Tree House Bed Curtains Completed!

Stitches.... And Love....

Can you Believe it, Dear Readers, but after All this Time spent making these Tiny Bed Curtains for the Pagoda Bed in the Tree House, I am a little sad to be finished? Don't get me wrong, I am Overjoyed at  how Perfectly they turned out! But I was enjoying the process of Stitching those Tiny flowers and vines so much... and now they are Done! I find myself thinking I need to start some more just so I have them there to stitch on a Sunday morning...! But let me show you the finishing of the curtains. As you  might recall, all I had left to add was a small amount of "ground" at the bottom of each curtain.

Here you can see what I mean.

I added a closely stitched gold border at the very bottom, 

to act as a hem, because I intended to pull the threads

 and make a fringe with the silk, 

rather than actually hemming the bottoms.

And just above that I stitched a small layer 

or "hill" of light blue-green to be the "landscape".

And with that the embroidery part was truly finished!

Next I took some very thin silk charmeuse in an ivory color.... (made from an antique slip...) and stitched the cloth right sides together along the two sides that had no fringe. I first pressed the other two edges so that when it is turned right side out, the hems would be already turned under and correctly aligned with the fringe edges. (See above!)

Then I cut the curtains apart from each other, 

leaving about a quarter inch for seam allowance.

(This is the back side of the embroidery!)

Then I turned them right side out and carefully... 

with tiny stitches, sewed the two open sides of the lining 

to the fringed edges of the curtains.

This is the reverse side of the finished curtain... 

with the fringe pulled at the bottom edge.

And then I had to run and get the Tiny Bed to test the curtain....

 

Oh! OH! OOooHHH!!!

I am in Love with this bed!!!

 

Here is a closer view.... and this is just the First curtain!

And the other one..... 

they are still not attached, 

just tucked under the gilded trim....

And just testing the bed in the Tree House... 

but it is getting late and dark and hard to get good pictures.

Here you can see the two curtains side by side.....

the first and last time....

because now it is time to glue them in place!

Which was easier said than done, 

because there was so little space under the edge 

of the gold trim on the bed frame....

Then I just have to see how it looks in the Chinoiserie Bedroom....

And with the fire lit.....

 

And from a little further back.... 

it is hard to get it all in focus!

And then in the morning light the next day.... 

can we get better pictures?

 

I think they turned out as Fine as I could have Imagined!

And then just to remind you of the scale of the Tree House....

 

Here it is in the Bedroom of Hardwick Hall!

 Oh, Dear Readers, I cannot express in words

 how much I adore this little Bed!!!

I don't know about you, Dear Readers,

But, I am in Love!

Painting Up A Storm!

Dreaming of Spring in the Depths of Winter.....

I hope you can forgive me, Dear Readers, for showing you a whole lot of Half Finished work this week, but I could not wait to show you the Progress on the Tree House Bedroom! I have been "Painting up a Storm" (which simply means painting a lot!) as I work on the Chinoiserie murals, but progress is slow, so you are going to have to use your Imaginations! These walls are a Long way from done! But Unlike the Huge Snowstorm we have just survived here in New England, the murals have Nothing to do with cold, white Frozen worlds.... however beautiful those can be... but are the most Ideal portrayal of Perpetual Springtime that I know of! And you are going to have to forgive my crude attempts to render this deliciously delicate style of wall decoration in miniature on my Tree House walls.

I am afraid the trees are ending up a bit stockier than is ideal..... 

I started by under-painting with white where the trees would go....

And then painting the dark gray base coat.... but I think the white under-painting was not necessary in this case and ended up causing the tree trunks to be stockier than I had imagined them being. But I think it will be okay that way... each part that gets added changes the entire balance of the composition....

Here I am beginning to add the secondary plant forms.... 

the lacier trees that twine with the darker ones...

And adding layers of gray to define the trunks better....

And filling in the Ground and adding the "planters" ...

and under-painting where the birds will go....

I apologize for the lousy pictures..... 

it is really difficult to get the colors to show well...

Here above is a closer view of one of the planters partly done....

This is on the outer door of the Room which has been removed for painting....

And here above is the Dressing Room door..... 

painted as one with the wall to make it invisible....

And then I added another planter to balance the first one....

These are SO difficult to photograph...!

 And they are SO Far from Done!

But I wanted to show you my progress!

On the left above you can see the Dressing Room door in place in the wall...

Where it will be almost invisible!

But that is not all I have been painting, Dear Readers! 

You may remember that I had started to build the bed for this room...

Well, I decided that it was not the right shape at all!

So I started over with more delicate spindles for bed posts....

And added a decorative "Fret-work" headboard....

Made from cut off slices of woodsies...

(left over from making the library books!)

Which then just needed some painting.....

And then I confess I got carried away with this project...... 

and decided it really Did need a Pagoda Roof for a canopy....

 This is made from manilla file folder paper and a delicate gold braid trim...

And I forgot to take pictures of the next dozen steps......

Ta da!!!

I know, it IS a Trifle Over The Top....!!!

But it is Not unprecedented.... 

the inspiration came from the Bed made for the Duke of Beaufort

in 1754, as seen below...

So you will have to forgive me for trying to copy such an Iconic Bed....

In such a small scale!!!

It barely fits in the room!!!

So even though Spring is a Long way off, 

and my Mural is a Long way from done...

I have been Dreaming of Spring....

And Painting up a Storm!