COVERED WAGON

 COVERED WAGON

USING SVG CUTS BY MARY

June 2012

I want to thank all those who commented and liked my wagon on the Svg Cuts facebook page. I was truly in awe with the response. Everyone was so kind. Svg Cuts is a wonderful place to hang out and talk with amazing people. I have made some awesome new friends! Thanks to all of you and to Mary for creating her wonderful files. And thanks to Leo for posting my photos and encouraging me to write directions.
If you have any questions about my directions, or see I missed something, please message me on facebook-- https://www.facebook.com/#!/debra.vineyard    If you prefer to talk, just message me and I can send you my phone number and we can talk.  These are my first ever directions, and I did my best!  And remember, if you don't have what I used, look through the pdf files of the kits and collections you do have, I'm sure you'll find something to use!


Supplies:
2 sheets 12 x 12 craft cardstock paper glue
1 package 8 x 11 kraft cardstock paper by The Paper Co.
extra large emery board (I used this a lot)
Dye inks, your choice, I used Tim Holtz Tea Dye and Vintage Ink Colors and Black ink
glue (I used Aleene's tacky glue because I knew I was going to use a lot of glue)
hot glue gun
string that looks like rope
brads, or what you would like to decorate the straps with
a 14" square piece of linen for the cover or 12x12 sheet of white paper will work fine

The number of layers is the thickness I liked because of the paper I used. Depending on what paper you use, you may use less or more layers. It depends on what look you are going for. Change it around and put your own special touch to it. Use printed wood paper to save time. I do not know what other effects scratching the wood will look like on other brands of paper so I would suggest you experiment with a scrap piece.   For the pieces, and since it is hard to see the scratches you make before any inking is done, I used my OttLite floor light with the magnifier to help me see better.  This makes the world of a difference for drawing your wood design. 
I did not ink my cover. I like the contrast between the stark white and the wood. But I do think an old inky, dirty looking wagon cover would look great.  
My measurements do not include the little tap dot that Mary’s designs do at the end of each cut on most measurements, unless noted, those taps are removed.
I used about half the pack of 8 x 11 cardstock, but you can adjust to what you have.   

 SKELTON OF MAIN BODY:
The larger part of the body is made using the "bag.svg" from the dartboard folder in  the Green Room Kit.   Here is a picture of my two main body parts, base front A and base back B along with a picture of Mary's original file.  Follow the directions on the pic for the basic idea.   Once you get one of the shapes made, you will probably get B made first, you need to find an arch window to use for the negative cutout section.  I used the window frame "accents 4_solid.svg" from Peony Cottage Kit.  It was a perfect shape to put in and exclude from my base.  Once you do this, copy and paste so you can make the front, all you need extra on the front is the 3/4" tab.   The tab is large, but it does help support the bottom.  Refer to this pic:

Cut out the two main body pieces using the 12 x 12 sheets. Glue the flaps on each piece, first. Then put the two pieces, back to back, and glue together along where bottoms meet. You should have one arch on each end. You will have the sides opened up still, but they are butted together. (This is okay, for now). I inked with black down the middle of the side because I wanted to make sure the light color of the cardstock did not bleed through when I placed my wood paper on.
Next, cut out the “bottom side 2.svg” from box in Winters Chill Kit. This Measurement is both pieces plus the tap dot, W: 5.003 x H: 6.536. Fold over the larger tab and glue down. In same kit, use “bottom.svg” and cut 8 pieces. Measurements are W: 3.965x H: 7.189   Glue 6 of these pieces together to make one piece and the other 2 pieces together to make one piece. Let dry about 15 minutes before going to next step so pieces do not shift. Once dried, glue a bottom side piece on each side of the 6 piece support, aligning to top corner where tap will hang out. (View picture for better understanding). Take the two piece support and place inside to sandwich in the side pieces so they stand up strong and firm as seen in the picture. (Read instructions below pic before continuing). Lay body of wagon on protected surface and run a glue line along back edge between the two tabs overhanging and on the tabs and press up against the body and hold the tabs till it sticks. You should have a body that looks close to the pic below. 

The above photo is the “skeleton”.
In the front where it is open, I scored from the opening across and then lifted up and left it at an angle.
Again, using the same square shape, measurement with tap dot is W: 4.717 x H: 7:189 from the box in Winters Chill, cut out 8. Glue 6 and glue 2. The 6 are for the underbelly of the wagon. You should glue this on first if you decide to use it for support. Set the 2 piece aside for now. It will cover the bottom floor of the inside of the wagon. When I made the 6 layered piece, I decided my skeleton was pretty strong so I used two pieces on the inside instead. You be the judge with the type of paper you are using. You can look at the pic for the hitch to see where I left mine as is.


ARCHED SUPPORTS:
As of now you only have two arches that are not very strong. Take one of the files for the main body, make a copy and paste and work with the new pasted file. You need to make a support to hold up the cover for the wagon. Using a square shape from the basic library in scal, use the “back minus front” feature under the Path tab and exclude all but what you need for the support. This is the shape you want to keep. I glued one more of these shapes on each end on the inside. Then glued 4 pieces together, twice. These were place in the middle, evenly spaced. Depending on your liking, some wagons have the center supports holding the cover higher in the air, some have the cover swagging lower, some are just straight across, which is what I liked. Leave the piece as is, if you want higher. Trim off the whole bottom piece and only use the “U” shape if you want it to swag downward, or if you want it straight across like mine, I took the piece and from underneath, I split the piece open just up about 1/8” and spread out two pieces to one side and two to the other side. This gave me nice long gluing tabs. You can ink the inside of the body before putting anything in it now, but I didn’t till I was ready to put on the cover. It made it messier for me to handle it and ink it, thus giving it a more random and not so perfect look, which is what I wanted, making it look worn and old.

U-SHAPE FOR UNDER CARRIAGE FRONT:
-(look at seat pic. Rope is tied to it up by the bench seat). I used the Peony Cottage Kit, the box “porch.svg”. I exclude the top floral on each post and used the rest after stretching to desired length. I layered pieces together and then sanded and rounded the corners to make it look worn like it’s been banged on and bumped into a lot. My piece measures W: 5.719 x H:1.833. Depending on your paper thickness and they way you build the wagon, your piece may need to be larger or smaller in length. Cut one piece and see if it fits before you cut the rest taking into account you have not added anything to the outside yet, which will add thickness. You may want to wait to cut out your pieces after you add your wood paper on the sides, and the bottom pieces, if you use them. Then cut a practice piece. Hopefully my measurement works. This gets glued about 1/2” from the front edge. This is important to have on before you measure for the wheels later on.  Here's a pic with the U-Shape hanging out with some wooden friends!!!! 

BENCH SEAT:
The bench seat was probably the funnest thing in this project that I played with. The seat back is the “banner.svg” from the Hippity Hoppity Kit card. Change the width only to 5.385, but I excluded each end, then added the rounded- cornered arms which I excluded a piece in the middle. Final measurement is W: 6.989 x H: 1.401 (see pic below). For the life of me, I cannot remember what I used for the seat bottom and it’s not in my scut file. When you glue the pieces of the back together, work with it while it is somewhat wet with glue so you can fold the sides in or you will have problems bending after drying. Just play with it to get the look you like. The seat bottom you can measure and cut a rectangle to fit your back. Mine measures about 3 ¾” x 1 5/8”. Yours will probably be different because of how you make the seat back. The seat legs is pieced from the jukebox 3D in the RocknRollin Kit using “3D-darkgray.svg.” I glued 10 pieces together for the legs, twice. Measurements are W: 2.036 x H: 1:653 after I cut out the part I wanted to use. Place each leg directly on the edge and glue. Seat will be a little wobbly, but will be supported when you put in wagon.
Sit the bench seat aside till you are ready to put in your wagon. *REMEMBER-if you want the wood look, glue all your pieces together, and before you put on the last piece, you can use a dental tool to scratch out a wood design and ink. Also, I used an emery file to blend in the many layers on all the edges. I inked the piece then glued on the final wood look piece. If you still want to scratch and ink some more, you can. The scratching with all the thicknesses will bring out more fibers and give it more of an old wood look. The more you scratch and the more you ink, the older it looks. Remember, ink darker in the knots and edges and the ends of the wood where the wood looks like it’s rotting and aging. Also, if you look at the pic below, my back looks “dirty” like it’s been sat in a lot, worn and used!

This pic is the banner turned into the bench seat. I did score just about 1/8 of an inch from the arm opening from top to bottom, keeping with the angle, before gluing pieces together. *Also, when it comes time to put the finished seat in the wagon and the front is finished off, you will use two of the leftover “wood posts” (I talk about them later), cut one in half, and glue those two pieces together. Do the same for other post. Laying piece flat, glue to outside bottom of seat leg. This will give you support to glue on floor of wagon front, plus to side. Once glued down, it is strong and sits nice. Use picture below for reference.

Inside, below the seat, cover the side walls with strips of wood you made. I put one strip behind the seat. I also cut another piece I used for the floor, but made it 1 ½” longer so it could be folded over and under in the front where you bent the piece up at an angle. You can scratch lines and draw wood within the lines to make it look like planks of wood before gluing down, so don’t forget!!!

And here's a different angle:

WHEELS:
There are several kits that have different wheels, but I used what I had, plus I had to make two different wheels-large 14 spokes for the back and a bit smaller 12 spokes for the front. The back wheels are 4” in diameter and the front are 3 ¼” in diameter. I used the “green.svg” from the storefront card in the Spirits of Christmas Past Kit. I cleaned up the file deleting what I didn’t need by ungrouping it and using the shape tool to edit the nodes. I then deleted the triangles I did not need till I got the amount of spokes I wanted. This is a matter of preference, so you choose what you think looks best. Just remember, add at least two more spokes to the larger wheel to have them look unified. I layered 7 pieces together for each wheel. Inked with tea dye, then vintage dye on edges, at at random spots, then used black all around outside rim. Touched the black to the inside of spokes to give a dirty look. Set the wheels aside with seat for now.
Here is a look at the finished wheel. 

WHEELS, WHEELS, WHEELS!!!!

HUBS FOR WHEELS: Ready for some circles!
I used the file called “tag top” in the extras folder in Attic Treasures Kit to make all the various circles I needed for the wheel hubs but you can also use a circle from the library in scal. First break apart the file, copy and paste, move the pasted copy over. Use these circles you just moved to get your circle shapes below. On the original one that is broken apart, I enlarged the center circle to get a thinner ring, then merged the two back together. I cut all the circles at 1”, .95”, .85”, .75” and the small black center is .458” x .458”. The blue ring is cut at 1.009 x 1.009. I stacked all the circles so there are 5 glued together in each size to make disks, (you do this four times), forming the shape of the hub, starting with the largest on bottom, working to the .75 which you cut more of these to add and adjust for the thickness of the hub. Take the blue ring and stack 5 together, back it with one of the .95 circles. Place the smallest disk in the center of the blue ring. I inked each disk individually once they were glued, then I stacked to form the hub and glued together. Play with it!!!!
Don’t these look like fun!!!!

Okay! Time for WOODWORK!!!
I cut lots and lots and lots of strips of paper. This takes a while to do, but I kept busy with other projects while waiting for my paper to cut. I read a book, played with my dog, Elvis! I talked on the phone, a lot with my daughter who is in college! Time was going by pretty good!!!
First I cut 8 of the “rim accent.svg” for the drum in the Santa’s Visit Kit. Measurements W: 10.75 x H: 1.009. Since the Craft Cardstock from The Paper Co. is pretty sturdy, and the skeleton frame is starting to feel supported, I didn’t think it was necessary to layer tons of paper for these strips on the sides. I knew I was going to have a lot of weight with every other part, so I glued these “wood” pieces directly onto the skeleton. When I cut my 8 pieces, I wanted the look of the holes but wanted to keep the pieces in, so as I took my pieces off my mat, I also took the little pieces with it. I turned each strip over and fit the little piece back in and dabbed glue around the edges to hold it on. (I used a black colored pencil to color in the circle). After it dries, take your dental pick and scratch out your wood design. I went onto my deck and looked at the wood planks for some inspiration, but you can go online if you need to look at wood designs. It is simple to draw. Scratch out your design down each piece, making sure you do not hit any of the little holes you just glued back in. Ink your piece, I did not ink my side wood dark like my bench seat. I had more of a light and dark contrast. Once they are all done, for right now, you can glue on the wood pieces on each side of the skeleton. I glued the bottom piece first on the side. Then the next piece up, notching out the piece close to the front where the bench is. Just do this with scissors AFTER you glue it on. It will be easy to follow and cut. They are a tad long, so cut off. You will notice there is about ½” or so left above the second piece uncovered. I did not cover this. I did ink it, but there is no reason to cover it because your wagon cover will go over this part. Do this on both sides. Put aside the other “wood” pieces for now. You will need them for later. I touched up the edges where the wood pieces are with ink.

Okay, copy and paste the same file we were just using onto a different page. These will be used for the vertical pieces on the side. Leave the holes in. The little dots they make when they cut gives it a nail look. Measurements: W: 3.745 x H: 0.352. I glued 6 of these together for one post and made 12 posts. Space them evenly as you see in the picture and glue on. Space the posts out evenly from the center out, starting with one where the two main body parts met, you know, where it’s still open on the sides. Don’t forget to lightly sand and ink first and use a strong needle and poke the holes so they will show! You will have to cut one in half for the front post on each side. They hang down below the bottom of the skeleton about ½” and are about ¾” above the top. I didn’t worry about cutting them off the top. They are giving support from the inside to the cover.

The straps I used over the wood posts are just made from the playful box in Ryans Play Date Kit using the “handle.svg”. Just resize the strap with the four holes if you like that look, or take the long handle and use just the very end and use the path in scal and break it off at the little hatch mark. Copy and paste, flip the pasted piece, put them end to end, and union and you’ll get a strap like mine.

Here you can see the strap I pulled from the handle. After making all mine, I decided to slightly cut the rounded edge off. Fold the piece on each end to have it lay flat over the post and lay onto the body. I put brads on mine. After I already glued mine on, I thought it would be a good idea to have marked holes and poke through the entire body and attach with the brads to really make the piece strong since these are where you will string your rope for the cover. Next time!!! Lol


HITCH:
First I cut about70 strips from Santa’s Visit Kit, drum, "rim accent.svg, minus holes.” (You can use a shape in scal to get this size). Measurements are W: 10.75 x H: 0.358 I glued 35 of these together. Sanded and Ink and let’s call this the “Long Bar” and set aside for later use with your other pieces you have finished. Set aside the extra cut pieces. You will use these later, too. In the Peony Cottage Kit, box, “roof1.svg” cut 35 pieces . Measurements are W: 1.768 x H: 1.930. Let’s call that one the “Vshape” for future use. The “roof accents.svg” I shrunk one triangular piece and placed in another so I could exclude to make the piece you see to the right. After you have your shape, set the measurement as W: 3.051 x H: 4.137. Cut 35 of these, also and we’ll call this the “Triangle”.

   In April Avenue Collection cut out 55 “broom.svg” and also sand and ink and set all pieces aside. Measurements for the broom is W: 1.292 x H: 5.193. This is the very front of the hitch that lies on the ground and the rope is wrapped around it. You can change the thickness to whatever you desire by layering as many or as little pieces as you want.

HERE IS WHERE YOUR AT!!!!!
The skeleton is together. The wood is on the sides. The inside is supported with the arches. I took a glue gun and “tack weld” glued the two standing arches in the middles. I placed a few spots of glue up the sides to support the arches . Now is a good time to make sure it is all inked inside.
Take the “floor” piece you made before. Make sure it has been inked!!! Slide in. It will not fit, yet. Let it lay sideways and mark where the arches are hitting the floor board and make your marks on all four spots. Cut out a 1/16” slit about ¼” long for the arches to slide into and your floor will drop down. Take some of the leftover pieces from the “long bar” and cut out 3” segments and glue together enough pieces to make 2 pieces thick enough to help hold the floor. You will place these, one at each end, under the floor to hold it up. Now you can glue the floor down. The inside is now finished. The pic below shows the weld tacks and the slits I cut so the floor would slide down.

WORKING ON BRACES FOR WHEELS:
Again, using the leftovers from the “long bar”, measure the width of your skeleton’s underbelly. Make two stacks of this width plus 1” with about 25 glued together for each short bar . Then another 2 stacks of the same width plus 1/2 “. Mine are 5 ½” and 4 ½” long. You will use these to place under the skeleton to attach your wheels on. For the placement, my measurement may be off compared to yours, so best thing is for you to hold your finished wheel up to your wagon and let the edge of the wheel just hit the front U-Shape and the back is even with the wheel. Glue the 4 ½” rod down centered on the 5 ½” rod making two of these. I used my glue and also a thin line of my glue gun for added support. With the white glue, the glue gun glue stays workable for a few seconds longers so you can line it straight under the body. Gives you a little wiggle room to move, plus extra hold once dry. This part needs to be stable. Now, let’s assemble the parts since we made everything for the hitch. First, take the “long bar” (you see running lengthwise underneath) and attach the “triangular shape” using white glue and a glue gun for support. Next, take one of the rods and place it, short rod down, onto the long rod and butt against the triangle and glue in place as you see in the pic. Take the other short rod and directly glue it onto the belly of the skeleton for the back wheels 2” in or what you measured. Glue the long rod in place, as shown, letting it extend out the front. Use the same glue technique attaching the front wheels. Let them dry and then eye the back wheels checking the height . Mine was too low, so I had to add 25 strips to get the back wheel up properly. When placing the rods underneath, make sure the front rod is back so that the wheel will not touch the U-Shape that holds the rope. The back wheel is just lined up even with the back of the skeleton. Mine fit about 2” from each end so glue the rod, smaller piece against the belly of the skeleton. Once you start putting together, it is easy, I promise!!! I hot glued the wheels in place.

Working on the underbelly. Mine looks like it’s been on a long trail ride!!!!  While tweaking it, I ran upstairs for a soda, and when I came back, this is what I came back to, my dog decided to jump up and play around on my table, dumping everything over!  My long bar is not so straight!!!!  Thanks Elvis!  Mommy still loves you!

And finally, take a look at the hitch picture, place the “V Shape” and hot glue, slightly angle the point down, and hot glue the “broom” or hitch end in place.   Thread the rope around like in the pic.

Look over the wagon and check all the edges to see if you need to touch up any inking at this point. Add any other embelishments you may think of that you would like. I am going to make a drop down gate for the back of mine and a sideboard that will hold a water can, eventually. I thought horse shoes dangling would look really cute.  Grandpa's Organic Farm has the cutest horseshoe or  The Attic Treasure Kit has a cute frame that looks like a horseshoe.

I made the lantern from Crisp Days of Fall and hung it on the side.   When I shrunk the lantern,  (don't forget to click keep preference,)  I just layered all three pieces on the mat, selected all, using edit-select all, then grabbed a corner and dragged in to have the width at around 2".   Don't worry about the height.  The score dashes will not cut because it shrunk down so small.  You can score it yourself.  Yes, it is a little tedious, but I think it came out so cute!!!!  When I glued it together, I used Alene's tacky glue.  I then spread glue on some of the edges, let some spread in different areas and clump up and let it dry.  Then I inked the lantern.  The paper I started with was a light yellow.  So where there was no glue it looks dull.   Where there is glue, you can see it kind of shiny and looks like dents.  To me, that looks like pot metal.   And I think it looks burnt.  Anyway, hope you like it.

If everything looks good, you are ready for the cover! A tatered and torn dirty cover would look great!
I cut a piece of fabric 14” x 14” just to give me enough to work with. I turned the side edges under and sewed down using a decorative stitch.  Sew one side over first, lay it on your wagon, and finger crease the other side and take to your machine and sew.  do the same for the ends.  I left about 1/2" fabric starting on front edge showing then added a little as it curved to the top center.  The top center has just over an inch showing.  You, of course, can do what you think is pleasing to your eye!!!
I turned under the ends forming around the curves of the arches and ran a running stitch on the very edge, pulled thread to make it fit and tied it off.   Leave about an inch of fabric underneath. You won’t see it.
Congratulations! You are now finished!!!!

I hope you enjoy making your own wagon. Definitely post for all to see on SVG CUTS fb page. I can’t wait!!!!
Thanks again,
Hugs to you all,
Debra