Thursday, January 31, 2013

My Collection of Dollhouse Miniature Teapots


Do you remember that cute children song

"I am a little teapot, short and stout
Here is my handle and here is my spout"

One of my weak points is miniature teapots and I believe I've never showed you my growing collection of them.

Here it is:


I made a little temporary display for them but have an idea in my mind how to arrange it better. It is a future project that is not on the list this year. It might happen when I am ready to work on it the collection will be slightly bigger, :)))


Here you can see 2 upper shelves closer


and bottom shelf


Let's look at them closer now. This little tiny teapot is only 5 mm long and has a hummingbird on the top of the lead that comes off.





By the way, all leads come off. It is hard to say what teapot is my favorite, but this swan teapot is definetly unusual, true?


I didn't see her, but I am sure a little fairy lives in this fairy house teapot


The teapots with different flowers will look nicely on the table in the garden. I love to drink tea, I love nice teapots!





Would you like to come and have tea with me?

You are invired!

Natalia

Monday, January 28, 2013

UFO Dollhouse in progress

I started working on this dollhouse years ago. I mean YEARS! It was a time when I didn't know anything about dollhouses and different scales. I just bought the kit, put it together partially, without a thought behind decorated with wallpaper inside and forgot about it. Oh, by the way, I applied wallpaper even outside because I liked that stone effect.


My daughter Nataly keeps bugging me to finish it and give it to her to play since I have stopped working on her Barbie house (temporarily, :))))

Last weekend Nataly and I took the house out of closet, dusted it and started working on it together.

The house will have 3 levels, attic is still missing, but you can see 2 unfinished levels.


Living room needs a front door and stairs to be finished


Kitchen and dining area are missing moldings and window treatment


The same is about the second floor, plus the bedroom needs flooring


I fixed the wallpaper outside the house and finished the floor in the bedroom with the red carpet


Nothing can compare with the feeling when you see your little girl happy!


What about you? Have you made anybody happy last weekend?

Natalia

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Tutorial. Victorian Embroidered Travel Bag


Vanessa found an abandoned building that she decided to restore and use to display her fashion collection there. When she went through her trunks full of beautiful dresses she found this old Victorian Civil War Era antique travelling bag.


Today she will show you the way to make one in a case if you would like to have the same Victorian Travel Bag in your collection.

The history of handbags and purses provides a fascinating insight into both men's and latterly women's developing need to carry a range of items about with them as they walked around their houses, and traveled away from home.

A bag would enable them variously to secrete small valuables, such as jewels and money; to attend to personal hygiene and comfort, with the aid of such as a comb and a mirror; and to engage in a number of pleasurable duties, activities or pastimes of daily life -like writing a diary, doing some knitting or tatting, or playing a card game, to pass time on journeys and when staying away from home, or just when moving to another wing of the house or around the family estate.

In the Victorian period an extraordinary variety of types of bag appeared, in fabrics which matched or co-ordinated with different outfits, and which suited different fashionable styles of dress, and demonstrated different needlework and knitting skills. In the late 19th century flat square or circular bags were quite literally canvases for a range of decorative designs in woolwork and chenille, beadwork and ribbonwork, and ladies' magazines described how to make them.

For this project you will need:

- black fine silk
- red fine silk
- DMC or Gutermann silk floss in green, blue, red, mauve, pink, yellow, old gold
- silk ribbon (2mm), green color
- needle
- scissors
- black fringe

1. Make a pattern. You chose the size of the bag. Use dummy or a doll to make a desirable size of the bag.



It should have a shape of a dumbbell.


2. Cut a 10" x 10" piece of black silk (this piece should fit the needlework frame)


and baste the shape of the pattern with white thread on the top of fabric



Do the same bellow


This is what you have now:


Stretch your fabric tightly on the hoop


The embroidery is done before you cut the panels out. The embroidery is done on the end of each panel.

I don't have a pattern for the design you see on the image, I did it free hand and I used the following stitches:

- Spiderweb Rose (or woven wheel Stitch. It is a form of needleweaving that is worked over a grid of foundation threads and can be used to fill many different shapes. In this design I used this stitch to form the roses. A grid of foundation consists of 3 threads.

Lay 3 short foundation stitches as shown.





Weave under and over the straight stitches.
I used red color for the first rose



Weave till you cover all 3 straight stitches.


When you are done, take the needle behind the work, make a knot and cut the thread off.


Make a second rose in pink.


and the third rose in mauve color, using the same Spiderweb rose stitch.


Next I used yellow silk floss and Lazy Daisy stitch to make flowers. Make a loop and tack it down.



I used Straight Stitch and green silk floss to make little stems around the fowers


I added French Knots in old gold color inside each rose. Encircle the needle one or two times with the thread to make a knot.


I added buds in blue color to each stem using the same French knots.




Then, using 2 mm green silk ribbon, I made leaves with Lazy Daisy and Straight stitches.


This is how your work looks at this point.


Start working on the second panel. You need to embroider another end of it. I use different colors for the roses this time. Use your imagination, it is not necessary to repeat the same order of the design.


Congratulations! Embroidering is done!


You think the hard part is over? Actually this is where the confusing part starts! Ready?

3. Cut 2 panels of the red fabric (in my case it is pink)adding seam allowance.




DON'T REMOVE THE HOOP YET!

4. Place a red (in my case - pink) panel exactly on top of a black embroidered panel, WRONG SIDES OUT!


pin together, mark the slit, top stitch


and cut the slit open


5. Pull the red (in my case - pink) panel through the slit and press it very well:




6. Baste the second red panel to the 1st one (don't catch the black fabric) and stitch 2 panels together.


7. Baste the 2 black panels together.


WRONG SIDES OUT with the embroidered parts on each end - not one on top of the other) and stitch the 2 panels together, leaving an opening for turning.


8. Cut the seam allowance of the black panel down,


remove the white stitches



and turn the bag right side out through the opening. be very carefull if you use the scissors.


9. Hand stitch the opening closed, press the bag.


Front side with slit


back side


Now bend it with your fingers


Something is missing, true?



I found Sandy's lace in my stash


and attached it all over around my bag. Now it has a finished look.


I hope you enjoyed the tutorial in spite of its length!

happy and creative weekend!

Natalia





http://www3.hants.gov.uk/dress-and-textiles/bags-collection.htm

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