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Newbie from Chicago


SewMini

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Hi everyone! I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself as I'm new here. I've loved miniatures since I was a little girl and have always been drawn to dollhouses. My dad gave me my first dollhouse, The Tennyson, when I was 8 and I kept that until I left for college. Every year I'd do something different to it. That poor thing got painted and redecorated so many times lol. I never actually played dolls with it (I oddly find them kind of creepy). I just spent years setting it up in different scenes and making furniture for it. In college I tried to make one for myself but I just didn't have the room to properly do it and it finally got tossed a few years later only about 40% done. Years and years later, I scored an unopened Beacon Hill kit for a whopping $40. I got that one mostly put together and decorated for my daughter. I never 100% finished that one but it made it to about 90% done before we put it out to the curb.

This time around I'm making a dollhouse just for me AND I have a great space to work in as I am a hobby sewist and have my own sewing/crafting room now (ah the benefits of being an adult :D) I am currently working on an Orchid/Primrose bash that I posted about in the Orchid forum. I am super nerdy when it comes to replicating things so I will likely take a lot of time putting this together. My other hobby is sewing and I love doing cosplay. My most recent cosplay project was a screen accurate Kylo Ren costume for a friend that took me about 100 hours to complete. It ended up looking like the real thing so I'm hoping I can bring that level of enthusiasm to this and stick with it until the end! I'll probably finish it in time for my 40th birthday next year :D

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Hi Miranda,

Weirdly, I love dollhouses but find dolls kind of creepy too.... lol.. As a child the only dolls I ever played with were Barbie's and I think that's because they were adults.. lol

I think a more accurate description would be that I love miniatures of any kind not particularly dollhouses, but they do satisfy my other loves of architecture and interior design so you know, my dollhouses will have imaginary people or may be inhabited by some miniature animals. :D

I don't sew, but I wish I did.. it's a handy complimentary hobby to have... all those miniature soft furnishing that need creating... I just bought a sewing machine so I'm going to give it a go.

Lucky you on the craft room. I just use a spare bedroom and it's hopelessly inadequate in size.. my house just isn't big enough for a dedicated craft room.

I saw your other post and I really like where you project is going. I can't wait to see progress, but I know what you mean about replicating, I'm going at a snails pace too. :)

 

 

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Welcome to the little family, Miranda.  I'm an only child, so dolls were my playmates growing up and I wore out a couple of families playing with my Keystone dollhouse (which my mother decided I was too old for when I was in junior high school and stuck it out in our S FL garage where the bus & humidity finished it off). 

When I discovered there was no law against having more than one dollhouse I discovered polymer clay and began to make my own little people to live in my houses.  I find myself reverting to lot of my 1:1 hobbies to make things for the houses.

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18 minutes ago, Samusa said:

I think a more accurate description would be that I love miniatures of any kind not particularly dollhouses, but they do satisfy my other loves of architecture and interior design so you know, my dollhouses will have imaginary people or may be inhabited by some miniature animals. :D

YES! I looooove miniatures of any kind. When Lord of the Rings came out I just oogled over the "biggatures" that WETA made. The best part about the special edition DVD sets was all the documentary footage where they took you through the sets and showed the biggatures up close. They were so cool!

When I was younger, my older brother was super into model airplanes (both miniature and remote controlled gas powered) as well as making Warcraft miniatures. He would cast them himself using molds and spend hours painting them. We spent a bunch of time one summer making a battlefield. I think it's just in our blood lol. My daughter, who is now a *gulp* teen, has never understood my fascination with miniatures. When she asks I have no idea what to tell her lol. I have just always loved them and the more detailed the better. It's like...I love the idea of creating this fantasy of life in miniature. As if I were making a home for The Borrowers or something :D

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Welcome Miranda, I have found lots of help and interesting ideas here. I had a dollhouse as a child and love playing with it along with the family I had. I was never one for baby dolls but loved my Barbies and dollhouse family. The funny thing is, recently  I dug out my box that had all my furniture that I collected as a child and inside this box was my little family. Oh my goodness!!! why I never had nightmares after playing with this family is beyond me. They look as if they came straight out of some horror film. I sent a picture to my daughter in law and we both couldn't stop laughing, they were quite scary.They sure have come along way with the dolls, so  I plan on finding a family to move into the house I am working on.. I have never attempted to build one but have always wanted to, but it overwhelms me. My hubby found one that needed some light rehab so I thought I would try that. I seem to be doing more reading and collecting ideas then doing anything else, but I will start on it soon. I look forward to watching the progress on your house.

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My daughter had one of those Loving Family sets and we refused to buy the Grandma because she always looked like a grandma that gets possessed in a horror film :crazyeyes:

I shouldn't say I think all dolls are creepy. I had a Victorian style doll that was quite prettying for some reason it's the modern dolls that freak me out. I feel like the shorter hair styles never lay quite right and they always look a bit crazed.

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Hi Miranda, welcome to our little community!

I also find most mini dolls creepy - come to think of it, I was also far more interested in the setting up of the Barbie dollhouse/cafe/storefront/office and putting away all of the items and clothing than actually playing with the dolls. I guess a lot translates over into adulthood. My younger sister was always impatient to finish setting up so that the 'story' could take place, and now she has limited interest in miniatures (though at least she understands peripherally the miniature itch, which is always good).

When I was about thirteen my parents helped me actually make a Borrowers room-box as a part of getting my Girl Scout Bronze Award - so many hours writing out a chapter of the story in cursive on blue lined paper for the walls! I'll have to see if I can find some pictures. We made it look as if it was directly under a floor register, and you could access it (plexiglass front) from the top by lifting out the register. We donated it to a local library in my area, .....I wonder if it's still there?

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