If your inspiration for decorating dollhouse miniatures comes from interior design magazines or TV shows, don’t forget the scale you’re working on. It sounds self-evident, but many of us lose sight of that fact when we look at all the wonderful fabrics on offer.
Here are some guidelines to help you focus on what’s most important: You’re looking for the perfect fabric to use for a miniature dollhouse. Now please don’t say “Duh!” still.
I am a firm believer that when we focus primarily on color and fail to account for the “technicalities” of pattern size and fabric weight early in the design process, we risk falling for the wrong material. The color is beautiful, but perhaps the pattern is too big or the fabric too stiff and heavy. But it’s such a beautiful color! Right, so we try to force this stuff into our project and the next step is usually to start over.
Fortunately, we can ‘audit’ fabrics before purchasing.
brick mortar shops
Educators tell us that we all learn in three different ways: visual, auditory, and kinetic: touch. The trick for the masters is to figure out which of the three is the main portal to the brain or each of its charges. We have a kinetic apprentice in the family. When he finds something new, he says, “Let me see!” he grabs the object. This darling is kept out of fine glassware and china shops.
Fortunately for miniaturists, fabric stores give us the opportunity to hone our kinetic skills, without fear of breaking.
Choosing the right pattern
One trick is to cut a one-inch square out of a piece of stiff paper or plastic card. I prefer a plastic card because it is convenient to keep in my wallet.
Scan the rolls of fabric on the shelf and pull out several that might be suitable. Remember, you are considering color, pattern, and weight all at the same time. To focus on the pattern, pass the one-inch window over a piece of fabric. This expands your options because even large flower patterns can have areas like stems, buds, and leaves that can be useful for your design.
This Joanne’s Minis video provides a good demonstration of the one-inch window technique: http://youtu.be/zXd38Jm4bpI
Wrinkles Are Good.
If you need pleats in curtains, dresses, or furniture skirts, the fabric must contain a pleat. Squeeze the material by hand and see if it wrinkles. If it does, it’s a prospect.
The stains are not good.
Moisten a small stain with a bit of saliva and see if it smears. This will be important if you want to use glue anywhere and don’t want it to show through.
Frayed, sometimes good.
Check the cut end of the fabric for fraying. You don’t want to sew small seams and fray. On the other hand, you’ll want it to fray a bit, if bangs are in your plan.
Weight control.
Pay attention to the weight of the material. If it’s heavy, it may be too thick for miniature work. I am comfortable working with cotton, lightweight wool, cotton-silk blends, rayon, and other lightweight fabrics, if they perform the way I want them to. Regular quilting cotton or similar materials have the qualities I like for most projects.
online shopping
No local store can compete with the variety of fabrics available online. And you don’t need to be overwhelmed by number options. A “long tail keyword search” gives you extensive control over what is presented to you.
As an example, start with “small fabric prints.” Reduce it by adding “cotton” or “big fabric.” Use as many keywords as you can, before the search engine gets completely confused and only offers irrelevant options.
Use of local and online stores
Here is a recent experience I had. Custom made curtains are a popular item in my online store. I got an order for pleated shades in a shade of gray that the aqua cushions would love. The local JoAnns had nothing useful; Same thing at Jay’s Fabrics. Online shopping was next.
First I went to several tried and true websites and used the internal links to navigate. Still no luck, so I went to my favorite browser and entered this long-tail keyword string into the search field: “grey cotton brocade dollhouse curtain fabric” and got links to three possibilities. The fabric descriptions looked good. I screen printed each one and emailed them to the client. She made her choice, I made and sent the curtains. Everything’s fine.
It would have been so much easier, less time consuming, and therefore more cost effective if I could have found what I wanted at a local fabric store. They sell to a mass market and the miniature crafter misses out on that demographic. In the end, there is always a way. Sometimes we just have to learn new things.