Making a washing machine

I finally started making furniture, I started off with a washing machine in September, but that is not a furniture, it's a machine.. but still, a piece for the house.. =) I was a bit afraid of working with wood. I've been working in clay my whole life, and started both embroider and needle-felting and I did do that bed and then I started sketching on several wooden pieces =)
I miss proper tools and a working place, but with balsa wood I don't need it. I used a knife to cut out the pieces. But you have to be careful with balsa wood, it comes apart very easy! But I think it will do for my washing machine! But I will try a bit harder wood later.. I hope =) (the wardrobe I'm working on right now is made out of hard wooden sticks so I'm doing some progress..)

I started sketching on a squared piece of paper. Like when I built the small 1:144 scale houses. I like sketching on paper, and not on the computer =) But I collect inspiring pictures on my computer to look at when I need some inspiration and help with "how things suppose to look" =) Ikea's site is great, they have all the measurements and great pictures.

At first I thougt I could use a picture from the papers in the hatch, but then I wouldn't be able to open it.

So I started thinking of toilet-paper rolls, but then I remembered that I had saved some aluminium holders for candles, they are perfect for a washing machine =)

 

 I gave it holes with a needle, it's more realistic if you do it the other way, inside out, but it's easier to do like I did, outside in =)

 I glued it to a toilet-paper roll, I thought it would be easier to glue it to the machine this way.

 I don't exactly know what this is, its soft and a little sponge-like.. =) But I used it around the hatch, painted it white first.

I painted the whole machine white and added a button made of paper. And drew some lines =) And added a hatch. The hinge is also made of aluminium from a candle.

 I glued everything in place and stuffed the machine with some paper =)

 I glued some white wooden pieces inside the cylinder, just because my washing machine have things that looks like that ;)

And here is very I stopped...I need some kind of plastic piece for the hatch, but I haven't found it yet, so I didn't post this, because I wanted to finish the machine first... but I never know when I will be done, so I better post this now and I might add a picture of the finish hatch later =) I might add some buttons to the machine too!

This was quite a simple but fun thing to make! I had lots of fun doing it, and I started on a dishwasher too. I will write more about that later, that was much harder to make and I'm not done after a months work.. But I started with the wardrobe instead. Just like I always do =) Start new projects all the time, even before I finish the first one =)

Take care
Hannah