Big Steps and Tiny Stitches....

Tales of Gold and Glue.....

Have I mentioned, Dear Readers, that I am in Love with making these Petit-point Pillows? I decided to make another one just like the Kit from Janet Granger, only I didn't have any more of the right cloth. So I am using some cloth that is 28 count "Monaco" Needlework cloth.... which I bought a long time ago to use for needlepoint stitching.... because I don't know what I am looking for in the stores or on-line! (I have a lot to learn!) It has a denser weave than the canvas that came in the kit... so the holes are a little bit tighter... but it is working out quite well! I have also decided to experiment with a different background color... and this blue looked just right to me! It is not done yet because I decided to work more on the bed-curtains for the Tree House... I know, I said they were done.... but then I remembered that I wanted to add some Gold thread to the embroidery....

Can you see the delicate glittery stitches woven into the pattern on the left hand curtain? And then I had to add the leaves to the vine.... because if you remember, there are gold vines growing up the ceiling in the Tree House Bedroom too! It was that which made me realize I had to add the gold to these curtains!

Here, I have searched out an old picture 

to remind you of the Tree House Bedroom ceiling.....

I stitched the gold with some gold metallic sewing thread

 that I bought many years ago. 

It was relatively easy to sew with 

and has the right amount of glitter!

Here you can see the gold leaves are done on the first curtain.

But the "Big Steps" I was referring to were all

 about the construction of Hardwick Hall.

The construction of this kit is quite intricate 

and there are some steps that you think the pieces 

cannot possibly fit like they say they should!

The Mansard roof cornice is one of those pieces!

It is a section of the roof that fits around the dormer 

and overlaps the tops of the walls, 

and forms the base of the mansard roof itself.

The instructions say you will have to "twist" the piece

 to fit over the tab at the top of the front wall 

while at the same time sliding it into 

the cutout grooves in the roof framework.

As with many of the trim pieces on this kit, it is built up of layers,

 and it is tricky to decide when to paint which part! 

Because the underside of this trim piece is the one that will be visible, 

I painted it with all the layers of silver paint, 

while leaving the top side just coated with the primer, 

because it would be covered by the trim layer.

If you look closely in this picture 

at the top of the wall at the corner there is a tab....

 when the cornice is pushed all the way into place

 this tab fits into a slot, locking it in place!

It wouldn't "slide" into place, Dear Readers, I had to use a hammer!

And that was even after I had widened most of the slots 

that it needed to slide into!

But eventually it did fit!

And the other side too!

And then it was time to glue on the trim layer....

This layer I only painted the top side 

as that was the one which would be visible.... 

and here you can see it being glued 

with my trusty "clamps" holding it in place!

And while I was adding roof trim pieces....

I added the roof trim to the Kitchen bay window....

And the Parlor bay window.

It is amazing what a difference the trim makes!

It starts to look so "Finished"! 

And it feels like such a Big step 

to be finally working on the Roof of this Kit!

And as for the Tiny Stitches.... 

here you can see that I "finished"

 the gold stitching on both the Tiny Curtains!

(Poke the picture to make it larger!)

And even though I thought I was done 

with the embroidery on these curtains... 

I remembered that I want to make 

a layer of "ground" at the bottoms....

So there will have to be more stitching! 

So you can see Dear Readers, 

it was either Tiny Stitches or Big Steps 

But it was All about the Gold and the Glue!

Leaping Ahead....

A Little Stitching, A Lot of Glue......

Well, Dear Readers, It is Leap Day, in a Leap Year, and I have some Leaping progress to show you! It has taken me more than two years to stitch these tiny Bed Curtains, and now that they are nearly finished, I have asked myself What took me so long? The embroidery part is now complete... (unless I decide to add a few more leaves in another color....) but the pattern is now done! I was originally not sure how I would "finish" the edges, whether or not glue used to stop the fraying of the silk would be enough, or whether I would need to hem them. But having read Josje's post on the durability and longevity of materials used, I now question using ANY glue on fabrics! I will be stitching the hems! But besides that, I had also realized that these tiny curtains would need to be lined... because they hang on the bed and the "back" side of the stitches would be visible! They are "relatively" neatly stitched.... but the back side of the embroidery is not as pretty as the front! Having reached this stage with these curtains, I thought it would be fun to see how they are going to look .... so I pulled the Pagoda Bed out of the Tree House....

Of course, it is really difficult to get a sense of how they will look.....

but I carefully folded the fabric and held it next to the bed!

 Heavens, it makes the flowers look Huge!

But the Main thing I got done this weekend, Dear Readers, 

was a Lot more Gluing of the structure of Hardwick Hall! 

I left you last weekend with the side walls attached, 

but only part of the Parlor Bay windows was done.

Here you can see the Parlor Bay Windows "propped" in place, but not yet glued.

There were several steps I needed to do while the wall was partly open.

I needed to make the curtain rod for the bay window while measuring was easy, same with cutting most of the baseboards and the windowsills for the bay. And I wanted to attach an outlet on the outside wall beyond the bay window so future lamps could be added at will.

Can you even see the outlet I have added?

 I painted it brown and ran the wire down into the basement!

Then I worked on adding the sides to the bay window.....

They didn't fit very well...

I ended up shaving a lot off of one side panel,

And the other one was a bit warped.

It took all day to get them attached!

Here you see them in the following morning light.

And from the interior.... 

with the baseboards and windowsills mostly added.....

 

And another view.... the trees with the lights in the branches 

are still waiting for me to finish painting them.

Here is a close-up of the interior windowsills....

I think they turned out very well!

But you can see the daylight through the seams of the wall panels!

This will have to be covered with the exterior trim....

although I don't think the kit provides any for these seams!

This is what the house looks like before the attic walls are attached. 

What you see here is now all glued in place!

I had done the preliminary preparing and painting 

of the attic walls a year ago, 

but then realized I could not attach any of it 

without finishing the side walls of the house. 

This is a complex structure to assemble!

Here you can see I have glued the main attic walls in place!

(weighted with a can of paint!)

And then I added the side dormer walls, also "prepared" long ago!

It feels so good to Finally be able to work on this attic level!

I plan to make "adjustments" to the kit plan for this room.....

but I could not even begin to test my ideas without the structure completed this far.

Here you can see I have also added 

the "rear side walls" on each side of the house.

I thought the width of the kit pieces was much too large,

so I "thinned" them down to about 3/4ths of an inch on each side, 

rather than the almost two inches they start out as!

This will allow for the rear corner trims, 

but also allow for maximum access to the rooms!

I am Finally making Progress!

And with the tiny stitching too!

I know I have mentioned before how difficult it is 

to photograph the Tree House rooms....

but I thought you would like to see the bed and the curtains in place.

So you can see, Dear Readers, 

with a Little stitching and a Lot of Glue

I have been Leaping Ahead!