Clear bathroom fixtures: the ones I use are from Model Builders Supply in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. You paint the inside of them...no sealer or topcoat required Their website is: http://www.modelbuilderssupply.com

Roz Weitzman in Toronto, CANADA

1900 dressmaker form in bedroom: Unless the "mistress of the house" had no sewing room, she wouldn't have had a dress on a dress form in her bedroom. And any dress on a form would have been in progress, certainly not left on the form once it was finished. For several years I was curator of house museum in Galveston. The house was built between 1893-95 and the interpretive date was 1911. Women with modest houses containing no sewing room often did their sewing in the dining room.

Margaret in Texas

1900 dressmaker form in bedroom: Terry asked about a dummy in the bedroom with a dress on (1900); I don't see why not ... Maybe, if you ask him nicely ... seriously though - my grandmother and grandfather were in the sewing business beginning in 1917, when they were married in Barbados. They each had their own dressmaker/tailor "forms", and they certainly were NOT new, because they had been handed down to them. I believe they were mostly wire, with fabric molded onto the frame.

Dollladie

1900 dressmaker form in bedroom: To whoever asked about a dressmaker's form in the bedroom; I don't think this is very likely (which doesn't mean you can't do it!).

Historically, a very wealthy woman WOULD have had her own dress form, but she would also have been paying someone else to do the sewing - and thus, the form would have remained at the dressmaker's. Less wealthy women who could still afford tailored clothes would have had to settle for their dressmaker's adjustable form, shared by many. And a poor woman would have been sewing by herself (or with her daughters), and would have to be her own form (which, incidentally, is how I do it. Ouch!).

Graceanne

1900 dressmaker form in bedroom: Once upon a time, around 1900, my grandmother's family was somewhat wealthy. My grandmother has told me that they used to hire a dressmaker to come stay with them for several weeks each year. During that time, the dressmaker, with the assistance of the women of the household, sewed all the women's new clothes for the year. I know there was a room dedicated to this purpose at the time -- a spare bedroom I think, but am not sure . It occurs to me that this would make a lovely miniature scene, with the hired dressmaker, stacks of patterns, fabric and cut-out fabric pieces. Perhaps one of the daughters of the household being measured, and the other daughters assisting with the sewing.

JoLynne

17th Century Dutch House -- Oh my! - My imagination was immediately fired up when I heard about your Dutch house project, and I spent about an hour last night talking to my husband about it. I could immediately see it all -- the elegant wooden ceiling beams, the painted and unnaturally clean black and white floors, the thick Turkey carpets thrown over the tables, the red velvet chairs rather too low to the ground, giant maps spread on the walls interspersed with seascapes (calm? or stormy?), wine glasses everywhere with at least one overturned. A Jan Steen kitchen with drunken revelers, or perhaps just a sleeping servant maid. A Ter Borch bedroom, with a box bed with red velvet hangings, a lady in spotless satins, the inevitable tiny dog and pair of slippers, perhaps a doctor visiting? A Vermeer music room, with those beautiful instruments, and some shadowy figures engaged in a conversation known only to themselves.

Diane

Dutch interiors: Here is a link to a Dutch site with a lot of old interiors. Enjoy! http://interieurmanifestatie.nl/index2.html

Marjon de Haas (The Netherlands)

Colonial roaster/oven: could you fake the roaster/oven device with a film canister and a couple of the cheap plastic hair rollers with the holders that are sort of like a cage? Cut the roller-holder in half lengthwise. Glue the halves together like back-to-back Cs. Remove the lid from the film canister, trace around the open end and cut a card or plastic lid end, punch in the decorative holes and use a couple of jump rings for hinges. Glue the canister into one of the roller Cs; the other forms the "feet" Paint the whole thing metallic and distress with "soot" and "rust" to look old. If this is like the ones I've seen in antique houses, you'd also cut a slice out of the long side of the canister that would be open and face the fire. In that case, instead of a door, you could have solid short ends with a center hole pierced, run a wire through as a spit with a rice-shaped bead on one end as the turning handle.

Loretta.Sniarowski

18th Century Settings: the large Dover book of Hogarth's prints is a WONDERFUL source book for anyone doing 18th century period settings (for either side of the Atlantic). His detailing is fantastic and what I found most refreshing is the average type persons living spaces, as opposed to the posh rooms shown in most architectural source works. Lots of cracked plaster, spilled cups, paneling (in its more simple form), exteriors & rustic humour. Delish!

Kallisti

Medieval Thatch houses & kitchen kettles > Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, rats, and bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof-hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs," There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entry way...hence, a "threshold,"
They cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while, hence the rhyme, "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." This is an excerpt from the ancient civilizations list on yahoo. Perhaps the graphic descriptions of medieval homes & kitchens can be useful for someone's next project?

Whui