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English Chair Upholstery.
I finished upholstering the second chair, this time I used silk taffeta.
I had to make the back of the seat twice, the veneer split, but the result is great.
Blanket Chest
I’ve been a fan of such old 17th century chests for quite a while, I’m reading several green woodworking blogs. So one day I thought it would be nice to make this blanket chest, besides I found the drawing of it in Sketchup Warehouse.
Here it is:
Chess Figures
Yesterday I finished the second game table, the first one is already at its owner dollhouse. I made several changes and also started making chess figures for it.
I’m almost done with blacks:
Victorian Game Table
It’s done! I’m writing this post and this cute table is right next to me. For now.
Dining Table
It was pretty fast work, just two weeks I guess. I took the design from French architect and designer Leon Benouville (1860-1903). I just changed the curve of the legs a little bit. Dimensions of a table top – 10 x 15 cm, height – 7 cm.
Lots of stuff
Last week I was busy with making a fringe for my first chandelier, this was the first time I was making it with bobbins and silk. Here how it looked:
The problems started when I tried it on, the fringe wasn’t wide enough, if there would be just two extra millimeters – I’d be the happiest person. I was a bit upset, two days of work and all for nothing. I had to use pre-made fringe from the local craft store. I also think that I made a huge mistake using silk, it looks just fine on furniture but not on chandelier, you’d need much coarser thread than silk, metal threads are really the best choice here. And this time I was quite happy with the result.
bombe Chest – Done
One more commissioned piece is done. I only managed to make several photos of it.
It’s funny but the projects that look difficult are quite easy to make. Well, that’s how it works for me, at least. The drawers were easy to form, claw foot was also a simple task, I had enough practice with the previous piece as you can remember. 🙂
I made the inner parts out of mahogany as well, don’t know why, I guess I just love the color of it and thought it would look very nice. And it does, actually.
As for the hardware, this time I had to use the handles from Houseworks, I’d rather use the ones from Phoenix Model Developments, but there wasn’t the right size and from, I managed to use them only for the top drawer here. The back was trick, as you form the sides manually, with Dremel and bandsaw, so you spend a lot of time fitting it, the pattern won’t do here.
Despite its looks – it’s very light and you almost don’t feel it on your hand.
I actually love the mahogany covered with shellac, to me it’s so much nicer than cherry wood, though my husband thinks otherwise. The surface is so shiny and smooth under shellac. With so much practice I finally can achieve such results with French Polish.
I guess it won’t be the last bombe chest that I made, I’d love to have a similar one for my dollhouse.
Theatre stage ( for short film)
I finished this project some time ago, one of my favourite commissions. I don’t have many photos, I mean good ones, sorry about that.
Well, the commission was to make a theatre stage for a short film, can’t go into details 🙂 It was supposed to be quite big – 75cm wide, 65 cm high and 40 cm deep. Almost like my dollhouse 🙂 Huuge. And heavy.
My first Candlestick
I’d call it – “the first pancake is always the failure”. In my previous post I wrote about my first try working with metal. Here’s what I’ve made:
It’s made of brass, its height about 20mm.
I always wanted to try metalwork, but it seemed like some crazy idea. I’m in love with woodworking, I really like building miniature furniture. I started learning woodworking from scratch, I couldn’t tell the difference between lathe and router, pine and mahogany. And now with metalwork I feel like I’m starting all over again – watching lots of videos, reading forums, blogs, books, etc.
It was hubby who really wanted this new hobby, because, for example, working with lathe would be something new, something different from woodworking where I felt more comfortable. I was very skeptical about this metal lathe thing, first of all, it’s the whole new experience, I know almost nothing about metals, besides, I thought why should I? I’m into wood really. Second reason, I watched youtube videos, lots of them. And all I could find were the men who were making details for their machines. Nothing practical, nothing “cute” 🙂 So you buy the lathe just to make the details for it! 🙂 Lots of fun.
Then I started working on my dollhouse, making sketches for candlesticks, chandeliers. When my hubby saw them he said – Well, you could make most of the parts on lathe, but you don’t want to buy it. I knew he was right.
Long story short I was convinced, I really wanted those damn candlesticks. To make them from beads is fun, but to make your own, from scratch is even more. My husband spent days choosing the right model, finally, we had one.
I like small machines, my hubby doesn’t. So which one did we buy? 🙂 Well, if you think that 40kg machine is quite small for apartment you’ll think I won.
Then there were hours of cleaning the lathe with white spirit. After it was done we’ve found it was New Year’s eve and all the stores where we could buy metal were closed. Thank God, our local hardware store was open on the 2nd of January.
Only at that moment when everything was ready, I’ve found that to make the spheres on the lathe is not that easy. You’ll need a jig for it. I still don’t have it, but I’m using files to make the edges round. Works good.
Well, it’s very clear I’ll have to learn a lot about metalwork, but someday maybe this Dickens’ Desk will have two wonderful candlesticks.
Here’s another photo:
Somehow (hehe), on the photo the lower part of candlestick looks heavy, too big. But when I’m looking at it – it’s fine. Good reason to make more photos during work.