Marlene Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 I've been into dollhousing for approx. 21 years off and on. Mostly recently I am just putting the last touches on landscaping of my Aster store/appartment. In my part of Canada there is nothing around here for miniaturing so it is make it yourself or have to ebay or internet shop which can get expensive after a while once you pay for all that shipping. I have a Pierce waiting beside my bed to start. This will be the 2nd Pierce I will do as the first one I sold completed due to having kids, working and not enough space. The good side of it all is ...is that this one will be much better ... age and experience does wonders in this miniaturing world. In finishing the Aster, I have hit a roadblock with those octagon windows in the front for curtains. I would love to be able to keep roughly the same shape...circle will even do...does anyone out there have any ideas or pictures of octagon shaped windows with curtains on them that they are willing to share. Well, enough of an intro and look forward to learning and sharing here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Welcome to the community Marlene!! This is a house I hope to build this year also! Let me look for a window treatment for that window. I'll be back in a little bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllThingsMini Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Hello and welcome, Marlene! My first house was a Pierce and I really enjoyed it. Wish I still had it. Do you have pictures of your work to share? We love our eye-candy here. As far as a window treatment does, you could do a swag-type treatment that fits the shape of the window. Small brass cup hooks make great tie-backs when used at each octagonal corner. Measure from the floor and then up and around your window (just at the outside of the frame) and then back down to the floor. This will be the measurement for the length of your fabric and then make the width about 3 inches; enough for gathering and scrunching. You should add a little extra to the length for slight swags in the fabric, and if you want the fabric to "puddle" on the floor a little bit. It's a good idea to make this treatment on a faux window (a drawing of your existing window works well) mounted on a piece of standing cardboard with a floor, at the same exact height of your actual window. Using fabric stiffener, you can gather up and shape your fabric on the piece of cardboard using straight pins and your cup hooks at the places you intend to put them on the actual window. Once the fabric stiffener has dried, all you have to do is remove the window treatment and cup hooks, and mount it on your actual window. Easy peasy! I hope this doesn't sound too confusing. I have a picture of this treatment in my How-To books that I could send you a copy of if you'd like. I wish I could remember the website I got it at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Welcome to the forum! I hope you find the answer to your question. I love the little astor. it is such a sweet little house. it is on my list of houses to do "someday" I look forward to seeing your photos! nutti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlene Posted July 27, 2005 Author Share Posted July 27, 2005 Thanks for the welcome. I will post some pics as soon as the curtains are done...just 4 do to What I am looking for...yes I can be stubborn...but isn't that a women's right ... is like some type of ring on the outside of the frame and then a small ring in the center of the window. I was thinking of a round earring that closes into inself for the "rod" on the outside and then some time of little little round ring thingy for the center of the window. Then... if my logic is correct (and that's the scary part) it should look something like what you would do on french doors where you have a rod on the top and bottom but mine would be on the outside and inside. Hope that makes sense. Its the question of the measurements of the material I make for the difference from the outside measurements to the inside measurements......hmmm now that is the question. Again thanks for the welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judithfa Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Welcome Marlene -- so glad you found us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllThingsMini Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 I know this isn't an octagon shaped window, but this picture will give you an idea of what I was trying to explain above. I finally found the website I thought I had lost. I hope this helps you: This is more of a casual look. If you wanted more elegance, you could take the treatment all the way to the floor with it puddling a little bit. It's a great look. I like your idea with the inner and outer rings and it's quite simple to do actually. Craft stores sell all sorts of different sized brass rings. All you'd have to do is cut a strip of fabric the width necessary to accommodate one long pocket down each side as well as an extra bit of width to allow for shrinkage when the fabric is gathered. If you don't already have some, you'd need to acquire some metal snips to make a single cut in each ring to allow the fabric to be fed onto them and gathered. All you'd need to do this is two rings at the sizes you want, the metal snips, your fabric of choice and a needle and thread. I was once a custom window coverings decorator and I can pretty much convert any real life fabric treatment into a scale miniature. Your measurements will definitely be varied from one side to the next. I'd say by about almost half. To make this simple, you could cut your strip at slight curve with the ends angled to accommodate the shorter side. I hope I'm making sense here. I wish I had a couple of brass rings and I could show you what I'm talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shutterbugkc Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Hi! I think that curtain idea is great. I think a metal ring for the outside is a great idea, but for the inner ring, I think string would be much easier. Just thread a needle and string it through the middle part and tie it tight and hide the string ends. Voila! Good luck and show us a pic when you're done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllThingsMini Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Hi! I think that curtain idea is great. I think a metal ring for the outside is a great idea, but for the inner ring, I think string would be much easier. Just thread a needle and string it through the middle part and tie it tight and hide the string ends. Voila! Good luck and show us a pic when you're done! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> To elaborate on this idea with the string, if you used a pretty silk ribbon to do the tying, you could also use it to tie a pretty bow to show in the middle after you've gathered the fabric. Depending on the room style, it would look very cute; i.e. a nursery or childs room...even a kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlene Posted July 28, 2005 Author Share Posted July 28, 2005 To all those with ideas for this octagon curtain....WE DID IT....YEAHHHHH!!! I used my earring that closes into a continuos hoop for the "rod". Cut the material half the diameter in with and double the length of the circumferance and then added a little bit on each side for the 2 hems. Used thread to gather the center part tightly and then put the earring "rod" through the other hem. It looks just like a french door curtain but in the round. Quite proud of it actually. I like the idea of the ribbon very much but didn't have any on hand small enough. Scale is very important to me and it must be just right. I have two other round octagons to do which will be little more challenging just because everything has to be smaller again. A little tip for anyone looking for curtain rod finials is to use the backs of earrings that you push on to the earring that is "coneish" shape. They fit great on rods and prevents the curtains from falling off. Painted or left gold or brass, all looks good. Everyone seems very nice on here and again THANK YOU!!!! Hopefully I'll have some knowledge to share with all of you. I'll put pictures up as soon as these other two little monster windows are done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishMist Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 Hi Marlene, You might want to try jeweler's jump rings for the smaller windows. They come in several sizes and already have a slit in them to slide the fabric on. Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 Marie, I LOVE that curtain idea! it looks wonderful and Marlene, do you have pictures of what you did to yours?? We would love to see it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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