Dolls house story part 3

Miss Sharpe

Miss Sharpe was a late sleeper normally rising around 12, she would join them for lunch, then get dressed in a beautiful gown and leave for the opera, ball, party or some other form of entertainment, returning about 3 in the morning.

When asked why she went out so often she replied "I need to find a husband with lots of money, I hate being poor, it's horrible having to be economic. I'm going to marry some rich man who will let me spend as much as I want, then I'll be happy."

Scarlet thought Miss Sharpe was fabulous, and occasionally accompanied her to a party or ball. This, in Mrs Edwards opinion, was not a good idea as it invariably lead to Scarlet falling in madly in love with someone she had met, luckily the feeling was never mutual and she generally recovered after a week or two.


Mr David

Mr David was... well...he was polite...and they all liked him (particularly Scarlet)...but apart from that it really was hard to describe him. No one knew what he did, he obviously did something, sometimes he would be gone for days with no warning or explanation, when Mrs Edwards told he to warn her if he was going to be away he replied that he couldn't because he didn't know when he was gone either or he wouldn't be. Mrs Edwards decided not to pursue the subject in case it transpired that he was actually a dangerous insane criminal on the run from the Law.
When she asked the Law about it however they told her there was very officially no such person please don't tell anyone or bother us again you will probably be fine.

Turmeric dye

Today I tried dyeing with turmeric. It was surprisingly successful.

 First I mordanted with alum a pillow case, a scrap of silk and some scraps of sheepskin.

 Then mixed turmeric powder and water on low heat, then I added the fabrics.

After about half an hour I removed and rinsed the fabrics.

Wool, silk, pillow case

Turmeric is the strongest natural dye I have yet found. Unfortunately I didn't measure anything so I don't know if I could do it again.

Renaissance costume

I have finished my renaissance costume.

I didn't wear the hairnet in the end, I made it too small, and I need to shorten the under skirt so I don't walk on it, but I am very pleased with the dress altogether. The sleeves are from an old fur coat of Mum's that she let me cut up.

The unused hairnet

I made a corset/stays out of an old sheet and some metal strapping, I think next time I wouldn't use string, it's a bit too stretchy.

French hood

Recency Shoes

In a few months there is a Jane Austen high tea with dancing. I am going to make recency dancing slippers, I already have a dress and jacket. The first attempt was a dismissal failure.

 I pulled a pair of shoes to pieces and used it as a pattern, but it ended up far too small, I don't know why.

Next time I don't think I'll be quite so drastic.

Miniature hair accessories

This is an attempt at instructions on how to make miniature combs and other hair things.

 Mix translucent clay with yellow, brown, orange, dark brown and brick color.

 

Make a darker version of the brown and dark brown.

Take a bit of each colour and gradually mix them so the colours are blending into each other but still clear.
Then shape into what ever hair accessory you want.

The dolls house story part 2

A few weeks later the first borders moved in, Mrs Edwards had been very particular about who came,

" They must be respectable, well mannered and tidy. We will treat them as our guests" she had told her daughters that morning, they had been surprised but had not protested.  The borders were a Miss Sharpe a gentlewoman fallen on hard times ( at least that's what she told them).

And Mr David who didn't tell them anything about himself, but he had good manners and that was enough for Mrs Edwards.

The craft room had to be cleared while the old servants room was renovated.

Abigail started two scrapbooks, one for family and one for visitors.

Dolls house story part 1

Once upon a time the was a house, this house to be precise. 

This house was owned by a Mr James and Mrs Elizabeth Edwards. Mr Edwards was often away overseas working, while Mrs Edwards stayed at home, looked after the children and dealt with the paper work involved in selling their other properties,

 her family had been rich but now the could only afford one house, Mr Edwards had to work and they had to take in borders ( oh how mortifying! what will the neighbors think?!).

 Their eldest daughter Scarlet was 18 when this story starts, 

she was waiting for one of her suitors to propose so she could get married and live happily ever after, she didn't really care who she married as long as she didn't become an old maid.
 The other daughter Abigail was 15,

She was an aspiring photographer/artist/model, and she never wanted to get married. 

And lastly the twin boys Benjamin and Robert who were 1 1/2 and so had not developed interests as yet. 

Waistcoat part 2

I have finished my waistcoat!

These photos are out of order.