In the Mood

 After the first of the year, remember when I committed to finishing one room at a time on the Manchester? Weelll. I've cut the wallpaper for the living room located in the Real Good Toys addition, and I really like the way the room will look with that bold William Morris print, except the paper is printed on 8.5x 11" paper edge to edge landscape, which makes it wide enough to fit the wall, but not tall enough reach both to the ceiling and the top of the baseboard. I had decided not to add crown molding to this house because I hate making the mitering cuts for the ceiling corners. Now, however, because the printed wallpaper sheets are not tall enough to fit the 12" tall walls, I have to install crown molding, so I am procrastinating that miserable project. 

I decided then to make curtains for the room, which led to making prototype shades for the kitchen and bathroom, which led the bedspread for the bedroom, which brings me back to the crown molding. But first I have do some staining before I can go any further in finishing the living room.

I have such a hard time committing to finally stages in this house, like gluing in the floor in the  living room. I love how the floors, all finished except for staining, turned out. I used  very thin half inch wide flooring"boards" that came with the Duracraft San Franciscan that I assembled a while back. I really like this thin veneer-like flooring. It stained beautifully. I create the floors, I glued the wood planks  to Cricut's 1.5 mm chipboard, making a very nice, solid floor. 

  

One of the final projects for the living room--and the rest of the windows in the house--are the window treatments. I tried a cutting fabric and sewing a rod pocket to just gather fabric on a rod, but it just didn't hang right in the living room, so I decided to try my hand at making pleated curtains. 

A few Pinterest tutorials led me to believe that I could make the pleats, but all the methods seemed too tedious, like folding the creases in the fabric and pinning them in place and setting or stiffening the fabric with either hair spray or fabric stiffener. Others used narrow boards in between the folds to form the pleats and using fabric stiffener to set them. I didn't have appropriate lumber to create the boards to make those pleated curtains and that seemed to be a lot of work.

 I made my curtains using pinch pleats. My mother who made all of my clothes talked about pinch pleats, which I had totally forgotten about until the middle of the night last night as I pondered this morning's editing of the post.  It's a simple technique: just pinch the fabric between your fingers to make the folded pleats. 

I began with the simple basics: Spray laundry starch. I used to iron pillow cases for company and starched them to make them look crisp and pretty and table clothes, too. Back in the day--the '50s-- when I was a little tyke I did a lot ironing to get out doing farm work outside. Back then everything had be ironed after being washed in the wringer washing machine and line dried in the sunshine--all my little home sewn dresses, dad's shirts, mom's blouses. All cotton, no polyester wrinkle free blends. We didn't have spray starch back then, but I keep it on hand just incase I get the urge to iron a table cloth or something. 

I dug in my fabric inventory to find some scrap of cotton blend.

My practice curtains were made from a fine cotton batiste that I used to make American Girl doll undergarments.  The curtains actually turned out pretty fair except the frayed edges needed hems for a finished look. 

I used the widow frame to help determine the size of the curtain panels. In real life when I have made curtains, I followed my mom's advise: each panel should be 1.5 times the width of the window to get the amount of ruffling and fullness for the window. 

Once I had cut the fabric (still in the practice size--learning as I go), I ironed out the wrinkles and starched the fabric to get a very smooth, wrinkle free panel. The stiffened fabric would crease nicely and hold its shape.

For my first practice piece, I didn't measure my folds. I began by folding the right end of the panel then made the next fold the opposite direction, and so forth, working back and forth pinching the pleats into shape, hoping for 1/4 inch pleats. 

So for the next trial panel, I measured 1 cm intervals as guides for my folding, using magical disappearing ink. Actually my marker is specifically made for marking sewing projects. It lasts enough to make correct seams, but totally disappears without leaving behind tell-tale stains.  

I followed the same pinch folding process, making folds in alternate opposing directions. The end result looks like an accordion bellows.

Once I had all the folds made, I used a hot iron to press them into place

Here then is my second attempt to make pleated curtains. This one is just about the correct size for a pleated window shade, but it needs the edges seamed for a clean, finished look. 

Take a look, too, at the how the pleats lost shape on the curtain rod. I needed to correct that, too.

One of the great features of fabric is that it is very forgiving--as long as you don't make an error cutting it. So I started over with me practice piece by ironing out the pleats and ironing in 1/4 inch seam allowances. Once repeated, I had the perfect window shade instead of a curtain.

I'm leaving the window shade project here, because I haven't totally worked out how to finish it, so to summarize making the pleated curtain:

1.  Select a fine, light weight fabric that will hold its shape if you want pleated drapes, giving the room a more formal look.
2.  Cut fabric to size. For full window curtains, cut each panel wider 1 1/2 the raw width of the window, measuring from the outside of the frame. Then add 1/2 inch to allow for a 1/4 inch on each side seam.  Decide how long you want the curtain to hang: just below the window frame or perhaps to the floor. then add 1/4 inch for the bottom hem. For the top hem allow the rod pocket to be wide enough to hold the curtain rod.  The top hem will require at least 5/8 inch to make the rod pocket and to allow for a seam at the very top of the rod pocket if you want the curtain to  ruffle at the top of the gathered fabric on the rod. The curtain panel looks finished with top stitching just below the top of curtain panel. Unpleated curtains will gather nicely while the pleated curtains will hold their pleats.
3. Use spray starch to stiffen the fabric once you have cut the panels. Caution: starch tends to build up on the bottom the iron and burn on causing, causing brown stains on your fabric, so pick up a tube of iron cleaner to clean off the bottom of your iron. If your ironing board is stained as mine is, use a tea towel or a Terry cloth towel, or even a couple layers of paper towel to make a clean ironing surface to avoid staining you curtain fabric. 

Sew the hems and rod pocket. While I am quite comfortable sewing, some may not be. For simple hems some will use tacky glue or even fabric glue. Rod pockets may be more difficult to glue in place, so hand sewing, taking tiny stitches works, well, too. 

With the hems sewed in and the pleats made, I realized that pleated curtain panels aren't gathered on the rod because they don't hang right; instead, they are either hung with grommeted holes, as my downstairs curtains hang or with attached rings.

                            

I tried making grommeted holes in a piece of fabric using the Cricut Maker to evenly space the holes, and it worked well.  I had never cut fabric on the Maker and it cut those tiny .4cm hold perfectly, except the fabric frayed, and I didn't have grommets, so I dug in my jewelry findings for jump rings to sew on as curtain hooks.

I found these figure 8 jump rings (look for them at Fire Mountain Gems). Using very fine embroidery thread, I began sewing the rings in place.

Working on the wrong side of the curtain, I placed the ring with the center of the 8 on the edge of the curtain so that the top ring will be visible on the curtain rod. If you don't want it to show, move it down; tack in place with 3 or 4 stitches. Don't cut and tie off the thread; instead move on the the next pleat, leave a bit of slack in that long stitch. 

Make sure to attach the 8 ring on the pleat folded toward the outside or right side of the panel; otherwise the curtain won't hang right.

Another thing to keep in mind, make sure that the end pleats--the first and the last are folded toward the back of the curtain, so that the curtain will hang straight.

While I was still in the mood to sew and while I have the sewing machine set up, I decided to make the bedspread for the bedroom. I've made several beds from lumber on hand and dressed them, using quilter's fat quarters. I found this beautiful collection of fat quarters when I first started the Manchester and knew that I wanted the blue bird in the center of the bed spread. 

I'm going to skip all the steps I went through to make the bed covering because if I added all the photos I prepared for this post, there would be 48 pictures, so briefly:

I use a seamstress tape measure to measure the bed across the width from the floor on one side to the other other side to get the width, adding 1/2 an inch for 1/4 inch side seams.

The top and bottom will be measured from the headboard end of the mattress to the floor at the bottom of the bed depending on the length of the drop you want on the sides and bottom of the bed. The top of the spread will be measured from the top edge of the mattress, add seam 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I chose the bold rose print for the back of the spread, making it a reversible bedspread. I needed some sort of padding for the in-between layer to give the cover some body. Rummaging in my little dresser where I hide some some fabric, I found this very thin, paper fiber that my new lap top had been wrapped in. I saved it just for this sort of project. It won't add any bulk to the bed covering, which is important because I don't want a lot of thickness. Quilt batting would work, but would add bulk, so it really is a matter of preference.

To begin I placed the lining between the two wrong sides of the fabrics, wanting it to be inside, but that would have a bad mistake because when I turned the cover to the right side after seaming it, the lining would be on the exterior. So, the lining that you will use will be placed on the right side of either the top or the bottom piece.

When the wrong side are stitched together and then turned right side out, the lining will end up on the inside between the layers. Does that make sense?

Another unconventional material that I used for the mattress was to substitute 1/2 inch foam board for sponge foam for the mattress. It makes a firm foundation for bedding. I used a 220 grit sanding block to round the corners for the fitted sheet that I would make.

I softened the hard mattress with quilt batting just to give it some body. For a fluffier mattress, I've used wool fiberfill that I use to stuff my rag dolls.

With the bedspread made, I made a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, pillows, and pillow cases. I used the lace trim that I purchased in Haworth, England, home of the Bronte Sisters. At that time, there was a wonderful second hand store or antique store that had an entire bolt of this vintage edging. At the time, I was looking for English lace that we could add to the christening gown for a soon to be born granddaughter. I've used it only for special projects over the years and I decided that these little pillow cases were special.

You will find my tutorials on making fitted sheets here, along with the link to the original tutorial that taught me how to make bedding: "Nothing Like a Good Night's Sleep. It was the first bed that I made. 

I also learned a lot about dressing beds from Julie Warren's Youtube tutorial on how to make bedding. She does glue the sides of the bedding to sides of the bed to hold it in place. I'm thinking that I'll use a dot of double stick adhesive or Velcro to secure the bedding in place.

So now the big sewing project are done, butI still need 4 more sets of curtains for the remaining windows. I may opt for simple window shades. We'll see.

Now that the mood to sew has passed, I must discipline myself to get some wood trim stained to finish the living room so that I can move on to the dining room, which will require installing the stairs, window trim, staining and installing the floor and trimming the opening to the living room and installing the chandelier. We'll see how far I get this week.

Nathan is spending his spring break with us this week, so I won't get much done on these tasks. We decided to make a personalized a T-shirt on the Maker for him, using vinyl, so the Manchester projects will have to wait. My little grandson is growing up. He'll be 13 in two weeks and making T-shirts with granny won't be so much fun in the months to come. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Obbsessd

Sometimes I get confused, like when I'm at Home Goods looking a the beautiful home decorating accessories and I see a pretty vase or  interesting wall art and I think to myself: "That would look really cool in the Manchester." Then I have to remind myself that I'm out of the basement and in a real store and that vase won't fit in the dollhouse. 

Right in the middle of measuring the window, a friend called whom I hadn't heard from in a long time, interrupting my "work". She's newly retired and is bored and hasn't found ways to fill her time. I modestly confessed to working on the dollhouse a good share of the day. 

And dinner was late tonight because I got so engrossed in getting the wallpaper template for the wall in the addition just right. Fortunately I had put ribs in the slow cooker and our appetites are still on Mountain Standard Time. As I came upstairs to finish supper, hubby was just going out to feed POP the pony, so I knew I had time to finish up meal prep. 

I willing admit to be my obsession with my miniature world. Some miniaturists who took up the hobby last year call their project their Covid House. The Manchester does fit in that category simply because that's how I spent my covid isolation, which for me really wasn't much of change from my regular post retirement activities. My phone visit with my old friend reminded me how important its is keep busy after a long career ends. As a retired couple, my husband I have flourished because of our many interests and hobbies. Regardless of age or state of life, it's important to have interests that fulfill the Inner You and a nourish your spirit.

  So, here's what has kept me entertained the last few days.

I started playing around with the addition living room, trying to decide what wallpaper to use. I downloaded a striking leaf pattern from Jessica Cloe Minis store on Etsy. I love the subtle green leaves. The theme for this house seems to be taking on a botanical feeling, so this wallpaper is perfect. Right now it's printed on computer paper (8.5x11), which is a perfect width  printed in landscape orientation, but a wee bit short on the bottom. I had hoped not to have to install crown molding to avoid those darn mitered corners, but I may have to install crown molding to cover the gap.

With the wallpaper temporarily in place, I began playing with accessories, added the table, found a black horse to go with the lamp, added some red books, and little birdhouse. Then I realized that I needed furniture. 

Last winter I made the mid-century sofa and chair by Dilly Dally Dollhouse. 

 I hadn't upholstered it yet, so that's how I spent part of Sunday. You can view that furniture making project by clicking here: Mid Century furniture. The furniture is designed and created by Rita who offers the .svg files on Etsy and provides the instructional tutorial on her web site. It is a nice beginner's project for both a cutting machine and learning how to upholster.

The room needed more than one chair and needed something in the corner, so I dug out  the unfinished projects stash and found this chair designed by Julie Warren. It's perfect for that spot, except I can't decide on a fabric for the upholstery.

Because Rita has such a great tutorial, I'm not going to go into detail on the how to's, but I will share my difficulties. You can visit her website to learn more about her furniture: Dilly Dally Dollhouse. 

I'm not quite finished with the cushions because  I ran out of adhesive to add the edging on the sofa seat cushion.

So, you will see the the cushions on the chair are flat and square while the ones on the sofa are puffy. 

Originally I cut the cushions from 1/4 inch foam board and added  a lay of fiber fill to soften the cushion. The fiber fill was too thick and the back cushion was cut 1.75"x1.75"  making it too tall for the back of the chair; I wasn't sure that the edging would look right with the puffiness. 

A note here: I sort of experimented with adhesives. Most use tacky glue to adhere fabric. Julie Warren uses her favorite wood glue to adhere everything, including cloth, but I make such a mess with these glues, so I used double stick carpet tape to adhere the fiber fill and to hold the fabric in place. It's a very strong tape because it is used to splice carpet pieces together, so it has a sticky grip. It's somewhat forgiving and can be lifted and repositioned. I like using tape instead of glue because the glue tends to saturate the fabric and get's all over your fingers and clogs up the fiber fill. I used the Elmer's stick glue to hold the folded corners on the back of the cushion in place. It takes a while for it set, and it's what Rita uses in her tutorial.

You can see in this photo the problem with the chair back. I did a pretty poor job of covering the cushion. I cut the cloth too large and had too much to fold over on the back making the cushions bulky, and the back cushion too tall,  so a redo was necessary.

Now you can see a cleaner look on the top 2 chair cushions. The 3rd is the old cushion; while it looks nice, it's too large. I left out the fiber fill for a cleaner look, creating a more defined square cushion, but I didn't recut the and recover the sofa cushions, so they are puffy. I think I will redo them without the fiber fill to match the chairs.

While I was able to neatly glue down the fabric on the back side of the sofa, I had trouble with the chair cushions, so I cut another square to cover the folds on the corners. I certainly need more practice at upholstery. 

I have reviewed Julie's YouTube tutorial on covering her chair. I forgot how work intensive that project is. I need to find a fabric other than green. The room has a lot of green already.

I love how the table turned out. I had no idea as to what to put on it, but as I poked around in my stash, I got excited with what I already had on hand. All of my houses will have a horse in some form. The little bird house just seems to naturalize the room. On the bottom shelf, red books add that bit of pizazz and breaks up all of the green. The brass lamp adds a touch of elegance. It might be considered the jewelry in the room.

The little house on the bottom shelf has special interest for me. I bought it in Ireland and it seems perfect for the shelf instead of hidden in the guest bedroom where I go only to ready the room for company. The photo doesn't pick up the red door. Red adds a spot of interest, especially in a rather monochromatic color scheme.  

And the table. You have seen it in  past posts as I use it to display little things. I made it for the Bellingham balcony as a plant stand, but didn't like it there, so it has bounced around the stash. It appeared in last week's post, unpainted as a prop for the lamp and to display my daisies.

So I painted it white, but white is boring, and the remaining walls will be white,  so I decided that it wouldn't be a new table; it would be a refurbished garage sale find. I gave it a layer of white acrylic paint then sanded down the white  to expose bare wood then covered it with olive green let it cure then sanded it like crazy with a 220 rough sandpaper to expose white paint and bare wood. 

The table now has character and looks well used and keeps the living room from looking so artificial. 

I raided the Bellingham attic and found two little pitchers of flowers that had made for the Bellingham, but didn't use. Which should I keep, the pink or the green?

My dollhouses all have a dog or two on the front porch and at least one cat. The Pink Farm House has a doberman and collie along with a couple of siamese cats. The Bellingham has two German Short Haired Pointers, our dog of choice here and two or three cats, including a calico that reminds us of our barn cat, Callie.

 Ziggy and Sabrina begged to come by the fire. Last night was really cold, another freezing night. You know that Ziggy is giving Sabrina that look: "You know you are not allowed on the furniture." The inspirational Ziggy is honored to have miniature named after him and Sabrina, a lynx siamese, is too busy running around the pasture trying to keep up the kids to pay attention.

Finally I settled on this William Morris paper to use as wallpaper, another download, that I stumbled on while looking at Pinterest, which led me to a site that has royalty free images,  Raw Pixel, and free downloads.  I've become obsessed with his work, lately. Because this paper is so bold, I may not use the Jessica Cloe paper. The final wallpaper will be printed on photographic mat paper because it is heavier and sealed with a Krylon sealer to protect the color.  

I'm working on each room one by one now, trying to get each room finished before I move on to the next. The completion list includes these projects:

• glue the floor in place
• stain the step, 
• trim the doorway between the rooms
• wallpaper
• curtains and curtain rod
• baseboard and window trim
• maybe crown molding
• maybe a ceiling light, which I am still pondering. It's a brass chandelier that doesn't really seem to fit in the room, so I may add wall sconces instead
• Decorate the entertainment center with books and baubles.

Have I forgotten anything? 

That is my plan for the next few days.

I am so glad that you stopped by. 

Thank you for visiting.

 

The Power is On

 The Electrician finally showed up to begin the Manchester lighting. She began by installing the lower front porch lights, which turned out to be quite the project, including one minor mishap when she hit her finger with the hammer. 

Installation of the porch lanterns proved to be more difficult than she had anticipated. She pre drilled holes for the eyelet, but they wouldn't make a connection, so she drilled new ones. Rather ugly, so it's a good thing the holes won't show from underneath wallpaper.

She has secured all the connections with electrical tape covering them to give them added protection.

So the power is on now. She added just enough lights at the moment to indicate the electrical lines that have power. The rest of the ceiling lights will in go in last when the walls are secured and just before the floors are installed. 

And look, she's left her tools all over the place.

She'll have to come back to install the rest of the lights, including the the balcony porch lamps. 

Oh. And the Manchester has a dog, a Corgi. I'm thinking I'll name him after my friend's Corgi, Ziggy or maybe just plain Z.

Looking lonely, Ziggy needed a friend, so a cat came to live at the Manchester, too. Meet Sabrina, inspired my granddaughter's cute cat, Sabrina. Looks just like her.

I've continued making flower, too. I had finally got brave decided to make the Butterfly or Moth Orchid, Plantehospis. Pieces are so tiny. With each flower I got a little better at placing each tin piece. The flowers were supposed to get smaller as they approached the end of the stem, but this is an orchid in full bloom. 

Compared to the manufactured orchid that I purchased years ago, it seems gigantic, but that's how this orchid grows.

Here is my own orchid that finally re-bloomed after years of sitting in the bathroom, where I thought the humidity would do it some good, but it never re-bloomed. I moved it into the office with a western window with more light, where it produced this wonderful stem of blooms. 

We didn't notice the bloom stem that was growing on the back side of plant soon enough to get it staked so that it would grow straight; instead, it was quite crooked. Unfortunately as I was moving it around to get the have bloom stem supported, it fell off the shelf, breaking off the stem. I has so mad at myself, but in reality the blooms would have faded attached to plant.

So my seemingly out proportion mini orchid seems not so odd, after all. Nature isn't always perfect, nor am I.

With major construction in full swing at the Manchester, the contractor asked me to move some the stuff I've been collecting from the work table, so I laid it all out on the card making tables. It helps to have it all laid out so I can see that I have.

This is just for the kitchen--well except for the deer head.

Meanwhile, back at the work bench, I've discovered a good way to store my tiny flowers to keep them safe until it's time to plant them in the gardens: fresh fruit containers. I can see what I have while they remain dust free.

  
I made peonies this week, too.  You can see the difference in the two kits. The top one  I purchased from ItsyBitsy Minis wallpaper site, which really didn't seem to me to represent a peony,  until I stumbled across a photo of one of my peonies that is fully opened.

The bottom flower is a Mary Kinloch eBay kit. It came together so nicely and looks more like a peony not quite fully opened

I've been reorganizing my work area and stumbled on this long forgotten photo another favorite flower. The photo is a sweet reminder of my 2006 tour of England. Back in those days, I was using my 35mm film camera and was stunned when the developed photo came back with background darkened. It was an accidental result that made the photo so unusual.  I treasure that moment wandering through Jane Austin's garden in Chawton located in East Hampshire.

So I was inspired to make some mini daisies of my own.

I just don't get tired of my little hydrangeas either.

There is so much work to do on the Manchester, each project fraught with problems. I painted the entertainment center yesterday and wanted to paint the lower kitchen cabinet that I had rebuilt, but the doors weren't right, so I had a go at recutting them then I cut them again--and one time--then again. Good Grief! 😐 The story is too dreadful to spend time on; I'll work on them today.

I did and I cut more doors, again. Recalibrated my Maker knife blade. Remeasured again because it didn't seem that the machine was cutting the right size. 

And measured again. Oh. I was misreading my ruler

.😖 Good Grief. 

The kitchen cabinet now has doors.😃

I also need to find wallpaper to cover the copper tape for the addition, both upstairs and down; another saga, but I'll share my solution next week.

Before I go, if you follow Sweet Mini Dollhouse on Instagram,  you will know that in her most recent posts she let us know that she and her boys have left Kharkiv for a safer location. Since the war started, she had been posting updates from their subway safe place where they were enduring unimaginable conditions, especially the cold. At one point her home was still intact, so they were able to go home to shower. Can you imagine? 

I just feel odd posting my seemingly trivial happiness when so many are suffering. I ease my feelings for her by thinking of her and sharing her blight just so that we are aware. That's about all we can do, just be aware and have compassion.

Have a great week. 

Thanks for visiting.