Windowseat Cushions

Working In the Dark.....

I am sure that most of you, Dear Readers, can relate to my current dilemma when it comes to dollhouse decor, that it is nearly impossible to see what you are doing in the deep dark back side of the room! Above you can see the attic of Hardwick Hall as it looks in the morning light (if dark gray mornings can be said to be light...!) and even though the dollhouse sits beside a window, not much light reaches the interior of the room. I know it is made more difficult by my choice of color... deep dark midnight blue is supposed to be deep and dark! And this is the atmosphere I am wanting... but it is darned difficult to see to measure and fit the pieces being worked on! I live in an older house, and don't have overhead lights in the room where I am building. Even when I shine a spotlight straight into the house... my own shadow gets in my way the minute I reach in to take a measurement.... *Sigh* So I am sure you will understand when the pieces I am making are not exactly precisely fitted!
But having realized that I must complete the seating area at the back of the room before I can make real progress on the parts that will be in the foreground, I was eager to begin with the seat cushion for the window seat bench, which was to be made of that lovely dark blue-green velvet!

Of course I forgot to take any pictures of the first steps.... 

here you can see it already stitched together and turned right side out.

 Because velvet is very "slippery" fabric, 

I am hand stitching the entire cushion.

And because I am planning to stitch

 the "welting" around the cushion edges, 

I was a little unsure of how much extra fabric

 to add for the seam allowances... 

so my starting measurements were rather "approximate"!

Here I have stitched the "welting" around all the edges... 

see how it shrinks the cushion a bit?

Here it is stuffed with several layers of cotton quilt batting...

Shouldn't we test it for fit on the bench...?

Can you see it in there... yes, it is night again...

Here I have added the tufting......

I wasn't sure whether that would make it wider,

 or tighten up the fabric making it narrower....?

Of course I didn't measure before and after so I will never know...!

But the truth is that the cushion was too wide

 for that narrow bench... 

no matter how much I scrunched it in there... 

it hung over the edge. 

So I decided to widen the bench seat just a little

 by adding an edge and facing trim.

I am sure you can see the seam above... 

but it will be covered by the cushion! No-one will ever know!

It helps... but it might not be quite enough....!

Perhaps we can see better by morning light...?

 

With some pillows borrowed for atmosphere....?

(I know... it's still too dark!)

But I really want to get started on the curtains for the alcove,

 Dear Readers, so I ignore the bench....

And start testing the fabric and trim ideas....

same velvet fabric and heavy gold braid fringe....

Sumptuous!

Can you imagine sitting in this window alcove on a dreary rainy day ....?

Just Daydreaming the day away....?

Here I am testing the beginning of the curtains....

 and in order to reach into this space 

I have disassembled the roof panels as well as the rafters

 so I can reach into the curtain rod... 

so I can slide the rings on and off.

In case you didn't know, Dear Readers,

 I like my curtains to "work" 

as in being able to slide open or closed!

I don't like the permanently glued in place option!

(With the exception of the 144th scale houses!)

So for these curtains I am trying a method I have read about but not tried.... 

of shaping the fabric by sewing wire into the hems of the curtain!

Above you can see the first panel being tested...(partly sewed)

 to see how the "pleats" will work with the wire in the hem....!

 I think it is working well!

Here you can see how I am stitching the paper covered florist wire

 into the hems of three sides of the curtain.... 

only leaving the wall side without wire

 as it will hang the most naturally by itself.

I am not double turning the hems because they would be too bulky,

 but am relying on the pinked edges to prevent fraying.

Once the hems have been sewn with the wire inside, 

I am testing the fringe.....

(I know it is too dark to see...!)

Here, I have turned on the spotlight....!

The fringe is attached.... 

you can see how the wire in the top edge

 can be bent to hold a pleat!

And testing the completed curtain.... yes, 

I deliberately made it long enough

 to drag and puddle on the floor!

I think that adds to the illusion of weight in the fabric.

And then repeat for the second curtain!

Ooohh... come closer!

I am liking this!

But all that deep dark hiding behind the curtains

 doesn't change the fact that the bench is still a bit too narrow!

I decide to widen it a tiny bit more.... 

and to decorate the front to look like carved paneling....

which will certainly distract the eye

 from spotting the too deep overhang...

(which still needs another layer of trim...)

But at least the cushion now fits the width of the bench!

(viewed from above... I know, it's dark again!)

 

And I have realized  it is a good thing the bench needed to be a bit wider...

 because when the built-in bookshelves are added at each side, 

the window seat will appear to be very deeply recessed!

What little of it you will be able to see...

 way back there behind the fireplace and the spiral stairs....

Perhaps that will just make it

 all the more mysterious and enticing, Dear Readers....

A Deep dark cushioned Windowseat....

A Place for working.. or Dreaming in the dark!

Hardwick Hall Attic....

Fidgety Bits......

It has been so long since I last worked on Hardwick Hall, Dear Readers, that I couldn't even find the posts that last showed the attic in it's partly completed state. So I have no idea what you recall about my plans for this part of the property! The above photo shows the attic in it's most recent incomplete state, with the temporary styrofoam fireplace and the unfinished stairs and windows. This is a "Witchy" house, so I have allowed my decor ideas to develop way past what a real House would find acceptable. But at the same time, I have tried to stay true to some of the architectural norms for houses of this era. One of my favorite features of many "Victorian" houses is window alcoves with window seats built in.... and this attic has three alcoves just begging for built-in window seats! Also, while this kit did not come with any "Cupola" for the top of the roof, there are many houses in my town where there are lovely cupolas, so I decided to add one to the top of this house. Since I was adding a cupola, I had to add the stairs to the cupola.... hence the spiral staircase.....

I apologize for the dark night-time photos.... 

it is an eternal problem to get good pictures at this time of year!

Here you can see the attic without the fireplace and chimney... 

while I am trying to calculate the best position for the stairs 

to access the tiny cupola floor platform......

Which you can sort of see here with my cardboard 

floor mock-up sitting across the rafters...

It is a complicated geometrical problem... 

where to start the bottom stair so that the bottom step is accessible 

in all the clutter of this room 

and the top step lands at an angle where 

you can step off into the tiny cupola floor! 

(And don't forget there also needs to be "head clearance" on the way up!)

The answer is it's very very tricky... but doable!

The spiral has to start just off center below the cupola floor.....

which happens to be right at the side of

 the stairwell from the floor below... 

and right behind the only place 

the fireplace and chimney would naturally sit 

(based on where the other fireplaces in the house are located... 

because I get hung up on that sort of realism)!

And some of you might recall that

 the poor placement of the original kit chimney in this attic 

was one of the first things I had to change about this design!

The top photo shows you the mock-up

 of the fireplace in styrofoam that I have been using

 to determine placement and size options

in relation to the stairs and cupola.

I think the fireplace can only go in this spot beside the stairs... 

but that ugly styrofoam mock-up has been bugging me for ages!  

The shape is all wrong for this room!

So I started to build a better hearth....

With more elegant lines... 

similar to the two other hearths in this house,

 but fitting for this room... which is to be 

the "Book Room" or "Reading Room"... 

the gathering place for the Witches... 

the place for researching spells 

and even brewing the odd potion or two!

There was an awful lot of fidgety cutting and fitting 

of that arched surround.... 

because my original cut-out is a little bit uneven too!

 

But I am getting ahead of things, Dear Readers.... 

First, I had to start on the alcove bench for the back of the room....

because I have realized that this area will have to be all finished

 before any of the "foreground" pieces are completed!

 

So I built a simple fitted platform....

 

 Then stained the wood

dark walnut to match the rest of the trim.

 

But I must test the look of the new hearth....

I am Loving how it echoes the window shapes!

Once the alcove bench is in place, I can start on all the fidgety trim.....

 trim that will cover all those ugly joins in the alcove...

And it is a weekend during the day 

when I can actually get some photos that you can see!

It was quite challenging to get the trim

 notched correctly to fit behind that arched "beam"....

(Don't look too closely please!)

And the facing pieces on the angled part.... 

which covers the worst of my gaps.

The vertical section will end up being covered 

by the built in bookshelves...

I am just waiting for the lumber to be delivered!

And then we simply must get an idea of how the curtains will look....

A Beautiful velvet that is a shimmery blue and green...

And I will also use it for a cushion on the bench...!

I know this is a dark room....

 but I love how this velvet adds 

to that dark mysterious feeling!

Meanwhile I am also continuing to work on the fireplace.....

It will eventually be painted to resemble carved stone...

Just testing it in place.... 

with the back wall section where the chimney will go

 up through the roof at an angle 

so it doesn't interfere with the cupola in the center.....

And testing the placement of the spiral stairs for "clearance issues"....

It clears with millimeters to spare!!!

I know.... you could barely see the bottom of the stairs...

 here I have shined a spotlight on them...

 because it is night-time again!

Well, it feels like a huge amount of progress, Dear Readers, 

but all I really did was cut a lot of fiddly little pieces of wood 

at odd angles and glue them in place!

But I love how the Hardwick Hall attic is developing!

And before I forget... 

I promised you a view of the finished Christmas Card....

So here it is Dear Readers, my attempt at rendering in two dimensions 

that which I spent much of the year rendering in Three dimensions!

 The Secret Christmas house is drawn at actual size... 

I traced around the building onto the paper!

The card is 8.5 inches by 11 inches, 

watercolor and pen and ink on watercolor board.

Yes, those big claws are my attempt to draw my own hands full size!

(And you might notice that the Secret Christmas House is Still Not Done!)

January Dreaming.....

Looking Back.... Looking Forward....

I have to admit, Dear Readers, that January brings with it the inevitable urge to assess the progress, or lack of progress, made during the past year on any of many "in work" projects. And when I review last year's accomplishments in my mini worlds, the list is small! That might be in part due to the fact that I worked on the Secret Christmas House kits for much of the year..... and the results are Tiny! In a "regular" size dollhouse I would feel I had accomplished a great deal if I had built, decorated furnished and accessorized an entire house! But in this case... it is all so small it hardly seems to count! Not to mention that it is Not quite Done! In the above picture (taken back in November) you can see the "shell" of the house with the morning sunlight streaming in the windows (a rare thing at this time of year!) and illuminating the interior of the rooms before the furniture was added.

I love that you can see right into the tiny rooms 

as if they were much larger than they are!

But the chief thing I want to point out is that there is still No Snow

 adorning the exterior of the house!

Lots of lovely icicles but no snow!

Yes, I have been avoiding this step.... 

intimidated by the types of artificial snow and how to apply them......!

 I need to do some test samples to get familiar with the materials!

And because it is snowing right now in my RL world, 

and might snow all night and most of tomorrow... 

I might have a Snow Day to stay home and play with ... snow!

My lack of significant progress on any of my larger projects can really only be ascribed to my lack of focus.... (we won't mention the broken arm). I made a little progress on painting  the Castle Hall ceiling.... but didn't come near finishing it. I made a little progress on the Cloud Palace Roof... but didn't make any progress on the exterior walls... which need tons of egg-carton rocks. I made a little progress on the Gypsy Wagon interiors and windows, but didn't even get as far as attaching the walls to the base! 

I made a little progress in the Attic of the Lovely Old Dollhouse.... 

but didn't even get the new knee-walls painted! 

There was No progress at all in the chapel...

Even though Father Alban has been on the brink

 of an inspirational breakthrough... for ages!

No progress at all on the Tree House.... 

waiting patiently for the next floor to be worked on...

(I know, you can barely see it behind the lamp.... I can't find the better pics!)

But it is the Willowcrest, Also known as Hardwick Hall, 

that has been calling to me recently!

In particular, all the places on the exterior walls where the tabs show through...

making me decide that I must add clapboards to the exterior to cover them up!

Like right there above the bottom trim..... it's driving me nuts!

And all the corners on the dormers in the attic.... 

absolutely need covering up!

But then I have to admit, Dear Readers, 

that before I can add the clapboards.... 

I must complete the wiring of all the lights....

Yes, I tried so hard to run all their wires down 

through the center wall behind the fireplaces....

Except for the bathroom.......

Which has no wiring at all so far..... 

and the middle wall is the one beside the tub.... 

not really where the lights would be placed!

Not to mention the other side of the kitchen.... 

which right now only has the overhead light....

Shouldn't there also be a light over the sink? 

Which means running the wires down the outside of the wall....

And even in the attic..... there should be a couple more lights....

On the outside walls...

Which means running the wires down the outside walls...!

I guess it's Time to go back to the Drawing Board 

with the layout of the wiring!

Not to mention the interior trim needed to cover 

all those not very appealing corners on the dormers!

And the design for the cupola which brings light into the top floor.... 

and the chimney re-design since the kit placement was so not acceptable!

And speaking of little bits of trim needed in odd places....

The bay window in the living room has gaps between the panels.... 

where daylight shows through!

I filled the cracks with 1/8 inch square strips...

The clapboards will run between the strips....

I just need to decide how I am making the clapboards!

I bought some of the pre-formed basswood panels, 

but don't like the way they would need to join at the ends

 and overlap their sections.....

At least the strips have covered the gaps in the panels!

(But I still need to add the exterior window muntins too!)

So which comes first... 

completing the interiors with all the wiring

 so I can cover the exterior walls... 

or just getting the wires in place.... 

for all the remaining lights...

and decorate later....

 

And surely, the oven should have a light too?

I guess I have a whole lot of re-thinking to do with this house!

But that's what January Dreams are for Dear Readers,

Looking back so we can look ahead!

 

(And I did finish the Christmas Card! 

But I don't want to show it here until

 it has arrived at my family's homes.

 I will show it next week!)