Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Sew Very Little




And The Bigger Picture....

You will not Believe me, Dear Readers, if I tell you I have Very Little to show you this week! In fact you will probably Laugh... but Truly, I have So very little to show that is new! The stitching in the picture above is ALL I got done this week in my Mini Worlds! It was a three day Holiday Weekend too, and my only excuse is that my Sister was visiting.... and we Played and Ate and Talked and drank endless cups of tea.... and I forgot to take pictures. And we sat all Sunday afternoon while rain showers drifted by... she sewing on her Daughter's Teddy Bear who needed a thorough repair, and I putting Teeny stitches in the second bed curtain for the Tree House Pagoda Bed. It felt just like when we were little and used to sit all morning on our beds with the rag bag making clothes for our dolls!

Here you can see the first curtain that is nearly finished... 
it needs more leaves and some gold filigree embroidery added still....
But the flowers are done.
Keep in mind that the entire curtain is 3/4 inches wide and 2 inches tall!

Here you see both curtains together.... 
the beginnings on the left, 
and the faint basting stitches outlining the curtain edges.
Together they fit inside a 6 inch wide embroidery hoop.

And here is a closer shot. 
I use a magnifier and take tiny tiny stitches.... 
the thread is antique silk sewing thread.
I am sure you know how it goes!
And here is a picture of Teddy once he was repaired.....

My sister's grandson (who is only three) had removed a quantity of stuffing,
and the ancient fabric had torn beyond repair. 
She replaced the old fabric with a very similar print cotton that I had in my stash...
and added a tiny heart inside as well!
Now Teddy is Better than ever!
We spent hours and hours looking at all the Doll Houses....
She had never met the Fairy Bears nor seen the Cloud Palace....

And I am sure you Will Believe me when I say that I felt a little embarrassed at the MESS my Workspace was in.... so I spent some time before she got here cleaning up and re-arranging the Houses.... The plants went outside for the Summer.... and the Cloud Palace and the Conservatory moved into their place in front of the Windows!

And when the sun shone in this morning....
I couldn't resist some pictures.....

Blue had to get her Magic Wand out to show to my Sister.....
And Sir Orion demonstrated (very carefully) how his sword works...
My Sister was so very impressed!

And Brother Beorn wanted to show her the Library... 
even though all the books are not on the shelves...
He showed her his Book of Herbs....
And how cozy the little room was!
(Bears Love to be cozy, after all!)

And once those Houses had been moved, 
there was more room on the work table....
Which is really my Dining Room Table...!!!

Here you can see the whole room from one end...
The folly is on the Table, 
and the Lovely Old Dollhouse is in front of the windows....
And the table itself is covered in bits and pieces and boxes of stuff....

Here is a view of the whole room from the other side......
You can see the Cupboard House in the back to the left....
And the Castle takes up almost the entire front wall!
The Castle is big.... and my room is small!

We spent time looking through each of the houses.....

Here is a closer view of the Castle with the lights on.....
I apologize for the blurry view... 
it is gloomy this evening and my lighting is difficult...
And here is another view of the Lovely Old Dollhouse....

With the lights on..... some of them not working.... 
and the Mess all around!
I hope I have not destroyed your Illusions!
It is easy to edit out the mess when I show you close-up shots.....
But the real picture is piles of stuff everywhere....
And I usually have to move something in order to get anything done!

And below the Cloud Palace and the Conservatory.....
we have the "Temporary" rooms set up in the shelves.... 
currently being the rooms needed to tell Daphne's Story.....
because None of those "Houses" have been built at all!
I really must tell you the next pieces of Daphne's Story....
before you forget the parts I have already told.....
But I am afraid that will have to wait for another Day...
Because this past week was a busy one, Dear Readers,
 and I got Sew Little Done!
But I hope you have Enjoyed seeing 
a Little bit of the Bigger Picture!

15 comments:

  1. I would love to become your third sister! What a fun time you had. Everytime I see someone one else's creative mess. I don't feel so bad...although I should. LOL Thanks for sharing. I got a few ideas on how to set up some houses now. :-D

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  2. Watching your dollshouses collection I've been thinking how bad I am organized to fit only one dollshouse and the greenhouse in my room(of course the Snape's office was here too before..) and how much one can have in one room - guess yours is bigger than mine nontheless I should think of re-organizing, lol!
    I love these tiny roses on the curtain! I can't even imagine me stiching something like that in 1:1 scale it would be ruined soon and I would be saying very bad words all the time, lol!
    Anyway your collection is stunning, Betsy! Oh, and I do hope I won't be asked to make a Roccoco man...I think I would send him to you to sew him his jacket and pants...:D

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  3. You must have a great time with your sister, sewing together and lots of chatting, of course, it must have been very cosy. Ah, what a lovely memory of childhood of you both: sewing together....
    WOW, what a lot of doll houses, Betsy!! You are right if you take pictures we don't see the 'mess' ;)! Thank you for the grand tour along your houses :D!
    So, you only can show us a little sewing.....well, daily life took and still takes all my time for miniatures away. I have so many things to do and I enjoy spring very much, so don't bother if you have so little to show.....personally I have nothing to show too :D!! But I hope I can show something soon.
    Hugs, Ilona

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  4. Hello Betsey,
    What fun you must of had with your sister. your embroidery blows me away and I am so happy the bear could be saved. Visiting your workroom, for me, would be something like going to Disney. You have so many incredible, well done, fantastic projects. I envy all who get to visit!
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  5. Castles and Conservatories and spiral staircases and stitching! Well, my head is spinning! (Haven't you always wanted to invite someone into your house and say, Let us retire to the Conservatory? Or the Solarium, or the Library. Shall we take tea in the Drawing Room?)
    Also, thrilled to see some of your houses together, their neighborhood, yes?, within your beautifully hued walls, with the light turning blue outside, the lights turned on, the wonderful tumult of creativity! There's little I love more than rooms where things are created, visual stories being told, new stories to be told. And to see your embroidery - in that scale! Your heart and head and hands are in these little houses, and your actual one, too. Thank you Betsey.

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  6. Your dollshouses collection is fantastic.
    The embroidery is very refined.

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  7. Oh Betsy it's like going to wonderland I love your messy room, it's just wonderful to see your entire collection :) thank you for sharing it and making me very happy I have to go back and take another peek :)

    Hugs
    Marisa

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  8. I really enjoyed the bigger picture.
    And I can just visualize you and Mandy sitting around all a rainy Sunday, sewing, drinking tea & talking. How lovely. Wish I was there.
    The embroidery is amazing.
    Lots of love,
    Mom

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  9. Me alegro de los buenos momentos pasados en compañía de tu hermana. El bordado es muy bonito y fino. El caos de tu habitación no me es desconocido yo trabajo en un ambiente parecido y aunque intento ser más ordenada me es imposible. Un saludo, Eva

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  10. Don't worry - you didn't destroy any illusions... quite the opposite! I'm not alone!!! There are more people out there who have to shovel stuff away when expecting visitors! Woohooooo!!! Thank you so much for the bigger picture... it was so much fun to see all your beautiful houses together... You must have had a great time with your sister, I kind of envy her that she could have a look at all those miracles at your place. Your stitching continues to be beautiful - and (don't know how come) but I'm so glad the little bear was saved... ;O)

    Hugs
    Birgit

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  11. Hi Betsy! What a lovely picture in my mind of the two of you sitting and stitching (probably close to a window), telling stories and drinking tea just as you did all those many years ago, when you were children. I know that the time must have flown by but to finish up the day with a grand tour of your doll house collection was Definitely the cherry on top! :)) I have totally enjoyed the grand tour too! Again, the volume of your projects and the impact of the layers of details in each of them, never fails to Impress me! How do you manage to keep the stories straight?
    Does your sister have a home and a story for the two little rats that journeyed out from you to her house last year?

    elizabeth

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  12. It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your sister. Thank you for showing pictures of all your wonderful dolls houses in your room.

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  13. Oh Betsy,
    Loved all the photos of your work space, and can fully sympathize. At least you have your mini clutter contained in one area. I have mine spread across five different rooms. Therefore I do not do much entertaining...unless of course...I count myself.
    The curtains are beautiful. Can't wait to see them on the finished bed.
    Best to you,
    Vicki

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  14. What a wonderful work space, thank you for sharing.

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  15. The embroidery is beautiful, it will be wonderful curtains! Hope you had a lot of fun with your sister!

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