NOT BAD

This is the dressform all sewn up tight. Remember the drainer? Well, there were pieces of it I thought I could use to build the bottom of the dressform. I'll need to get my soldering kit out in order to connect the metal ribbons and make the "cage".

MUMMIFIED

Last night I fattened up my dress form with strips of gauze. At the moment she sort of looks like a mummy. Next I tea-dyed an old white t-shirt to go over the gauze. I think it's coming along just fine, but she's definitely not as shapely as she once was.

I SMELL A PROJECT COMING ON

Clearly I'm not building this house in any particular order. I found this little jewelry holder at a thrift store. They're the kind with a miniature clothed bodice with wires to hang necklaces. Sorry, I already stripped her. Using the images of 1920s era dressmaker's forms I thought I could combine the jewelry holder with parts from an old drainer. The 1920s was not big on highlighting a woman's natural curves so I'm going to fatten her up a bit. Wish me luck!

RESEARCH

I just ordered this book which includes floorplans of typical houses in the 1920s. I love the names of each individual design: The Mayfield, the Hazelwood, the Oakdale and the Don Carlo. A family could order a house-building kit that came with plans for the house and separate plans for the garage. The kit came complete with lumber. Remember, this was the real deal - not a dollhouse. The houses are all adorable, but I'm partial to the Craftsman style.

ROAD KILL

This is where it all started. Several years ago I found this dollhouse kit on the side of the road. I brought it home with fantasies of putting it together. More than a decade later I am finally making that fantasy into a reality. Whitney dollhouse kits sell for about $150 and are made of laser cut pressed balsa wood. Very flimsy and not at all what a 1920s home would look like, but I consider this my "starter home". There are some beautiful bungalow-style dollhouses on the market that I have my eye on, but they will have to wait.

IN THE BEGINNING . . .

Here is my very first blog. It's dedicated to building my very own dollhouse, complete with 1920s decor. I never had a dollhouse when I was a child, but there was an all metal dollhouse at the day care center I attended. It was full of dents and the furniture was mismatched. All the windows, doors and wall decorations were printed onto the metal, but I spent hours playing with all the miniature furnishings and people.

I guess I've always been attracted to miniatures, and they always seem to find me whether I'm at a garage sale or thrift store. I'll start posting images very soon.