Jane Harrop
1/24th scale Edwardian dolls house miniatures
1. Acetate for the
panels in the Arts & crafts screen
2. Cotton
fabric for the corner sofa
3. Fuzzy paper for
the rug
4. Adhesive acetate
for the name plates on the gramophone and piano.
I teach classes and workshops in making dolls house miniatures and the materials
produced by crafty computer papers are invaluable to my work. For the past 25
weeks, twenty of my students have each constructed, decorated and furnished
a 1/24th scale Edwardian house, and the photograph shows some of the pieces
that I have created and subsequently shown my students how to make.
The problem with working in such a small scale, is accessing the correct materials.
Patterned fabrics are a huge problem as generally the designs are too big, even
those especially produced for small scale patchwork. To make the patterned fabric
for the corner sofa, I scanned a piece of William Morris style wrapping paper
into my computer and
reduced the size of the pattern. I then had to cut and paste the images together
to A4 size to print on the cotton fabric sheet.
I made the stained glass panels for the Arts and crafts screen by scanning an
image into my computer and altering the size to fit the wooden screen. Using
my computer programme, I then brushed colours into the image to create a stained
glass finish. This method was also used to make a stained glass window for the
front door.
The fuzzy paper is perfect for making 1/24th scale rugs, the thickness is perfect.
Allowing furniture to sit on the rug, as well as the floorboards without being
too uneven, which can be a real problem at any scale.
Probably my most favourite products from Crafty computer papers, has to be the
adhesive acetate. The quality is amazing and the tiny name plates on the piano
and gramophone are no more than a few millimetres wide. To create a stronger
image, I have left the backing paper on the acetate this time.
Unusually this time I have not used the dry rub decal paper, which is probably
the paper that I use the most in my miniature making.
Jane Harrop
