Raw Edges, Unfinished Pieces, Small Improvements....
Can you believe it, Dear Readers, that weeks after my vacation is over I am still showing you little pieces that I accomplished during that busy week? The above picture is a case in point. And it is even a further example of something I have been thinking about doing for ages and ages and only got around to finishing while I was enjoying that productive vacation time. This kit is the first piece of furniture I bought as an adult..... Ages and Ages ago when I was only twenty. I completed the assembly shortly after buying it, but didn't know how to do the "finishing" including the attaching of the drawer pulls. So I put it all carefully away, unfinished, awaiting a time that I could learn the proper methods of staining and gluing. I finally gave it a stain a few years ago, but still didn't attach the drawer handles. I finally decided to just glue them on before the pieces got lost... and I got it done during my recent vacation! And while we are talking of finishing unfinished pieces....
I had decided to stain the table and chairs for the Willowcrest...
I wanted the silver-gray color I had used on the Conservatory
So I pulled out the stain and got right to it!
Which only got me to thinking about other long-unfinished pieces....
The hutch in the Folly kitchen was given to me by my sister many years ago...
And I have been unable to decide exactly what color to paint it.
So I tested one of the stained chairs in the room and it was perfect!
It didn't take me long to get the hutch stained too.
I am probably going to add more details to it... but it is a start!
But that is not all I have to show you, Dear Readers....
The chief little detail I wanted to show you
is one of those projects I have been wanting to make
ever since, well... Forever!
So I Finally got started....
I started with ordinary cardboard and made a little box with a drawer.
And then I started to cover the outside in a pink patterned cotton....
and lined the insides in light green silk....
The shape of the box was a bit complicated to cover...
but I glued one section at a time...
and only cut away pieces when I was
sure where they needed to be cut.
And the top lid has a folded edge....
Here you can see it up close...
Here I am working on the lining for the top sections...
I left the raw edges of the silk unturned,
relying on the glue to prevent raveling.
Here it is mostly finished.....
A sewing box just like the one belonging to my Mother...
that my sister and I used to "borrow"
when we were children just learning to sew!
And here I am starting to add the accessories.
Do you see those scissors on the table?
I have saved those scissors, Dear Readers, ever since I was a child!
I got the larger pair in a gumball machine when I was ten...
and they actually cut paper!!!
The smaller pair I have had for just as long,
but I don't remember where they came from.
There were a few other things I wanted to add to this sewing box....
And one of them was a measuring tape....
So I decided to see if I could make one by painting some cotton...
and writing numbers on it....
and covering that with craft glue.....
and cutting it very very close to the writing...
I think it works!
And when I was at the Sturbridge Fair two years ago,
I had bought some tiny metal thimbles and tiny stork scissors...
which I have tucked into the top of the box...
I also added a pin cushion (bought more recently)
and wound some ribbon on card like bias tape.
I am sure I will be adding details for quite a while.
I just can't tell you, Dear Readers,
How satisfying it was to finally, Finally get around to
working on all these Unfinished pieces,
Raw edges and Small improvements...
I really had So much fun with all those little details!
