Pondering the Ceiling and a Side Project

This weekend I cut out a foam core ceiling for the library to test it.  It does truly give a sense of the room as a room, but you really need to look at it at eye level to see inside.  Even with the lights on, it's a bit dark (please excuse the surrounding mess on my work table) and getting my hands inside will be very tricky once the ceiling is in place.

Viewing it at eye level won't really be a problem, since the shelf where I intend to put it is at the right height, but I'm still not entirely sure what I want to do here.  Being able to get into it is more of an issue. A completely removable ceiling is not a great option, since there is a cove where the ceiling and walls meet.  What might be ideal is if I could figure out a way to slide the center piece of the ceiling (the piece inside the trim) in and out as needed.  Still thinking about it.

On a positive note, I have now finished filling the large bookcase – 417 books so far!

I still need to finish filling the smaller bookcase, but it should not take as long, as there are fewer shelves to fill and some just have large books lying on their sides.

While pondering my decision on the ceiling, I've taken a needed break from bookmaking to try a few other things.  Some friends on Greenleaf (hi, Carrie!) have been making gorgeous clothes for a room box project, and it made me want to try a few things in half scale.  I have made a couple of half-scale clothing items in the past:

My very first effort-a simple dress for the attic of the Fairfield

Coat, hat and shoes for the Orient Express

This time I want to try something more complex.  I now have a book of patterns and techniques specifically for 1:24 clothes, and I have some ideas for Victorian/Edwardian dress.  At the very least, I can display them in my new shelf unit.

I started small with a couple of little corsets.  To keep things simple, I used this pattern.  The fewer pieces to work with in half scale, the better.  😊 I shrank the pattern down so that it is about .9" in height.  My corsets are cut from a very lightweight, fine nylon jersey material, the kind used for making underwear.  Because almost all braid is too thick for half scale, I used flower thread, which is thicker than a single strand of embroidery floss, but not as thick as perle cotton.  I learned from Emily at Den of Slack that it makes great welting for half scale upholstery, so I thought I'd try it as braid on clothing and am pleased with the result.  I also used fairy lace, which I ruffled along the bottoms by making a running stitch through it using a fine needle and some sewing thread.  The little bows are made from some 2mm-wide silk ribbon.  The little buttons are clear pearlescent microbeads.  I really wanted to add a rosette, but there really aren't any small enough to work in half scale, so I made a little knot from a single strand of embroidery floss and topped it with a larger pink microbead.

In the above picture, I put them on mannequin cut-outs, because they were so difficult to photograph otherwise!  Below, you can see the pink corset laid out on the bed in the Fairfield, ready for my imaginary homeowner to put on.

Have a great mini week, everyone!