Stuff and Nonsense

The quick 'sorting out' of my workspace is near it's end ! Today I received ten archive boxes that I managed to assemble with no paper cuts, amazing! 1200 trips to the attics with fabrics later and I can almost see the light.

I wanted to throw some photos at you of my home, a small part of it at least. I have a collection of miniature chests of drawers, no idea how that started but I'm done with that collection. The drawers are full of miniatures of all sorts and as you can see some have spilled over onto the top! 

The kids in the photo are my little sister and brother, now both gone ahead and my little Peach who is also with them. 

 More minis ! and photos of my adopted daughter doing what she does best, trying on fashion ! and then my parents all dressed up. My dad has also gone ahead and that leaves mum and me for now.

 The picture of my daughter was taken in Sidney Australia as she travels for her job all year round. On the phone I used to ask her where she was and she would have sometimes to ask! Most hotel rooms look alike. 

 My lovely new clock alongside a chinese 'mudman', used to decorate miniature bonsai gardens and a 19th century Chinese bronze, my birthday gift to me last year. The tiny ivory elephant was the top of a page marker, I sawed it off on my scroll saw and will take the smell of burnt ivory to my resting place ! awful! 

 I love this engraving, it's by an artist called Danielle Dillmann. I found two on eBay one night and have never been able to either find more or learn anything about her! The late 18th century cups are lovely but too fragile to use. The orchid is fake as I forget to water things! 

 After finding and posting an article on metal flowers I found this on eBay, again one night! It's one of a pair and quite more lovely than the picture on eBay. I negociated the postage from the US but was hostage to import fees! so annoying.

 In my storage unit that I am supposed to recover next month there are almost 600 handbags of all sorts !! Yes 600 ! AND that is not counting all the bags in this house. Years ago no-one wanted 'vintage', it was thought to be old and dirty so dealers would give them to me either for free or for pennies. I even found an old evening bag full of many thousands of old french franc notes ! worthess I add. The one here on the left is totally beaded and is probably Japanese. The one on the right I bought to take appart but its way too nice for that so its added to the collection. My friend Britt is a photographer and we are going to make a book on handbags and purses and then I will get rid of them one way or another. 

 I picked up this odd wooden hand at an antique fair in Paris, it isn't a glove stretcher. The tiny knitted boots have followed me around for years. Another fake orchid! The drawing of a Young girl I found in a 'vide grenier' in Paris for a few euros.

 Big miniatures ! The coffee pots came from a tiny shop in Lisbon years ago and sat in my mum's house until she went minimal! The Staffordshire plates were a find as they are quite rare. I think that the brass fenders are saleman samples.

 I love éléphants. The large wooden one is beautifully carved, there are some terrible ones out there. The middle one is porcelain, a gift to me from me and the one on the right is an embroidered Indian Toy quite faded. The water colour behind I paid 2 euros for and it turns out its by someone famous.

 One of my many bronze greyhounds, lovely dogs but not as lovely as my Jack Russells. The mantle seems to be a repository of stuff, old xmas cards and ornaments, found toys and many photos of dogs!

 I have realised that I have more framed photos of dogs in the house than people ! 

Says a lot about me.

Blue skies and blue dogs

What beautiful weather, perfect for a walk in the country BUT I decided to make more room in my workroom for this Ramsay House project before I needed to and not have to move stuff around the build. That is my excuse and as excuses go it's not bad and quite true. This 'sort out' necessitates multiple trips up two flights to the attic with what I intend to keep and into a spare room for all the lovely couture fabric I am going to put on an EBay store soon. Over the years I have been given or have bought a LOT of fabrics from Vuitton, Lanvin, YSL and Balenciaga so you can imagine the quality. I also set aside some for future clothes despite having decided NOT to make clothes again but given the terrible quality of clothes out there and my mania for finish and detail it is time to get sewing in between getting miniaturing. 1200 trips more and I can get down to business !!!! 

I already posted a picture of some of these cute Turquoise 'Fo' dogs from China and the other day I found a huge one in the shape of a lamp with a bronze base. I had a sort of ok lampshade in the attic amongst the 40 or so other lampshades but the final lampshade will be pleated, still out on the fabric, maybe an old silk scarf. I put it on my english oak three legged table which cost me 20 euros at Emmaus and surrounded it with the other Fo's as I figured that he would feel sort of lost in this house alone. I am pleased as punch. 

Keeping time

You will remember the 'Small Time' company I blogged about ,,,,, well ,,, I ordered a clock for the drawing room mantlepiece of Ramsay House and today I received it. Keith Bougourd the talented owner and maker of this site asked me to send him the photo of a clock I owned to copy if I wished. The clock below was a xmas gift from my mum some years ago and sits on the desk in my bedroom next to a tiny brass clock made by my brother who was an orfevre and also a clock repairer. 

https://www.small-time.com/

Above is the adresse of Keith's practice and below the photo I posted presenting his wares.

Here is my little clock and it works ! I placed it on the mantlepiece of Lars House for scale.

In more detail. At the present it is in British time but I will ask Keith how to change it.

 I also received the other day these tiny vases from 'Natty Collection' via Etsy. The photos on their site do not show the finess and detail, they are lovely and in scale for once!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/NattyCollection

 A close up of the Ginger jar, the painting is lovely. 

 This real bone skull came from 'Oriental Empire', also via Etsy. It is a bead although you can hardly see the hole. Not sure how to scale it is but I wanted to put a skull into the Soane Library of Ramsay House. I do like dark gothic things.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/OrientalEmpire

The podium in the sky.

Today I learnt of the passing of Monsieur Karl Lagerfeld and it has made me really sad. 

Karl was only a few days older than my mum although he never admitted it!

I know that this is a 'miniature' blog and supposed to be fun but we are the product of our pasts and Karl was an important person in my life. Many years ago now I was contacted for an interview without being told for which couture house and it turned out to be Chloé Paris. The interview took place in a neutral office and I was given the job as 'premiere d'atelier', basically working closely with the designer to interpret his ideas and make them happen as far as the fashion show. Karl had basically made Chloé as an international label over 20 years, one of the most successful in the world at the time but left through differences with the owners. Contrary to many fashion house 'Chloé' wasn't actually a person but a creation in itself. 

The designer I was to work with was Carlos Rodrigues who had just taken over from Peter O'Obrien who incidentally I had gone to St Martins fashion school with years before. Peter and I had come to Paris with the school and with out little group we went out to nightclubs and bars in the 70's when Paris was let's say ,, different. Carlos chose me as he felt we clicked although he only lasted a few seasons before being replaced by Martine Sitbon, an established designer with her own successful label.  When Martine left it was rumoured that Karl was to come back to Chloé and I had decided it was time for a change of job as I was daunted by his reputation. One night I was working late alone in the workroom on a tricky garment, trying to make it work when I realised that in my distraction Karl was standing in the doorway watching me. He was immediately nice and put me at ease talking about work. I was told that after a fitting in his presence I would know if he felt comfortable working with me as the role of Premiere is a delicate one. Karl and I got on from day one and I was witness to his extraordinary talent for design. Some times he would turn up empty handed and I would say ' Karl we need designs' and he would grab a pile of paper and draw up to thirty designs just like that. At the time Karl was also working at Chanel and his own label Karl Lagerfeld, not to mention Fendi in Italy. His extreme activity took him through the day and he would come to Chloé in the evening as he said he enjoyed the atmosphere there. This meant that he arrived at 8 pm and onwards and we would often finish at midnight or later during the collection fittings. Our fitting models at the time were Linda Evangelista, Kristen Mcmenamy, Karen Mulder, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell, the world's most famous women, ready for anything with Karl. Linda was a chameleon, you never knew what she was going to look like from red headed and sultry to blond and boyish to dark and sultry. Karen Mulder was a great favorite of mine as she was always charming and in good spririts despite harrowing work hours during fashion week. One season I made 16 embroiderd evening dresses and one of the pieces was a mini combi-short in midnight blue silk organza and no model would wear it except Karen who even made the cover of Elle Magazine wearing it ! Naomi was much nicer than she is given credit for, just a girl. Claudia was not a favorite of mine for divers reasons. 

The work hours with Karl were hard on my home life and most people who worked on this level with him skipped on home life for work life. One night Karl had an arguement with the head of the company and he walked out on what was to be a lengthy fitting of almost 40 dresses. The next night he turned up laden with shopping bags from Chanel for me and my collegue who had know him previously from Chloé. In these bags were cachmeres, silk blouses, handbags, purses and beauty products as gifts to us and he made us sit on the floor like kids at xmas and open them all! It was a sort of apology, one that cost a mint!  After two years of this routine and after cancelling five times a doctors appointment for work I decided to leave. No one leaves Karl unless fired! A few years later I decided to Apply to Parsons in New York for a teaching position and wrote to Karl to ask for a reference. Two days later a courier turned up at my door with a huge folder from Karl's Monte Carlo residence containing a letter from Karl telling me to write my own reference on his personal note paper and send it to him to sign and forward. Inside the package there was a stack of his writing paper headed ' La Vigie', his residence in the South of France. I didn't get the job at Parsons but I never forgot his kindness despite me leaving him, Karl hated change in his work environment.

I found this photo, which I like of him as since the news of his passing the internet is full of pictures of his last weeks failing to be 'himself'. It is truly sad how the press latch on the weakness. The girl to his left in white is Ines de la Fressange who was his muse at Chanel for years and is a friend of mine since working twice for her, lately creating her ready to wear department when her label started up again after a break of some years. I also worked for her in 1997, head of her creation in Paris.

This is Kristen Mcmenamy who was a wonderful girl to work with, she always rushed across to room to give me a hug when she arrived. It was said that she was Karls favorite model and she is till today as beautiful as she was was then. 

 This is Karen Mulder wearing the micro combi-short that I made for Martine Sitbon. There was 40 layers of silk organza in one of the seams! trick to make. Karen kept saying ' make the waist smaller' as she wanted to be as tiny as possible. Karen is Dutch, I particularly love the Dutch people.

This was Linda Evangelista as I knew her although as a chameleon whe could be anyone anytime. She is one of the most photographed models of all time.

Seeing the light

I can be brave and reckless about a lot of things but when it comes to elecricity I am very nervous. I read one blogger describing a short circuit in his house that almost burnt it down! I have looked at videos on tape circuits and wire circuits and transformers etc and it just does not sink in. So much has to be dealt with early on and any problems when built will be tricky if not downright impossible to remedy. I also saw battery lights but they seem bulky. On Sue Cooks site I saw adaptors allowing lights to be unplugged from the ceiling to be changed along with corresponding ceiling roses which seems a good solution. As I intend to double line the walls to install the decor ready done I will have to really calculate the exits to connect to the transformer and then think of hiding the thing! 

So yes there are things I cannot do easily. I looked for books on the subject and only found promotional pamphlets with not much in the way of explication. I then found this book but on Amazon my order wasn't filled as they couldn't find it in the end. I have seen it on Amazon for up to 100 euros and with no way of visualising the content I decided not to buy it. I THEN saw it on this lovely site/shop for under ten dollars and the second book for under 5. Now you all probably master electrics for your various houses so this book is something you either know, know off or do not need. I am happy to finally have something I can study and make notes on, something 'paper' because yes I am old fashioned and do not like reading books on a screen. 

https://jar-jaf.com/

 The above book is 34 pages long and the smaller book is 40 pages. The larger book is mainly B&W photos and hand drawn sketches and the smaller book is B&W schematic illustrations. Between them there will be light, pity I don't drink as that could help for courage ! So if my house ends up with just a string of xmas lights do not judge me! 

Beaux draps

The French have some strange expressions, one of them being you are in the 'Beaux Draps', meaning you are in the beautiful sheets! This expression actually means you are in trouble! 

Another night of Netflix ( I won't say what I was watching ) meant doing something with my hands. As a child I learnt to embroider and make crochet lace and crochet then tatting lace and of course sewing from the age of 6. I still remember the day I discovered that thread came in colours ! Until then I was only given black or white to work with and a sample book of tweed from the local tailor shop. There was not a night when I wasn't making Something, ranging from clothes for family and clients and then totes and dolls and soft toys ( trolls !! it WAS the early 70's ! ) and hats for all the family and slippers and well anything that I could find to make.

The other night I made some more sheets which turned out small but will do for a single bed or for show in a linen cupboard. I then decided to make some coton quilts, the previous one being in silk. 

I made them reversible and tried to make 'vintage' choices in the prints.

 All lined up and really of not much use in Ramsay house but someone will like them! Anyone ? 

 More 'beaux draps' with different laces, one has yet to be embroidered. 

 A detail of the stitching, really easy to do going round the square trying to make them as small as possible. I used a different batting to fill from the silk one but it was just as fine and easy to work with. Some of the fabrics I used wrong side up as the print was too harsh. You just plonk two layers over the batting, machine sew around a Template leaving a gap of course then trim and turn right way round, stitch the gap and then baste the edges to keep it flat before 'quilting' . Voila ! 

 Next I will make some pillows and pillow cases trimmed in lace and embroidered but tonight I am carving a doll ! yup more avoidance. I am supposed to be resting my eyes as I suffer from headaches a LOT so mini stitching and mini carving is not the best idea is it ! 

Dollhouse History

Over the last few years I have collected many dollhouse and 'miniature' books, some wonderful like the Rogers and Mulvaney and other less so. The other day I came across this book on Amazon and pounced on it. I paid almost nothing for it and it turns out it's a first edition from 1954 and one of the first if not the first book on dollhouses. It contained a certificate stating that it was sent ahead to a previous owner for reveiw so not only is it a first edition but a pre sold edition. It also contained several loose photos, rather beautiful in detail, probably taken by the previous owner of a lovely Georgian Dollhouse yet to be identified.

The book is called A History of Dollhouses written by Flora Gill Jacobs. 

This same author has written four books that I could find. 

The Toy Shop Mystery

Dolls' Houses in America, Historic Preservation in Miniature

A World of Dollhouses 

 This is the certificate found amongst the pages. 

The book begins with reference to ancien Egyptien and Roman miniature houses and goes on from there to discuss houses from the 16th century. It seems that the first Dollhouse on record is a Bavarian one dated 1558 ! 

 I have as yet not identified this house but the photos albeit in black and white are wonderfully precise and some are so clear you feel you could put in your hand and touch the furniture. 

 It's a fairly small house with only five main rooms and a stairwell but it's really lovely and neat. Perhaps the black and white rendering has made it seem more so eliminating colour does indeed enhance detail. 

 As you can see, the floors and walls are quite thick and sturdy and I like the monochrome frontage. 

Mini metal flora

The other day I posted an article on metal floral arrangements by Carmen Almon and Vladimir Kanevsky and ended by saying that I was tempted to try emulating them on a 1:12th scale for Ramsay House. 

I came across today by accident the work of Beatrice Hindley who made such miniature flora in the 1920's. As you can see her work is amazing and reasures me that it is possible to do albeit fiddly. I do have a few paper flower kits that I had intended to make up when I had the right pots but these tick all my boxes and make me want to start saving coffee capsules right away for the metal ! I think that already her collection of mini pots and vases is amazing in itself. BUT I am going to hold out on that thought for now and am here just sharing with you another wonderful artist. 

I looked up how much they sell for and its in the thousands!

Royal bedding

I have, amongst many other books on dollhouses, three books on Queen Mary's Dollhouse designed and made by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 1920's. To say that this is the finest example of miniature work in every domain would be a huge understatement. Every artisan in Britain and in other countries ( the marbles came from India ) contributed to this masterpiece over the years it took to make.

 One of the things I love the most about the house is the large collection of household linens all hand embroidered by a single woman over thousands of hours in Ireland. 

 So ,,,,, I decided that one day if I had a dollhouse I would fill it with the same hand sewn linens. Now I have no intention of comparing my work with that of this wonderful woman mainly because too much detailed work in fashion and millions of hours of reading in poor lighting has diminished my capacity for prolonged stitching. The other night looking for an outlet for restless hands I cut up a damaged curtain made from lovely ultra fine coton satin and made this little bedsheet. I did not check the dimensions as it was a test of my capacity. I hand edged it all and trimmed one edge with the border of some fine lace trim. I then added an R for Ramsay House. 

This reminded me of that movie Rebecca from the novel by Daphne du Maurier. At the end of the movie you can see a nightdress case burning when the house is destroyed by the evil Mrs Danvers and the last image in the R consumed by flames. 

 I made a 'sewing board' some time ago by laying two pieces of foamboard over wood and covering it with plain coton on which I drew a grid for squaring up. This board allows for pinning in place. I attached a small flexible light from Ikea to the side of the board. The board is quite small so it sits nicely on my lap when working. 

 A detail above of the stitching, I should have used a finer needle in hindsight. 

 I pencilled in the R before going over with a small 'running stitch' and then completing with a double line of whipped satin stitch. 

 Seen in daylight it looks much whiter than the previous photos ! 

 The blanket was cut from a scarf from the charity shop which gives me enough material for several blankets. I hope one day to weave some blankets and am looking into techniques at the moment.

 The sheet above and another photo of the quilted bed spread/foot warmer in silk twill. Again I will add that no one will actually see any of this work as it will either be on beds or in cupboards.

Dollhouses are such a wonderful way of learning and making, a hugely enjoyable curve.