TUTORIAL: How To Finish Your Miniature Needlework Without a Stitched Background.
As you have noticed from the previous post I haven't finished the background, I decided not to stitch it and leave it blank and framed it the way it is.
For backing I used a white piece of fabric. First I laid down a stitched piece on fabric to get the feeling
I used Wonder-Under paper to attach the stitched pieces to fabric. I cut a needed size of Under-Wonder paper, laid it down on my piece of fabric with paper up and ironed it.
Then I carefully took the paper off
After that I laid the stitched pieces down on the piece of fabric faces up
Covered with another piece of fabric and ironed it again.
Now, when my stitched pieces are attached to the piece of fabric I tried the frame centering the design
I cut out the desired size, attached the stitched pieces to the backing and then to the frame and here is the finished pieces:
Thank you,
Natalia
TUTORIAL: How To Put Dollhouse Miniature Slippers Together
You can purchase the slippers' kits at my webstore www.dollhouseneedlepoint.com, just click a button "Don't just sit there - Needlepoint" on the right hand side bar and go to the page Miniature Slippers Kits.
You will need:
- stitched slippers
- thin piece of leather
- cording of your choice
- glue
- scissors
- pencil
- thin card board
- PATIENCE!
1. Take the finished stitched pieces of slippers
2. Cut out a piece of silk gauze around the inside edges of each slipper
3. This is how it looks now
4. Cut the outside edges of each slipper in this way
5. Now your slippers look like this
6. Let's make the soles now. Take a piece of a thin card board paper and place one of your stitched slipper on it.
With a pencil mark the heel of a slipper leaving a little access for the ends to join each other. Outline the inside edges of the slipper.
7. Do the same to indicate the front of the slipper
8. Now, when you have all your necessary marks,
9. join them,
10. and cut out the way it is shown on the picture, following the lines of inside edges you outlined on the card board.
I don't use a template for my slippers, because each pair of the slippers I finish is individual, OOAK. Anyway, you need to learn how to make and adjust the soles for your slippers or shoes if you want to learn how to make them, :)))
11. Try to fit your new sole on the stitched slipper. If you feel like it is too long or too wide, trim the sides of the sole.
12. Mark it as R (right). This marked side will be the inside bottom of your slipper
13. Cut left sole using the template of the right sole
14. Now you have 2 soles ready: Left and Right
15. Take a piece of thin silk of matching color, put your soles with marks on the silk
16. and glue them to the silk. Let them dry and cut out following the edges.
17. Take the stitched slipper and the sole and glue them to each other starting with the most top, step by step. Don't apply glue on all pieces of cut silk gauze at the same time. Remember, that the white side of the sole is the outside bottom of your slipper.
18. Put dabs of glue on silk gauze and join the pieces to the bottom of the slipper.
19. Turn around and using the scissors or a wooden stick put some pressure from inside on the glued pieces. Let it dry.
20. After it dries,keep gluing all around the edges of the bottom of the sole.
21. turning around and putting some pressure from inside.
22. When you reach till the end, put these ends of the slipper together around forming the nice curve of the heel
23. Put little dabs of glue on the edges and glue the ends together
24. Your slipper now looks like this
25. Finish the second slipper the same way.
26. Prepare a thin piece of leather,
27. Place your slippers on the back side of it and glue to it. Let it dry properly.
28. After they are dried, cut the access of the leather out around each slipper with VERY sharp scissors.
29. This is how the leather bottom of your slippers looks like now.
30. Do the same to the second slipper and they are ready for the decoration
31. Put glue all around the edges of the slipper
32. and attach the cording of your choice
33. The slippers are done!
I hope you enjoyed the Tutorial. I would advice to ake the slippers with fabric first just to practice, :)))
Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Natalia
Tutorial. How to Make a Dollhouse Braided Rug.
Today I would like to show you how I make dollhouse miniature braided rug.
You will need:
1. A piece of clear glass 12" x 12".
2. Masking Tape
3. Double-sided tape
4. Plastic thread clippers
4. Fusible One-side Stabilizer
4. DMC floss
5. Tacky glue
6. Scissors
7. Iron
All materials can be purchased at any craft stores like Michaels, Jo-Anne, Hobby-Lobby, Ben Franklin, etc...
After you prepared all necessary items,:
1. Take a piece of clear glass 12" x 12". You can have any size of glass, depends on the size of a rug you braid. I had yellow glass. I will explain later why you need a piece of glass and not a piece of paper, card board or wood.
2. Using a masking tape (in my case it is a blue one) secure all 4 sides of the glass piece to prevent from hurting yourself.
3. Using the double sided tape cover one side of the glass piece between the stripes of masking tape. Try not to overlay the double-side tape over the masking tape.
This is how it looks now
Try not to leave any empty space between the rows of the double-side tape.
4. Now, take the DMC floss you are going to use for the project.
Unfolded it.
5. Prepare clippers.
Wind your thread on a plastic thread clipper,
each color on its own clipper.
Secure the thread on the clipper.
6. In my project I used only 3 colors. That's why I have only 3 clippers.
7. Put all 3 tails of threads together and make a knot.
8. Start braiding. There are a lot of different types of braid that are suitable for braided rugs, in this project I used a simple one.
Don't braid neither tight nor loose.
9. After you braided about 5" you need to start winding the knotted end of your braid on a piece of cardboard, size about 2" x 5".
Finish braiding the floss and secure the end with another knot.
It is the most time consuming process in the process of braiding rugs. You can do it while watching TV.
It is ready now:
10. If you use more than 1 color in your project, you need to braid more braids of different shades.
11. Back to the glass piece. Take the end of your braid and stick it to the surface of the glass piece covered with the double sided tape leaving the knot up into the air.
Closer to the glass piece cut the braid and secure the cut piece on the double sided tape (don't use glue!)
12. Depending on the size and shape of your rug, secure 1" (for a round rug) or 1,5" (for the oval rug) the braid on the glass piece.
13. Start placing the braid around this straight piece, one row after another.
14. After 2-3 rows are completed, take your glass piece and turned it upside down or, as I do, take it above your head and look at the rug from another side of the glass.
It will show you if you made any mistakes so far or not, for example, if you see the space between the rows, you still have time to correct it. Sometimes rows of one side of the rug look tighter then the rows from another side.
15. Finish your rug.
16. To secure the end of the braid, placed it on the top of the previous row at the place when the thread ended and secure it with a little dab of Tacky glue.
After it dries you won't be able to say where it ended up.
17. Take a piece of Fusible One -Side Stabilizer (pick the finest) bigger size than your rug
and place it on the top of your finished rug with the sticky side.
18. Using hot iron (be sure you don't use a steamer), iron it.
Be sure to iron the place where the edge of the rug is and the middle of it very well.
19. Let it cool down. After that gently start pulling it up.
20. Take the scissors and cut around the edges of your rug.
21. To flatten the rug better, you can cover its front side with a piece of cotton and iron again. Let it cool down again.
22. Your rug is ready for a display.
As I said, my rug was made only with 3 colors. If you decide to use more than 3 shades, there can be a question how to secure the ends of the thread to add to the design. In this case, refer to step 16 and repeat it as many times as you add a new braid.
At the end I would like to advice to keep your glass piece in the box to prevent it from the dust.
I hope this information was useful and easy to follow.
Happy braiding!
Natalia
Tutorial. How to Make a Towel with Simple Needlework. Part 1
Today I want to show you how to make a towel with simple needlepoint.
This method can be used to make any towel from any kind of fabric, but since we are talking about needlepoint, our towel will have a little stitched design.
You will need:
1. A piece of 32 count linen
2. A needle
3. Embroidery floss (DMC)
4. Scissors
5. Wonder-Under paper
6. Design
7. Needlework frame
8. Iron
Here is a simple design for using one color of your choice.
Instructions
1. Place a piece of fabric (depends on the size of a towel you are making) in an embroidery hoop.
2. Use 1 strand of the six strand embroidery floss (DMC). Grasp one strand and pull it gently from the remaining strands.
3. Make a waste knot, tie a knot at the end of the thread, insert the needle in the fabric from the front to the back about 2”-3” away from the starting point for the stitching. Your knot will be on the front of the fabric. After about 10 stitches have been made, cut off the knot.
4. To finish a thread, run the needle under 5-6 stitches on the back of the fabric, pull the thread through, and cut close to work. I never use this method when I work on my rugs, pillows, etc… In this project we use only one thread and it is only one way you can finish the thread.
5. In this project we will use a Half-Cross Stitch. The reason is that the design is small and requires only one thread and it doesn't provide as much coverage as a Continental stitch does, and as a result it takes less of thread.
6. After you are done stitching, take your stitched piece off the frame.
7. Measure the desirable size of the towel.
8. Place the towel face down and iron it flat. Center the Wonder-Under, rough side down and paper side up, over the back side of the stitched design, and iron it to the fabric.
9. Finger press both sides of the towel, it makes the next fold easier.
10. When the fold is perfect, iron it. Open the fold and remove the paper from the Wonder-under. Refold and iron it again.
11. Your towel is done.
Enjoy it.
Tutorial. How to Make a Towel with Simple Needlework. Part 2
In my opinion the dollhouse miniature towels that were made in the previous tutorial are out of scale, they look big and heavy, they are hard to drape.
We used 32 count fabric in purpose, to let you practice a half-cross stitch, to get the felling of needlepointing in miniature. Have you got it? Are you ready for another challenge?
To reach the realistic effect, we all are striving for finishing the miniature in the scale as close as possible.
What if we use a fine piece of fabric, like voile, to make our next towel? You might want to ask me how on the earth we are going to stitch on this closely-woven fabric?
There is a wonderful product that will allow us to do it: SILK GAUZE! We will use silk gauze as a waste canvas.
Welcome to my new Tutorial!
Place the fabric in an embroidery hoop
Cut a piece of 40 count silk gauze approx. 1.5" x 2" and baste it over the main fabric to provide an evenweave grid for stitches.
Try to align the canvas grid with the wrap and weft of the background fabric as close as possible.
To begin, select a color and separate the strands of the floss (silk). Only one strand is used in this project. Make a waste know as it was described in tHe previous tutorial.
After stitching for about 10 stitches, take the needle behind your work, pull it
and cut it as close to the stitches as possible. DON'T run the needle under the stitches on the back of the fabric!
Keep stitching the design
When it is time to switch the thread, finish the working thread by taking the needle behind your work and running it under through the back of several stitches.
To start a new thread repeat the previous steps
Finish stitching the whole design. I used Continental and Half-Cross stitches.
After the design is complete, remove the tacking.
This is how it looks now
Cut the access of silk gauze around, if any, and start unraveling any waste canvas (silk gauze) that aren't covered by stitches
Then carefully remove the canvas (silk gauze) threads one at a time
Work on the horizontal lines first. This is how it looks like now
Now start working on the vertical lines taking one at a time out.
Phew! We are done! This is the finished stitching after silk gauze, used as a waste canvas, was unraveled.
Now let's make a towel.
I use an air erasable fabric marking pen to make marks for my towel
Take the fabric with the stitched design from the frame and iron it. Measure the desired length of your towel approx. 3.5" - 4" (depend on how long you want your towel to be). If the width of your completed towel will be 1", leave a half of inch on the each side.
You see those 4 little dots on the fabric made by the air erasable pen?
Don't worry, they will disappear.
Cut the piece out
Finger press (squeeze with your fingers) both sides of the towel
The edges of both sides should touch each other. Iron it.
Start working on the fringe carefully removing the fabric threads one at a time till you reach the desired length (about 1/4")
This is how the edges of your towel look like now
To finish the towel we will use Wonder-under stripe (you can buy it at any fabric store or on-line)
Cut a piece of Wonder-under stripe the length of the towel excluding the fringe, and with paper up iron it in the center of the back of your towel
Pill paper off
Iron each side of the towel to the center. DO NOT TOUCH THE WONDER-UNDER WITH YOUR IRON!
Your towel with fine stitched design is finished
Now you can folded in half or drape it.
For my scene I needed it to be folded
Look at the picture below. Agree that the towel with roosters look finer and closer to the scale!
Happy toweling!
Natalia
TUTORIAL. A HOUSE IN A TEACUP
First of all you need to find a teacup and saucer. The size of the teacup depends on your project and what scene actually you would like to make inside. It is not necessary should be a house, it can be any other scene. I was looking for a very beautiful flower design, but then I changed my mind. I didn't want too much colors on my teacup and I thought that saucer will be decorated and covered and nobody will see the design. It is also doesn't matter where your teacup was made in. As you see, everything is a just a matter of your preference. For example, for my other Cup Project I am thinking to use a deep bowl.
This is how my teacup and saucer looked before
Place the teacup on the saucer in the position you would like it to see. When placing the cup be sure to anchore the handle to the saucer if the design will allow and to keep the lip of the cup level or just below the edge of the saucer so your ground will be as flat as possible. The HANDLE SHOULDN'T BE GLUED TO THE SAUCER!,
and glue it, I used 527 Multi-Use Glue (you can buy it at any Craft stores)
Let it dry.
While you are waiting for your teacup to be glued, make a template for a ground. I cut a circle out of paper that had an approx. size of the saucer with a little "tongue" that goes inside the cup and symbolize a ground for the house.
Now, if you look at the next picture, you will see, why I asked you not to glue the handle to the saucer:
Trim the edges of your template, cutting as close to the edges of the saucer as possible, making it even.
Take a chip board
trace your template on it and cut it out
try it on your cup (it should be glued already) and trim it if necessary
Then, paint this chip board in dark green and let it dry.
While it is drying, take a plastic bag (I used just a bag from a grocery store), put some Fine Turf (I used Green Grass),
spread it evenly on the surface
OK, back to the green chip board. Dried? Good! Now you will need General Purpose 45 Spray Adhesive, or you can use a hair spray.
I would advise to go outside, or in the bathroom and spray that dried green piece of chip board with Spray Adhesive (or your hair spray). After that with a sprayed surface put your chip board in Fine Turf and push it all around. I found out that sprinkling green ground cover over doesn't help. Shake the excess, then spray again and "sink" it in Fine Turf again. Shake the excess. Let dry.
Take you green ground cover and glued with 527 or E6000 glue to the saucer. Put it aside.
Time to build a house! Here is the templates, refer to the squares:
Cut house front out of wood - be sure to watch the grain of the wood and make your first cut across the grain - then cut the gable in the front. Cut the top angles of the side pieces - save the triangles to use as the roof on the gable at the front of the house. Decide where you want your window and cut the opening before you assemble the house - remember again to make the cuts across the grain first.
Glue the sides and front together
front view
back view
side view
Try it in your teacup to see if it fits, :)))))
Aren't you tired yet?! If not, let's decorate your house now, and it is all you, without my help. Here some tips for you though:
Stain the frame of the window to match your house trim. Make the windows panes in window by painting with thinned Elmers glue over wax paper. Make take more than one coat for a complete pane of glass. Paint the background color of the house and stain the trim.
I also used the sand that I brought from the Californian coast last summer for a trimming the base of the house and making the sidewalk (mixed it a little bit with Fine Turf)
Cut and paint shingles (I used chip board).
Glue them to the roof of your house
Dry fit the house to the yard and then glue into place. Add front stoop over the sidewalk where your door will be.
You are done. You are on your own now!
As for me, I added:
vines on the walls and roof, I made a flower bed (on this picture you don't see flowers yet, they haven't grown up yet). I used Green Poly Fiber that has been sprayed and covered with Fine Turf
Don't forget to cut the excess of that Poly Fiber to give it a natural look. On this picture you can see little pieces of Poly Fiber around that has to be cut
I also "planted" bushes, flowers around and a Birch.
For this little project I used little trunk that I bought at the Hobby Lobby, I painted it as a Birch.
I glued the Poly Fiber on the top of each brench
Sprayed it and sprinkled the surface with Turf till I was satisfied with a look.
I added figurines, and... my teacup is still not finished, because I will add more little details around to make it more alive...
ENJOY AND HAVE FUN!
I want to show you my Christmas tree in process. This Christmas tree will go to my Country roombox.
First I took a Christmas tree that they sell at any craft stores.
Turned it upside down
and started attaching little branches of lycopodium to the tree from the bottom, I used glue.
Closer to the top I used smaller pieces of lucopodium
Then I trimmed my tree till I started liking it
After my Christmas tree with a new look has dried, I took off that wooden bottom piece
I prepared a new trunk for the Christmas tree. It was made from a dowel of the size I needed and covered with plastic wood that dries very fast. After that I painted it
and drilled a little hole
My trunk is ready to be attached to the Christmas tree.
It's there
Next step I made a base for my tree.
I took a round wooden piece, the bottom and the sides were painted green,
a green piece of fabric to cover another side of the wooden piece,
and a piece of Wonder-Under paper
and attached a piece of fabric to the wooden piece with the help of Wonder-Under paper.
Ironed on the top of fabric:
This is the look from the bottom of the wooden piece
I trimmed the fabric around.
This is how the bottom looks
and this is how the top of the Christmas tree base looks like now
You can use any color of fabric for the base simulating the Christmas tree skirt. As for me, I am going to stitch one. Maybe it will be ready for the next Christmas 2014, :)))
I hope you are not tired of this tutorial yet, because I have a couple more pictures to show to you.
I glued my Christmas tree to the base, put the Christmas lights around the tree
and also this little pretty Christmas Angel (it was a gift from my fellow-miniaturist from the local dollhouse club) at the top of the Christmas Tree.
Now my Christmas tree is ready to be decorated. I will hide this lights and cords deeper inside the tree.
Have a great weekend and a lot of finished projects!
Natalia
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