Sunday, November 9, 2014

Dolly Clothes & Dollhouse Furniture Repair

I've made some progress on the little country doll's
clothing.  White muslin for a petticoat, apron and day
bonnet.  Linen pantaloons and a soft flannel petticoat too,
all trimmed in tiny vintage lace.
Still lots of sewing left before her wardrobe is done.
I took some time this week to repair some dollhouse
furniture that's been in the box since the 70's!  When I
 removed the pieces from the box, the glue was so brittle,
several pieces literally fell apart.  Plus, I broke one of the
beds removing the giant staple that attached it to the box.   
This furniture was made in the German Democratic
Republic or East Germany.  It's hand painted and has
 tiny wooden bead board trim.  I love the Bavarian folk
art look.  It's destined to go in a simple 2 room alpine 
style cottage dollhouse, that is yet to be painted, but
that's a "gunnado" project for this winter.
Kleinhartmannsdorf is a village in Saxony, Germany
about 118 miles south of Berlin.  Kuche translates
as kitchen.
It wasn't hard to repair.  I see why the hubby has so many
clamps in different sizes hanging on the shop walls!
The beds have a cardboard type bottom, but the hubby
will replace those with wood.
 The scale is a bit larger than the 1 inch to 1 foot scale
that's standard. (I think it's 1/10 scale).  Dollhouse
 furniture made in Germany came in several scales, from 
teeny tiny, 1/48 scale to doll size, 1/6 scale.
 
 The bedding is red and white checked, common
with German companies such as Dora Kuhn and Bodo 
Hennig during the 1900's & still popular today.  
Odd that the towel rack and part of the utensil
holder is not stained and varnished.  Maybe there
was a shortage of supplies in East Germany. 
Good as new.
Hope you had a good week!

5 comments:

  1. Her pantaloons fit her perfectly and thelace trimmed petticoats are lovely. She sure is fortunate she has the meticulous seamstress to make her clothing. Wow the 1970's! That's quite some time to wait to open the doll furniture boxes and nice of your hubby to do the needed repairs. The doll furniture is amazing. Love the flower motifs. I'm sure you'll find just the spot for display. You have some very special items.

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  2. I love the mix of fabrics you dress your little country darlings in...muslins, linens and dark flannels. It is so much fun to follow along as you dress a doll. The furniture repair, not hard maybe, but tedious work. I am not sure I would know where to look for clamps in my hubby's workshop.

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  3. There will be some seriously lucky teeny dolls with new-old furniture!

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  4. Your new doll is coming along great. She will be very pretty. I do like the doll houses and all the little things that go in them. Your painted furniture is nice and it is good that your husband has the experience and tools to help you repair them.

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  5. Sherri, you just can't imagine how much I enjoy your blog! You are so creative and sharing with your knowledge. The doll house project whets my desire more and more for a house for little dolls and furniture. My mother's cousin made a model house like their grandfather's real house and furniture to go inside. I never had the chance to see it.

    I'm wondering, do you have any clothespin dolls? You would be very good at dressing them!

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