The Stovetop Details On My Kids' Play Kitchen

The Stovetop Details On My Kids' Play Kitchen

Last week I posted about my homemade kitchen set and this week I want to show you how I decorated the kitchen stovetop with burners, burner covers, sink, and faucet.

Pinterest image showing five images, all found below, and the title of the post. The outer two images at the top shows the sink while the middle top image shows the underside of the burners. The bottom two images show the burners both with (left side) and without (right side) the removable burner covers.

Just a warning the size of the kitchen top was a bit large so it was cumbersome while sewing as the excess material ended up getting bunched up, or later on rolled up, so it fit under in my machine while sewing.

While working on creating the burners and the sink I ended up starting both the burners’ drip trays and the sink at the same time as they were both grey. I then continued to work on the sink before going back to finish the burners and burner covers. I figured instead of jumping around, based on the felt and thread color, it would be easier to go over the burners first, followed by the burner covers, and then finally end with the sink and faucet. I wanted to give you a heads up as there may be the odd view of the sink as I go over the burners but I will explain how I made it afterward.


Burners

I grew up with an electric stovetop with coil burners and since we were living in an apartment with the same I decided to go with that. I chose to make the burner drip tray grey so started by making four circles out of my grey flannel. To simplify creating these circles I grabbed the lid from my smallest pot for the kids’ large burner drip tray and then grabbed one of the kids’ pots for their smaller burner drip tray. I chose the pot for the smaller tray as I wanted to be sure all the burners would work for all of their pots. I laid the item out on the flannel and traced around it with a disappearing ink pen before moving the item and doing it again. I did the same with the fusible fleece as I wanted to add it to the flannel for the burner trays so they would have more height and puff up from the black stove base. Once the circles were traced and cut I used my iron to attach the fusible fleece to the burner tray. Since I had all my cutting stuff out I went on to find something to use for slightly smaller circles as I wanted the black burner tops to be small enough to show the drip tray surrounding it. Additionally, the grey drip tray encircling the black burner would allow it to stand out from the black stove base surrounding it. Once I found those smaller items I used them to cut out four black circles (two small and two large), eight red circles (four small and four large), and 12 circles out of fusible fleece (6 small and 6 large). I cut out a matching circle out of fusible fleece for each flannel circle cut out as I wanted the black burners and red burner covers to be puffy so they appear more three dimensional than two. I then attached the fusible fleece to each circle so I ended up with two small black circles, two large black circles, four small red circles, and four large red circles. I wanted the red burner covers to be removable but still available to cover up the black burners to signify that that burner was turned on. For that to happen I knew I needed the burner cover to be double-sided hence the need for twice as many red circles than black.

Image show the grey flannel and some of the white interfacing laid out. On top of them is a small actual kitchen pot lid and a smaller play pot. Behind the items you can see black outline of circles where the items have already been traced out.
I started by using the kids’ small play pot and my small, actual, pot lid to trace out two small circles and two large circles on both the white fusible fleece and the grey flannel.
Over view showing an upside down play pot on the white interfacing. Surrounding the pot is a purple line from my ink pen. Behind the pot you can see other circles already traced out.
Closer view showing how I used the pot to create a circle. Once I was holding the pot down with my left hand I went around it with my disappearing ink pen with my other hand.
The top of the end table is shown, from above, with the Joe's Sticky Stuff still on it. Over top the four burners are laid out to check the layout and how much room it takes up.
Once the drip trays were cut out I brought them over to the end table to confirm they were the right size and could be laid out properly. I set the pot beside the burner trays to emulate the kitchen sink so I’d be sure there was enough space for it.

At this point I had already cut out the pieces for the kitchen sink so, after grabbing the base, I laid out the sink and used that to determine where I wanted the four drip trays. Once I was happy with how it was laid out I carefully pinned the drip trays and the base of the kitchen sink to the surface so they wouldn’t move. I then took the stovetop base to my sewing machine and went around each pinned item with a blanket stitch being careful to stay close to the edge without crossing into the black too much. I used grey thread to help it blend into the flannel and not pop too much.

Overview of the stovetop base with the bottom level of the sink (rectangle with curved corners) and drip trays (circles in two sizes) laid out and pinned into place.
After arranging the sink and drip trays I pinned them in place so they were secure.
Overview of the same view as above. This time there's no pins and each grey piece has been sewn on with grey thread, blends in, using a blanket stitch.
I then carefully sewed around each piece of flannel making sure to stay close to the edge without going off the flannel as the grey thread would’ve stood out against the black stovetop.

At this point I went on to work on the sink, since I had grey thread already loaded in my sewing machine, but I’ll continue telling you about the burners now so the post doesn’t jump around. I knew I wanted the burners themselves to be black with the grey drip tray encircling them which is why I cut the grey circles out to be larger than the black. With the grey drip trays sewn down I grabbed my four black burners and placed each one directly in the center of it’s matching drip tray and pinned it into place. After switching my sewing machine to black thread I used a blanket stitch to carefully stitch around each one. I loved how the fusible fleece under the grey drip tray and the fusible fleece under the black burner causes the burner to puff up but I knew I wanted something more for the burners. I considered sewing concentric circles or a spiral to emulate the burner coils but then decided on something else. A while before this I came across free motion quilting and had purchased a free motion presser foot and curved rulers but hadn’t gotten a chance to try them yet. The burners screamed to be decorated with free motion lines. I chose to stick with the black thread so the fusible fleece would make it pop and any mistakes wouldn’t be as obvious before attempting four different designs, one for each burner, and I had a blast. At this time I had jotted down that I used a ‘six inch celtic knot’ ruler but I’m unsure if I used it on all four burners or just one… plus I was playing around so I’m not sure exactly how I’d be able to duplicate them.

The left of the image shows part of the kitchen sink. The right side of the image shows the four flat black burners each encircled by a grey border.
The blank black burners after they’ve were sewn onto the grey drip trays.
Right side of the image, again, shows the four burners. This time they are a range of valleys (where they were sewn) and hills (puffs from the interfacing in the space between). The top burners are easier to see in the light with the small left one being filled with lines and the right large one almost looks like a star or pointed petal flower.  The black thread blends in with the black flannel used for the burner so you can only tell where it was sewn based on the the hills and valleys.
I loved how the fusible fleece made the spaces between the stitches puff up so much after I free motion quilted them.
Closeup of the underside of the kitchen set. The black bobbin thread shows up against the white interfacing letting you easily spot the drip trays (circles) and the burners (free motion quilting patterns). The left top burner is a range of curves ended with points causing a flower-like star. The small top right burner shows straight lines bisecting the circle although there's too many to be considered a star. The small circle at the bottom left almost looks like a spider web while the large circle to the right looks like a many petaled flower akin to a dahlia.
If you flip the base over you can easily see where the burners were and where I free motion quilted as the black thread shows up great against the white fusible fleece. I covered this up while finishing the stovetop base so this is no longer visible.

Burner Covers

With the burners done the next step was the burner covers. I wanted to make these standalone pieces so the person playing with the kitchen set could signal if the burner was on or off my covering up the burner with the cover, making it red and hot, or leaving the burner unadorned so it’s black and cold. Since this piece wasn’t being sewn down it needed to be double-sided which is why I cut out twice as many red flannel circles as the black circles and why I made them all the same size. This way the burner cover matches the size of the burner so the burner is hidden yet the drip tray isn’t. I, later, sew the burner cover together wrong sides together so if you’d rather sew them right sides together and turn right side out afterwards you’ll want to add the seam allowance to the red circles.

Earlier I added fusible fleece to each circle as I wanted the burner cover to look more three dimensional than two. I knew going in that if I sewed the two burner covers together with the right sides together it may be too hard to turn right side out since they were both  attached to fusible fleece. Instead, I chose to attach the two circles together, wrong sides together, with some thin double-sided interfacing to keep them together before sewing them. Looking back this wasn’t required and I could’ve gotten away with just temporarily clipping them together. I then switched my sewing machine’s thread to red so it would blend into the flannel and sewed alongside the edge of each pair of circles sewing them together. I considered using free motion quilting but, instead, I chose to simplify the process and made three simple concentric circles on each burner cover.

Stacked red circles cut out from the red flannel fabric slightly overlapping with the red flannel it was cut from.
I started out by tracing and cutting out the red circles I needed, four large and four small, before going on to cut the same number of circles from the fusible fleece and attaching them with my iron.
There are two large circles, top, and two small, bottom, laid out on a white towel with their white fusible fleece pointed up. Around each you can see an outline of the red flannel. On top of each circle is misshapen pieces of double-sided fusible fleece ready to be pressed and attached.
To attach the circles together I cut off pieces of my double-sided interfacing knowing the shape didn’t have to be perfect. I pressed it on, removed the paper backing, and then pressed the other side of each red burner on making the layers of fusible fleece be sandwiched between either red side. Looking back I could’ve also accomplished this by simply clipping the two circles together as the sewing that came next was enough to hold it together.
The stack shows the red circles stacked unevenly showing that there's two small circles on the top and two larger circles underneath.
The stack of interfaced red circles before they were sewn.
Closeup of the stovetop showing the grey drip trays. The black burners are hidden below each of the red burner covers making them appear as if they're all turned on.
After sewing around the outside of each circle with red thread keeping it together and, mostly, hiding the white fusible fleece I then sewed three concentric circles on each burner cover. With that they were done and ready to be used to ‘turn on’ the burners.

Kitchen Sink

Since the kitchen sink was the same color as the drip trays I ended up cutting out the flannel at the same time and continued working on the sink, and finished it, before working on the rest of the burners. Going in I knew I wanted the sink to appear bowl-like so I decided to make it happen by adding stacked layers around the outside of the sink. I started by cutting out two rectangles, one slightly bigger than the other, with beveled corners. I then cut the center out of each, again curving the corners, so I ended up with two solid rectangles and two rectangular outlines. I set aside the smallest rectangle, as I didn’t need it, and created my sink by starting with the larger solid rectangle and stacking the other two outlined rectangles overtop.

The four rectangles that were cut out are shown here. At the bottom is the large rectangular outline while overlapping it at the top is the smaller one. The smallest, solid, rectangle is to the right and the larger one is at the bottom. Above it all are my scissors.
Started by cutting out two beveled rectangles and then cut out two more within each one for a total of four. I went on to use only three of them.

I knew I needed to start the sink by sewing the solid rectangle onto the stovetop base, making the sink bottom, but first I laid out all of the layers alongside the burner drip trays to make sure the layout worked. Once I liked how it looked I removed the two rectangular outlines and pinned down the solid rectangular piece.

The sink is shown by stacking the rectangular outlines on top of each other with the larger on top. Underneath it all is the solid rectangle. The whole thing together looks like a slanted edged bowl.
The sink was created and laid out on the stovetop… or countertop… before the top pieces were removed and the sink bottom was pinned on and sewn in place.

At this point I started thinking about the faucet. I knew I wanted the faucet’s knobs to feel moveable without the complication of them actually being moved as I knew that the more moving parts the stovetop included the higher chance of it breaking. I decided to make the faucet handles double-sided, like the burner covers, and attach them at only one end so the kids could move the handle tips up and down easily and maybe, even, slightly side to side. I wanted them to feel like they could actually turn the water flow on or off so this seemed like the best bet. Again, like the burner covers, I used two layers of flannel, cut to size, with fusible fleece sandwiched between it. Before I sewed around the outside I realized I wanted the end that connected to the stovetop base to be thicker so the faucet handles are higher up. I quickly cut out a couple more half circles and attached it to that end, with double-sided interfacing, before sewing around the entire handle, including that end, keeping it secure. I left the side that wasn’t touching the edge unsewn, for now, since it will be sewn down when I connect the handle to the base. I went on to do this a second time so I’d have two handles. After they were both done I realized the handle needed to indicate whether it correlates to cold or hot water so I changed the thread in my sewing machine and stitched back and forth on the one handle with red thread and then marked the other handle the same way with blue thread. I didn’t take any photos during this process though I do have a picture of one of the handles in the next photo below.

Once the sink base was sewn on I realized I wanted it to appear as if there was water sitting at the bottom of the sink. I figured the easiest way would be to switch to blue thread but I also wanted it more decorative than filling the whole thing up willy nilly with stitches. I chose a double-sided decorative stitch and, starting at the one corner, angled the fabric in my machine to sew the decorative stitches across the sink base until I reached the other corner so it was diagonally slashing the sink in half creating two triangular sections. Using this first line of stitching as my center line I kept choosing new decorative stitches and worked my way from that first line to the corner until there was no more room. I then moved to the other side of the center line and, while working to the last corner, mirrored the first half. I hoped the blue threads would indicate water in the sink whether the person playing wants it to be a skim of water sitting at the bottom of the sink or be a sink full of soapy water to wash dishes in. Either way it’s a starting point that makes it completely up to them. I also loved, since the grey sink bottom was interfaced, the 3D aspect added to the bottom of the sink. Everywhere I sewed created a dip in the sink base and the interface bubbled up between the stitching creating a neat effect. While sewing the lines I wasn’t too concerned if I happened to sew a bit past the sink edge since I still had to add the rectangular outlines to grade the edge of the sink out which would cover up any minor mistakes.

Image shows the sink base sewn into the black countertop (background) with angled decorative stitches stitched on. To the right the cold water handle is laid out allowing you to see the tapered edges and the blue mark at the tallest and widest point.
Both the base of the sink and the faucet handle was sewn together with grey thread and a blanket stitch. The sink base was sewn to the black countertop while the handle was sewn through it’s layers making it double-sided. Once sewn the thread was switched to blue so the handle could be marked and the decorative ‘water’ stitches could be applied to the sink base.

Once the sink base was finished I added the smaller rectangular outline, centered, on top of it and pinned it in place before sewing around the inner and outer edge. Technically, I didn’t have to sew around the outer edge as sewing down the next outline will cover up the edge. Once the smaller one was secured I grabbed the next larger rectangular outline and centered it above the first before pinning it in place. Again, I used a blanket stitch to sew the inner edge before pausing to consider adding more rectangular outlines to the sink to make it taller. I ended up deciding to stop at the two layers so I used the blanket stitch to sew around the outside of the top rectangle which hid the edge of the lower rectangle from view.

The grey rectangular outline is centered over the sink base hiding the edges. It's pinned in place at the top and bottom only.
I started by pinning the smaller rectangular outline overtop of the sink base making sure to center it.
The larger rectangular outline is pinned above the first one. The first one is sewn down and the outer edge is hidden under the larger rectangle above. The top layer has been pinned at all four corners.
After sewing along the inside and outside of the first rectangle I added the next one overtop and pinned it in place. The outer edge of the first one is now hidden below the second one so there was no need to sew it down although I did.
Lifting the outer rectangular outline shows the inner one sewn down underneath.
After sewing the inner side of the outer rectangle I stopped to take a picture of what it looks like underneath before sewing it down.
Underside of the sink easily shows there the sink and faucet connection points are. The underside of the 'water' in the sink is mostly grey with blue showing through from the top thread.
Flipping the stovetop base upside down allows you to see the underside of the sink. You can tell that I left the bobbin thread grey while stitching the blue water. It made it simpler to switch colors by leaving the bobbin thread the same and although the blue shows through to the bottom the grey didn’t appear obvious from the top.

Faucet

Like the faucet handles mentioned above, in the sink section, I wanted the faucet spout to be double-sided. I, again, cut two pieces of grey flannel, about the size and shape of a spout, and attached fusible fleece to both pieces. I wanted the base and tip of the faucet to have extra depth so I added a small circle of extra fusible fleece to the tip of the faucet and a larger piece of flannel and fusible fleece at the base. There’s an image further below that will show the underside of the faucet allowing you to see what I did. Once I had all the pieces cut and interfaced I stacked them up, used double-sided interfacing to hold them in place, and sewed along the outside to hold them together. With the faucet and handles created I realized that I wanted to make the water in the sink more obvious so I found some blue ribbon, leftover from our wedding invitations years ago, to replace a flow of water from the faucet spout. I had two different ribbon widths and cut several strips, of similar length, from them. I didn’t want the ribbons to unravel with play so I took my lighter and carefully melted either end of each cut ribbon to fuse the end in place. I knew it would be easiest to sew them to the faucet spout if the ribbon were all in one place so I stacked all the ribbon and, so they wouldn’t shift later, sewed through the middle of them. I then centered the stack under the spout and sewed through the ribbons again so they’d be attached to the faucet spout.

A stack of the two differently sized ribbons after they were sewn through. At the top of the image it shows all the ribbons sewn through.
I cut the ribbon, melted the ends, stacked them up, found the center, and then sewed through the center to make sure they are secured.
Above view of the faucet and the 'water' ribbons streaming from the spout end.
I then folded the stack of ribbons in half and attached them to the faucet spout.
The underside of the faucet is shown which lets us see the extra interfacing at the top and bottom. The ribbons where folded in half with all of their ends going off the bottom (end) of the spout. The ribbons are sewn down multiple times along it's fold attaching it to the faucet.
If you flip it over you can see where I sewed through the ribbon.

With the faucet and handles ready I laid them out above the sink on the main fabric. I wanted the handles to be angled towards the sink so they’d be easier to reach with little hands. Once I was happy with their layout I pinned them in place. Since I wanted them to seem moveable I only sewed them at the one end so the end of the handles and tip of the spout could be lifted and moved slightly. .

Overview of the faucet and handles pinned in place. The water from the spout appears to be spilling out of the faucet and into the sink.
I positioned the faucet and handles by the sink and pinned them in place once I was happy with how it looked.
Closeup of the top of the sink showing the faucet and handles. The end of the spout is lifted up so the ribbons go off the top of the photo. You can easily see how the underside of the faucet showing how the ribbons are attached The faucet handles have been twisted a bit showing how they're also attached at just one spot too.
I sewed along their topmost portion and then directly across, on each one, essentially making a ‘D’. I loved that these were secure but still able to be moved to turn on the handles or check the water under the spout.

And with that the stovetop design was done. All that was left to do was finish the stovetop base so it could be attached to the top of the kitchen set, a repurposed end table, using bias tape and snaps. If you’d love to learn more about how I made this base and how I finished it you can check out the previous post where I introduced this idea to you.

Overview of the finished stovetop once the flaps and bias tape was sewn on and the snaps added.
Overview of the finished stovetop. You can vaguely see the flaps and snap attachment along the sides.

I absolutely love how the stovetop and sink came together for our play kitchen. I love how excited the kids were to use it… at first. Over time the kids stopped using the kitchen set until after we visited a friend’s house where the kids took their playdough creations to their kitchen set to bake them. We came home and the kids played for hours baking up a storm. When we moved last year the kitchen set was an amazing resource to keep them busy since we discovered the playdough play. I made sure to keep the kitchen set available along with playdough and a smaller assortment of pots, plates, and playdough toys. The kids constantly used the playdough and kitchen set making many creations while the rest of the apartment was packed up. After we finished moving and their toys were unpacked the kitchen set was, once again, slowly forgotten… yet the odd time when playdough gets pulled out again, like right now while I edited this post, the kitchen set is remembered and their cookies are baked.

Playdough cookies plated on many different plastic plates and a tea tray. The plates, playdough, and tools are spread across the table while both kids sit at the table creating.
Kids’ busy in their playdough creation zone at the kitchen table while I edit this post. Ada had brought me a plate of baked cookies to eat so after I ‘ate’ them I made her an ‘A’ cookie in return.

I’d love to hear about your play kitchen and what you made for it. How do you keep them interested in playing or do they naturally just love the kitchen set? Did you find a simple way to change it up? Feel free to share these in the comments below, on my Facebook page, or through Instagram. I hope you have a great day!


∞ If you want to learn more about how I created the stovetop base and finished it off you can check out part one from last week: Play Kitchen



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