the roof on top of the frame.
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