Little Red Riding Hoodie..

Very little has changed in the Mame houses recently, as I've been concentrating on trying to improve & gain confidence in my sewing.

I started out trying to make an outfit for a larger (1:6) doll, who is a clone of a vintage doll, Mary-chan, made by Shiba.  I made her a t-shirt, knee socks & a dungaree dress (not pictured) & ended up also making her an A-line denim skirt with a box pleat & top stitching + matching denim messenger bag that can also be worn with the t-shirt & socks.

In a moment of madness, I also decided to try & use some of the red ribbed jersey scraps that were left over to try & make a sleeveless hoodie for the Mame Momokos (from a pattern in Dolly Dolly Coordinate Recipe #4), but I'm glad I tried because I think it turned out well for my first attempt sewing something so tiny.

I thought I'd have to sew it all by hand, but managed to do all but the armholes on my sewing machine, a big relief, because I hate hand sewing.

Mames make me laugh, they can look like such grumpy little thugs. Mame Hollis from the back reminded me of a gunslinger, all she needs now is a pair of Playmobil pistols, a cowgirl outfit & some Ennio Morricone music.

Fresh Beans.

There haven't been any advancements in my doll houses lately, but there are some new faces.

+ another Mame I haven't got around to taking photos of yet.

As usual they've been welcomed with open paws by my cat, who nubs & fusses over the Mames at any given opportunity.

I'm sure the Mames won't be very impressed with me soon.  I was very lucky & thrilled to bits to be one of the 3 winners who will get a custom piece made by the ridiculously talented Pepper of Mitchy Moo Miniatures in her recent giveaway, but decided against getting a 1:16 item for the Mame houses.  In fear of retaliation all pins & needles have been secured in a locked cupboard. 

Congratulations to the other winners! I can't wait to see everyone's photos of their pieces - both the custom pieces for Pubdolls & Tam toum, & the lovely 1:12 sofas that Pepper made for an additional 3 winners.

The Summer House.

Now that the weather is getting better, Mame Imp decided to put the Playmobil Summer House to use.
Where better to put the Mame's new (to them) red Lundby dresser & take afternoon tea coffee (using some Re-Ment polka-dot teacups as oversized coffee cups).

Summer House - Playmobil Vacation Cottage 3771, table & chairs - Jean of Germany, dresser - Lundby, basket - Playmobil (in hindsight I wish I'd dug out a smaller, more detailed basket from my Re-Ment stash), miniatures - mostly Re-Ment.

Fueled up with coffee & ready for action.

My spare room is a mess of Mames, dollhouses & miniature furniture, & it's really holding me up from getting anything more done on the Form Group mock-up in basswood.  Time to stop procrastinating & get organised!

Reprint & Interplan.

I was very pleased to find out that Lesley Jackson's Robin & Lucienne Day: Pioneers of Contemporary Design is being reprinted & will be out in August.  Definitely a must to pre-order.

Meanwhile I've been making a folder of other Robin Day items I'd like to attempt in 1:16, which includes the following:

• Interplan storage unit 
• Slatted bench/coffee table 
• Interplan sideboard

The Slatted bench/coffee table is listed as being by Brianco in the style of Robin Day here, but as a rare Hille piece designed by Day here.  My guess is the latter, either way, I love it. It's similar to George Nelson's Platform Bench, but with the lovely metal legs as seen on the Interplan storage unit that Christie's sold.

The sofa behind the bench at the twentyfirstcenturyretro link is also by Day - a daybed he designed for Hille.  It reminds me a lot of the sectional daybeds from the lovely 1958 Mattel Modern studio set.

I have about half of the Mattel Modern items produced, but only 1 of the sectional daybeds - which isn't in the best shape. It came in a cheap lot (which all my Mattel Modern items are from) that I bought over 5 years ago, most of the items were in good shape, but the daybed had lost its back & the seat cushion.

The Mame's don't care anyway, it's far too big for them.

Form Group in 1:16, Part 4

No progress yesterday, but I did take a photo of where I'm up to (with some Re-Ment miniatures).

All the pieces for a 2 section Form Group are cut & sanded.  I'll probably re-check the measurements on all the pieces again before I glue them.

I'm not sure what glue I already have or what will be best to use.  I made some kitchen, etc, counter tops for some Ikea Lillabo furniture from basswood a few years ago, & whatever glue I used worked well, I just wish I could remember what exactly I used.

Also, the Mame family will be expanding (again).  Two more will be travelling from Japan soon upping the number to 19. At least they have 3 dollhouses to inhabit now.

A new Bean, & things to make & do.

Whilst I've been busy starting work on the first Form Group piece in basswood over the last couple of days, a new Mame arrived (along with some Jean of Germany furniture), & the Mames have been keeping themselves busy.

Mame Lorelai felt it was a shame to waste all the empty space in the Gothenburg house (it's remaining empty & unfurnished until I can redecorate it), & so made an installation piece for the smaller basement room using the new Jean of Germany chairs.

Evidently Mames aren't very good at naming pieces of installation art.

Meanwhile, the new arrival, Mame Octavia, turned out to have green fingers.

Adventures in Small Land.

,

The Mames have a new house, which arrived today.  A Lundby Småland + extension.  

Their first house was a wooden Early Learning Center house (purchased secondhand from eBay in 2009).  Nothing fancy but I like the dimensions of the rooms.  It's still very much a work in progress, I'm happy with how it's coming together so far though. 

They also have the Playmobil Vacation Cottage & Family Vacation Home A-frame, which I love, but they're a little on the small side for the Mames.  

Mame Momokos are an awkward size.  They're 9cm tall, but are super-deformed, so finding what works with them has been a little tricky, & I've found that i have to use a mix of scales in the furniture for them.  I'm admittedly dreadful when it comes to weights & measures, so getting used to dollhouse scales has been a slow process, but I'm getting there.  

Why "Fragments of Bean".. 

1. Mame in Japanese means bean

2. In reference to The Borrowers, in which people are referred to (by The Borrowers) as "human beans", a mispronunciation of human beings.

3. "Fragments of Bean" is borrowed (& mispronounced) from Maurice Merleau-Ponty's The Visible & the Invisible:

"There is a meeting ground which is Being itself...each experiences 

himself given over to a body, to a situation, through them to being, 

and what he knows of himself passes entirely over to the other the 

instant he experiences the others' medusan power.  Hence each one knows that he himself and the others are inscribed in the world;  what he feels, what he lives, what the others feel and live, even his dreams or their dreams, his illusions and theirs, are not islets, isolated fragments of 

being:  all this, by reason of the fundamental exigency of our c

onstituitive nothingness, is of being, has consistence, order, 

meaning, and there is a way to comprehend it."