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| My finished sewing box! |
Last month, I wrote a post about being so inspired by Charlotte Bronte's sewing box, that I wanted to create one of my own. I had started transforming a paint-it-yourself jewelry box into one of these sewing boxes. Most original ones are plain wood, or inlaid. There is a fabulous website, Hygra, that sells these boxes and lists photos and information about them. Before seeing their painted example, I decided that I would like to paint the top of my box.
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| The beautiful painted box on the Hygra website, circa 1835. |
I covered the inside trays with paper first, before painting or staining the box. Using skills I'd learned in book-making, it was an exciting beginning:  |
| The covered trays, filled with antique, vintage & reproduction sewing notions. |
I don't paint, and I was nervous about doing so. Nick suggested different colors, and helped me mix them, but I painted most of it myself.
But before even painting, he helped me to transfer my drawing onto the top of the box:
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| Transfer paper, and my original image. I drew it on upside-down and had to re-do it! |
The image of the ruins was inspired by my visit many years ago to Finlaggan, on the Isle of Islay:  |
| From my visit to Finlaggan, when I lived in Scotland |
I put a lady in my drawing, from the 1790s, using fashion plate from the time for her dress and Spencer Jacket:  |
| Costume Parisian from 1797 |
Nick shaded and darkened the painting for me, helping it look so wonderful. After painting it, we took the hardware off, and Nick stained it for me. Then I lined the bottom with the same paper I'd used for the trays inside.  |
| The top of the box, with the hardware back on. |
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| A closeup of the painting. |
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The inside of the box, also stained, with the paper-covered trays, and the
antique sewing notions within! |
Original antique sewing boxes are much grander than mine, with special trays for the thimbles, ivory spindles and the like. Mine is a modest imitation, but I'm very proud of how it turned out!
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| A better look at the inside of the box with the larger tray removed. |
