Saturday 6 June 2009

Thatching tips and Fairy Pics!!




Lesson 1................. PLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lesson 2.....................Always cut more rather than less so you can trim later!
Lesson 3................Do outside, very messy, and should remember to wear a mask!!
Lessson 4..........get someone else to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He he, well started today and annoyingly have decided i cant rush it, as much as i want to get on.
Its not going to be as easy as it looks. Undoing the matress , the fibres are very compacted so this cant be pulled into seperate 'clumps' as I wanted and I cant traditionally thatch so to speak. The whole lot falls apart id you try to uncompact it too much, all I can do is seperate it into 3 sections which it falls into naturally, and each is about the right thickness.
So instead it will have to be laid as a single sheet . Sounds wierd but it does actually look ok, even if you cant see the usual bundled appearance.
I did a trial as I dont think it will bend too well round the curves so i cut it to shape firstly but it dosnt look right with bits butted up against each other so I will have to cut it as a whole and bend and clamp it and hope that works.

I undercut it and will know now to make it larger so it overhangs better.
Also cant do it indoors, the little fibres really shed and not only got all over the floor, but in my nose, throat etc, and now im itching like mad!!!
Going to have a go making a template with graph paper of the roof shape and then cutting slightly larger than that. Was thinking of sticking the thatch to the paper then gluing the paper to the house so that way it will curve easier, but not sure if it will work , may take a few tests and different approaches, but luckily its a big old mattress so the bit ive wasted so far dosnt matter. I read somewhere to stick it to material so it bends easier so maybe another alternative!
Also I now have a huge bag of wadding which was on top of the fibre, must come in handy for something miniature!!

No pics of the thatch until I have something decent to show but couldnt resist showing these pics of fairy miniatures.

I saw these recently on Ebay but resisted bidding as it always costs me a fortune in customs when ordering from the States so decided Im going to have a go myself! Love the idea of the walnut basket, as shown on the Bramley hedge mice article in an earlier posting. Definatly going to have one of these for my fairy baby!

And love the little flowery basket, I have loads of empty acorn caps to make bowls from so excited to be starting on those soon.

9 comments:

Katie said...

Oh Kate! I love that little baby bed, too!!! Thanks for the ideas!!! Can't wait to see the thatch~ it's scares the crud out of me.....lol!

Marsha @ Tattered Chick said...

The walnut cradle is so CUTE!!! Kate, perhaps you could ask them to send items from the states as a "gift" If they're under a certain weight (which these would be) they don't have to fill out a customs form. Mini hugs :)

Mary said...

Another gave me this advice when I first started out in minis: measure twice, cut once, and watch the fingers!

But delegating the messy tasks to a family member works, too!

Jill said...

The baby bed is so precious! What a lucky fairy baby!

nikkinikkinikki72 said...

Isn't that just the cutest cradle. I'd love to see a little mouse all snuggled up and cosy under leaf and moss blankets.
Can you put a link to the seller so i can see there other work?
Hope your thatching is going well, sounds quite messy. I hate mess!
Nikki

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Katie, Your telling me, I have decided I have to work on and the living room floor is covered in the stuff..oops!! xx

Marsha, Ive tried that a couple of times and got away with it when its small inexpensive things, but even as a gift you have to keep it under a certain price limit and some sellers wont put an incorrect cost down for insurance purposes if they have to make a claim apparantly! its a shame as I love so much of the minis on the US ebay! xx

Hi Jill, isnt it gorgeous, Im going to have to hunt for silk flowers to make one now! xx

Nikki, hi, yep heres a link, her work is precious, beautifully made, havnt seen alot of fairy items, she mostly makes wonderful teapots etc, very clever lady.
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/keepsane/
Yep its very messy here, and Im the same, forever tidying and cleaning up, so its kind of driving me crazy already but I can start to see its looking good so perservering! I have matted hands at the mo!
xx

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

oops Hi Mary, just found you! I agree, I TRIED to get John to do it, but he wasnt having any of it!!! I think the way Im doing it now by gluing to graph paper that Ive marked out is working woohoo!! xx

Crafts From The Stash said...

I love all your fairy purchases Karen. I cant wait to see the thatch done.
Debie xxx

Creepy Creations by Jamie Moore said...

The miniatures are adorable!! The basket is so cute!! The thatching sounds like a nightmare! I hope it all works out for you! I will definitely be back to see how it goes!

Jamie