Biedermeier Sewing Table Repair

Having extra time on my hands due to the Conovirus Lockdown, I’m on a bit of a roll with my long list of restoration projects.

This Biedermeier-style sewing table was missing its lid and, working from photos of an identical but complete example, I decided to make a replacement.

I started by adding the little cushioned middle section inside using a block of balsa wood covered in a piece of old red cotton velvet, and I re-covered the little pin cushion at the front to match too.

The fabric on these sections were red in the photos of the example I was using as a guide and when I removed the faded pin cushion section of this piece, I was pleased to see from the fabric underneath that it had originally been red too, albeit a slighter darker shade than this one.

The next step was to make the lid.

I’ve had a bag of wood veneer offcuts from Hobbies in my stash for many years and I found one that had a matching grain.

I cut a piece to the correct size for the table top. The lids of these tables have a large overhang over the front and sides of the bases so the size didn’t need to be too precise, though making it with good square corners was essential.

Next I laminated an identically sized piece of hardwood with the veneer.

I did this by sticking the pieces together with wood glue and sandwiching them between two pieces of wood which I then clamped together to form a press. I left the pieces in the press until the glue was thoroughly dry.

Two coats of Dark Oak varnish on the veneer, followed by a good French polish and the top matched the bottom quite well.

Being limited for suitable wood in my stash to make the edges of the lid, I made do with a couple of coffee stirrers which were fine after a bit of sanding.

I painted them with matt white Humbrol enamel paint on the side which would be on the outside and matt metallic gold Humbrol paint on the inside side and the edges, to match the table in my reference photos.

Gluing the edges to the top piece was fiddly but I got there in the end.

The sewing table in the photos I was referencing had a mirror set in the inside of the lid, however, I didn’t have a suitable mirror so I decided to use a piece of vintage silk as a temporary measure - the hope is that one day I’ll find the right size mirror and will be able to replace it.

I neatened the edges of the silk by sticking on some embossed paper to echo the edging around the sections of the sewing box.

I attached the lid to the base of the table with a piece of ribbon glued on to the top and base with fabric glue and then painted with matt metallic gold Humbrol paint.

Filling the individual sections up with scraps of ribbon and tiny sewing notions really brought it to life.

And here’s the finished piece in situ with the lid open.....

 ...and with the lid closed.

I’m very happy with how the whole thing came together and to have given a good but broken piece of antique dolls’ house furniture a new lease of life.

Until next time,
Zoe

Bassett-Lowke Nuways Sink Restoration

I bought this sink a while ago.

They don’t come up for sale very often and are usually quite expensive when they do. This one was a bit cheaper because the taps had broken off and attempts to stick them back on had left the ‘tiled’ splashback in quite a mess. However, the good news was that the broken-off original taps came with it so I knew I’d be able to restore it. Today I finally got around to it.

I started by cleaning off the rock-hard residue of epoxy resin, or whatever it was that had been used in past attempts to reattach the taps. I used a sturdy scalpel and tried to avoid too much damage to the enamel paint, however, some damage was inevitable and would have to be touched up later. I also cleaned some bits of residue off the taps with a small file.

Next, I helped my husband to solder the taps to the piece - I held the taps in place with tweezers while he did the tricky soldering bit! Because the taps are made of white metal, it was important to use a low-temperature soldering iron and low-temperature solder to avoid melting them!!

The original plug and most of the chain were missing when I bought the sink. The short piece of chain that remained was extremely fine so I used the finest piece in my stash of jewellery findings. It was a little chunkier but didn’t look out of place so I attached a length of it to the tiny loop on the splashback.  

I then had a huge stroke of luck when, there in my button box was the perfect little metal stud to use as a plug. I glued the end of the chain to the stud with a drop of clear Gorilla glue.

It sits perfectly in the plug hole.

Next, I touched up the paintwork, just enough to hide the damage. It’s not perfect but I’d rather that than have the piece look over-restored.

Added 18th April, 2020: After I posted this blog yesterday, I realised the sink might be missing some wooden draining boards. The catalogue picture of the sink shows them, but I’ve only seen two actual sinks and one was with and one without so I wasn’t sure and decided to make them removable. [NOTE: the original did have removable draining boards as confirmed in the catalogue description which I’d completely missed! - see comment from Jenny below.]

In any event, I decided to go for it and made some from a piece of old wood I had. I’ve only attached them with tacky wax so as not to cause any damage to the piece.

I’m very pleased with the final result and it’s great to have a complete-looking sink. Here it is in its new home in the kitchen bay of my G&J Lines No. 33/‘Half-size Kits Coty’ (c1909-10).

More information about Bassett-Lowke Nuways dolls’ house furniture can be found on the Brighton Toy Museum website here and my article in the Dolls' Houses Past and Present online magazine here.

Until next time,
Zoe