Blue Room - Week Six

My main target this week was to finally finish dressing the bed. As I was running short of fabric my first stop for the week was the local fabric store. I wasn't lucky enough to find more of the same fabric and was forced to buy the nearest match I could find. This was a silk dupion in pale blue (I had previously been using a faux silk dupion). I used the real stuff for the curtains and managed to make the faux last out for the bed. The last of the faux fabric was just enough to make four swags for around the top of the bed (although it did take a little imagination to make them fit). I used a pattern from the 2010 Dollshouse Projects magazine special for the swags (and did anyone else feel great disappointment when they received their copy to discover most of the contents had been in earlier mags? I'd be ordering the 2011 version if I thought there would be something new in it). I had to reduce the number of folds in the swag get enough swags from the fabric I had left. The swags were then pinned into shape, steamed and starched so they would hold their shape. The swags were then positioned two along the near side of the bed and two at the foot (not enough fabric for two on the far side where they can't be seen anyway!) and glued in place. Once dry, I added some offcuts of lace (I was running short of that too) and some ribbons make from silk ribbon to finish off.

With the bed finally finished, I moved onto the curtains. These were made with the genuine silk dupion which sadly shows the mark of every pin put into it. The curtains themselves were quite simply rectangles of fabric pinned into pleats and steamed and starched to hold the shape. To break the blue I used a pink fabric with blue flowers to make blinds in the windows and tails over the curtains. Again the pattern for the tails was from Dollshouse Projects 2010 Mag and they weremade roughly as instructed in the mag. The blinds are two pieces of thin card cut to the right shape and then covered in fabric with some blue trim decorating the bottom edge. The whole lot was topped off with a pelmet of cardboard covered in more silk dupion adorned with a broach.

Some flowers and other accessories were added to the dressing table and a rug was made for the floor from more of the pink fabric leaving the room almost finished. It still needs the ceiling finishing off, perhaps some pictures on a wall or two and a few other little touches.