Life Below Stairs

Following on from the last post ‘Viewing by Appointment’ which featured my 1:12 scale Dolls’ House, I’ve homed in on the kitchen in order to show a little more detail. Over at Sepia Saturday, there’s a photo prompt of Queen Victoria’s kitchen, with a magnificent kitchen range. I don’t think she personally actually did any food preparation there though. Unfortunately these photographs of my old dolls’ house were taken before the benefit of a digital camera and as I no longer have the Dolls’ House, I can’t reproduce them. I’m sorry they’re a little grainy, but I hope you enjoy looking at the Cook of the household and her rather cluttered kitchen. The kitchen range was made from a kit which I had to glue together and paint with modelling enamel. It was much easier to make it appear shiny, than real life ranges, which some poor kitchen maid would have spent her time blackleading.

The kitchen sink was a Belfast Sink on brick piers and I remember cost quite a bit at the time.

'Mrs Bridges’ was made from a porcelain doll kit. The head, arms and feet were ceramic and the body and clothes pattern pieces had to be sewn, stuffed, hemmed  or finished otherwise appropriately. The cat was there to catch the mice of course.

This was probably the room I most enjoyed putting together, because of all the tiny details. Some items I bought and others I made. I also made use of ‘found’ items, like the perfume sample phials which beacme storage jars. Living in Germany, close to the Dutch border, at the time, also meant I could take advantage of tiny items found in the shops there, such as the coffee grinder.

And just for fun. Here are some kitchens courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The first is from the Museum Boxenstop, Tübingen and shows quite a large doll’s kitchen, probably based on the Nürenberg Kitchens were designed as ‘teaching aid’.

Photograph by Markus Nägele.) CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

                                    
                                                    One from Strasbourg: The Musée Alsacien 

By Christina from Victoria, Canada (Musée Alsacien) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],

                
           A 1928 Dolls’ House kitchen from the Österreichisches Museum für Volkskunde

By Photo: Andreas Praefcke (Own work) Public domain

                          

                          And from the German National Toy Museum, Nürenberg

 I, Sailko CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] 

Do go and visit this week’s Sepia Saturday to see what the prompt has generated in contributors’ kitchens across the world.

Viewing By Appointment

When the theme of ‘Small’ was mooted over at Sepia Saturday, I knew I’d have to feature my old dolls' house in a post. I’ve always been fascinated by the world of miniatures, and we were posted to Germany in 1982, my husband made this 1:12 scale dolls' house for me as a joint project. We would later visit dolls house fairs in UK when I was really in the grip of this hobby. I made many of the tiny objects and pieces of furniture, including the dolls (the kits had the heads and limbs and the rest was my own work. Jean Greenhowe’s book., “Making a Victorian Dollshouse” gave me lots of ideas. I wish I’d kept the book, especially when I see the price it demands on ebay.

I also made a miniature shop, which now reminds me of the ones I featured in ‘Open All Hours’ in my other blog.



The dolls' house didn’t move with us to Lanzarote, but I did keep the dolls and most of the small items and these are being looked after by my son until the grandchildren can appreciate them. My daughter had a Lundby dolls' house as a child, but I think that was passed on to someone else, just like my lovely bungalow, (handmade by my parents’ friend) which I spent hours playing with.





Ten years ago I found a rather battered dolls house at a huge car boot sale and bought it for £20 for my great niece. I renovated it with wallpaper, roof paper, etc. and fitted it with carpets. These photos show the fun the family had with it that Christmas.  Our niece and my sister-in-law were itching to get in on the act. On my other blog, you can see some more miniature worlds, in U.K. and Lanzarote.

See what other Sepia Saturday participants have come up with after seeing the prompt below.

Not Cut Out For This

The lovely photo prompt for this week’s Sepia Saturday challenge was a vintage photograph of Maypole dancers. This reminded me that I had an old ‘papercut’ picture, hanging on the bedroom wall, of children dancing round a tree. The picture has always reminded me of a cross between ring-a-ring-a-roses and Maypole dancing. I am sentimentally attached to my picture because it was a gift to me, about 47 years ago, from my Austrian friend Viktoria. I was an exchange student (aged 13) and I was staying with her family in a village (now a town), not far from Vienna, called Wolkersdorf. The picture hung on the wall in her bedroom, and I admired it so much that she generously handed it to me there and then. It has been everywhere with me since then and has even been re-framed (a delicate operation as the papercut was not glued down as you might think, and was like a piece of lace). I have tried to find out about its history, as I think it must have been pretty old already, but drawn a blank. I would particularly like to know the translation of the German word in the bottom left hand corner, if anyone can help. Papercutting is an an ancient craft and examples are found all over the world. It is thought to have originated in China in the 1st century. There are thousands of fine examples on the internet, both images and videos, and just initiating a google search will take you into a silhouette art gallery.

I have tried the craft myself, but with variable results. I bought this book as inspiration. I found a similar design on page 31, of children acting out the ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush’ nursery rhyme. It still looked too tricky for me. The book has lots of tips and templates and I did manage to produce a decent image of an artist for my Dad’s 90th birthday card, using this image in the book.

It took me ages and I’m afraid I didn’t have the patience it needs. I think making paper dollies for my grandchildren is about my level and that I’m just not 'cut out' for this particular craft.

Why not not see what other contributors found to show us following the prompt below, by following the link to this week’s Sepia Saturday?

Celebration Dress

Should have worn my shades!

With a big birthday coming up, followed by my husband’s three weeks later, I thought there may be  reason to wear a new dress. I’ve always liked the faux-wrap style and have two M&S tops from a couple of years ago, which I am loathe to part with, simply because they are so comfortable and flattering. So, when I saw this pattern, Simplicity K2369 I liked the idea of a dress which matched the same criteria. Living in Lanzarote, a trip to the capital, Arrecife is necessary to find a decent fabric shop, and even then you can’t be sure you’ll get the fabric you want. On trips back to UK I usually add to my stash to ensure that I can always pull something out when the mood strikes me. This time I had the pattern in my hand when I saw this fabric with ‘sale’ on the label in the Nottingham branch of John Lewis. I love the animal print effect and was pleased with my purchase. The dress cost about £18 to make,the biggest expense being the buckle. I was pressed for time and didn’t have time to search further. What a pity John Lewis didn’t have those on sale! I am now wise to this and on the lookout for a cheap source, as well as alerting friends and family. Oh yes and I’m not averse to buying a second-hand garment just for the buttons or buckles!

Well, needless to say I was pretty pleased with the result. This pattern is popular and has been well-reviewed by others bloggers, so I won’t go into great detail, except to say that it was so easy to make, and I love not having to fit a zip. I made sure I cut out the pieces carefully, attached the correct needle for stretch fabrics to my machine and used the recommended stitch.


I’ve got some lovely plain lime green fabric to make the tunic top next.I was going to make it with the bow, but I’m not sure; it looks rather bulky. Watch this space, but this is a pattern to which I’ll definitely return.

There’s another element to this story, because the pattern was originally given away with SEW magazine. I’d been a subscriber since issue 1 and lapsed for a few months when we moved here, re-subscribing and ordering back copies, a few months ago. Some issues were sold out so I turned to ebay, where again this issue was in short supply; when I finally bagged one, the seller sent it with the wrong pattern, but she let me keep the magazine at no cost, and finally a very kind seller sold me the pattern separately, along with the final few magazines to complete the set. Yes, I could have bought the pattern at full price, but half the fun was the search and winning the auction. So thanks to Jane at madaboutbooks8!

A Tale of Two Mice

When the 2011 'Prima Christmas Makes' showed these adorable mice, I decided to make them for my grandchildren. I hadn’t a hope of getting them finished for Christmas, but as their birthdays were in February, and we’d be visiting then, I set that as my target date. They looked simple to make; after all they were taken from a book called ‘Christmas Crafting in No Time’ by Clare Youngs (Cico £14.99). As my version of the Prima magazine was the digital one, I had difficulty working out the pattern size; there were no actual measurements on the templates. The instructions said ‘“using the template overleaf (enlarging if necessary) cut two body parts........” !  Hmm, 'enlarging if necessary’ was not very helpful. I didn’t have a photocopier, so printing the pages and photocopying wasn’t an option. Instead I used the ‘magnify’ facility on my Zinio Reader on the computer, and traced from the screen, hoping I’d got it right.

There was more work involved in making these charming creatures than I expected but, once the sewing was done, I could happily stuff and embroider whilst watching TV. As the deadline drew near, all I had left to do was the  tails. I didn’t fancy stuffing a long thin piece of linen, so for now, they are tail-less! I can attach tails at a later date. I fancy doing a bit of French Knitting, so perhaps that’s the answer. To personalise the mice, I blanket-stitched around the children’s initials on the dress and shirt.

They went in my hand-luggage to England; after all that effort I wasn’t going to lose them! Knickers and toiletries could be replaced, but not individually made items like these. When I give the twins something I’ve made for them, I always say, “No other little boy or girl in the world has one exactly this.” I am fortunate in that my Mum still knits, at 91, but as a child I was the recipient of hand-made garments and toys lovingly made by her, as were my own children. I think it’s important that we treasure any gift made with us in mind. I’ll be picking up this theme in a later post, but for now, enjoy the happy faces of my grandchildren when they received their birthday mice.

Building Blocks for the Future

I was flicking through the May 2011 issue of Sew Magazine, when my eye fell upon this article called ‘Easy as ABC’ and showing how to make lovely nursery blocks from fat quarters of bright fabric. I had one of my déjà vu moments. Yes folks, I’d been there and done that some 32 years previously. The pictures are a little grainy but you get the idea. The close-up is taken from a slide and the colour is somewhat faded. I was reminded that this was the Christmas I made many of my children’s toys. It was my son’s first Christmas, which also saw the birth of Blue Bunny. And if you click back to that post you’ll see bunny and blocks side by side. The ones in the magazine used die-cut shapes ironed into position. Back in 1979 I made my own templates and appliqued them in place.

A Makeover for Blue Bunny

I am linking this updated post to Sepia Saturday, where Alan has given us a picture which prompts a rabbit-themed post. Alan himself has posted a photo of his brother, when small, with a toy rabbit. This gave me the idea to link to my ‘other blog’ for a change, as I was able to tell Alan that I recognised the very pattern that his brother’s toy had been made from. The book was ‘Felt Toys’ by Mochrie and Roseman and was re-issued by Dryad press several times. In the sixties I learned to make soft felt toys from that very book and its companions; ‘More Soft Toys’ and 'Rag Bag Toys’. That was really how it all began and I carried on and from there I went on to make toys for my children and now for my grandchildren,



When the children were small I made them each a soft toy rabbit using a pattern from Pamela Peake’s ‘Creative Soft Toy Making’. The rabbits were named Pink Bunny and Blue Bunny; not very original I know, but it suited them perfectly. The above picture is of my son using Pink Bunny as a pillow, with Blue Bunny keeping a watchful eye. The picture below shows Blue Bunny when he was very new, sitting proudly in my son’s Christmas sack, and surrounded by other handmade toys, including the appliqued alphabet blocks. I see this was also the time when I was into patchwork, evidenced by the cushions on the sofa behind. There’s a story attached to Pink Bunny, who was to perish in a devastating house fire only a couple of years ago, but more of that in a later post.

If you look back at If You Knew Susie, you will see both bunnies enjoying a tea party when they had become much loved companions of my children. Blue Bunny was passed back to my son a few years ago and now belongs to my grandson. Pictures sent to me by my son showed that although Blue Bunny was still complete and surviving the rough and tumble of life with three year-old twins, he wasn’t the bunny he once was. Here he is in hospital awaiting a tonsillectomy (my grandson’s not Blue Bunny’s) and being potty-trained by grandaughter.

I could see that poor old Blue Bunny needed re-stuffing, as he could no longer sit unaided, and there were unsightly neck wrinkles behind his head. Where his limbs joined his body there was no stuffing at all; he definitely needed building up. A holiday in the sun was prescribed and he travelled to see us in Lanzarote, bringing his owners with him.       

At last I was able to give him the makeover he deserved. New stuffing added, joints and ears strengthened and a smart new bow -tie to match my grandson’s shirt. He now can sit and stand too! Not bad for a 32 year-old bunny. I wonder if he’ll be around for the great-grandchildren!

If you like old photographs, sepia or otherwise, why not hop over to Sepia Saturday and  burrow into some of the stories you find there.