Little Tin Bed Bedding
Little Tin Bed Bedding
A little antique tin dolly bed from my friend the Dollhouse Lady came with an old mattress and coverlet. I decided to refurbish the bed so it could be used by the Quimper Hittys. Usually I retain the original materials without changing their essence, except for possibly wet-cleaning. This time I kept the original mattress materials, washed them (Constance says thank you) and altered them slightly.
Mattress original
This is the original mattress, a piece of cotton fabric folded around a wad of stuffing and machine sewn on three sides.
Wood-Wool Mattress Stuffing
I snipped the stitches and removed the wood-wool stuffing…
Washed and Blocked
…and took the lace off the coverlet. I washed all the pieces separately, and air-dried them flat on the countertop.
Mattress
I actually don’t like to cut up old materials if I don’t have to, so the clean mattress fabric was just re-folded into the right size for the wee bed with the extra fabric left tucked inside. I sewed on a piece of linen tape around the sides to help keep the mattress flat.
Re-used Wood Wool Stuffing
The original wood wool is being re-used, but I teased it out a bit to spread it more evenly and make less lumpy mattress (Constance says thank you).
Completed mattress and Coverlet
The original bedding has been washed and stitched back into shape.
fabriqué en Belgique
The Quimper Hitty’s favourite photographer helped me make a canopy rod out of an old car antenna, and then I scrounged in my stash for a bit of fabric. This little rectangle with Belgian lace edging looked perfect.
Threading the canopy
I folded the cloth in half along the long edge, and threaded the wire through the conveniently placed existing looped edging.
Steamed pleats
Then I pinned the top and bottom edge of the canopy fabric under tension, and steamed the gathers along the top edge until they were hot and damp, then left it to dry in this shape.
Ready
Constance says it is perfect. Thank you so much, Dollhouse Lady, it is the sweetest little dolly bed, and now we have to make a little doll to fit in it!
Quimper Hittys 
Bravo dear friend! What a way to begin the new year…you worked your magic again!!!! We will be hanging on to see the wonderful little one that will occupy this now lovely bed! You do make everything and every one shine! Thank you for sharing and Happy New Year!!!!
I am so happy that you like what I am doing with it! Maybe a bit of magic happened, but a lot of magic comes from using excellent ingredients! Thanks for starting me off!
How very, very exciting to see such creativity and use of on hand materials in the making/re-making of the bedding for this very lovely bed…….I too will be eager to see who will occupy it. Happy New Year and thanks for a wonderful 2015 of adventures.
Thank you very much – I truly appreciate you saying so. I love “old” stuff, and enjoy bringing it “back to life”. Happy New Year to the Müttersholtz doll household and their humans too!
Like Constance, we all say “Thank you”, too. She obviously anticipating the soon-to-be occupant of that dear little cot and wishing for her/his every comfort.
Fortunately Constance is the soul of patience as I do my best to make it happen!
I always enjoy your and the Hitty’s how-to posts. That’s a lovely textile under your work. Did you and Constance weave it?
We enjoy making the tutorials, except sometimes we forget to photograph a stage and then it can be a problem. I did weave the yellow tea towel but it was pre-Constance…yes there was life before Hittys, hard as it is to remember!
There was?!? I had forgotten.
Utterly enchanting!!!!
We love the wee bed, and are happy to see it made comfortable for a little doll.
lovely remake, the canopy is perfect. Where do you find the time? Can’t wait to see the new occupant.
Thank you – I thought the Belgian Cloth was perfect too – it came from a Victoria thrift store! As for time, I have a few days off work and am making the best of them!!
It turned out perfectly!!! Dollhouse Lady is so clever, knowing just who will take this little treasure and turn it into something magical!!! I love it!!!
Thanks so much. I was pretty sure that Constance and I were not the only ones who thought so!! Dollhouse Lady is a wonderful friend and so encouraging!
Love the dress and Constance looks like an antique hitty ready to jump into an antique bed…..Gorgeous for sure.
Thank you – Constance fits into a number of beds in the Hitty Cupboard, but not this one!
What lovely work you have done to refurbish and remake the bedding. And how very very clever of you to use the antennae and the lovely linen to make the little canopy. I am just totally impressed!! Constance looks quite happy with your efforts.
Thank you very much indeed…Constance is very happy with the result. She would wish the bed was more her size, but she does have a lovely large wire bed to luxuriate in…
It’s a beautifully re-done bed! Very sweet and inviting…and instead of finding a bed to fit a dolly, you now have to find a dolly to fit the bed. Or carve one yourself? Sounds like good fun.
The new little Cupboard inhabitant is coming together, but methinks she will spurn the bed as too babyish…