Curtains & Crown Molding

The thing I most love about this hobby is that one minute you're shooting sawdust everywhere and generally making a huge mess and the next minute your working with sumptuous, silk fabrics!  First of all, here are my 'finished' curtains:

I ran back to the bead store and picked up some brass jump rings, which are the perfect thing for hanging miniature drapes!  They're simply stitched on to the pleats.  There were a few tense moments trying to finagle the rods through the tiny eyelets and around the fireplace chase, but thankfully, it all worked out in the end. (I have to run some more starch through the curtain fringe --it's sticking out a little, LOL!

In front of the window is the sweetest little globe I received for Christmas --thanks, Greg! I LOVE it!  It came from Masters Miniatures in England.

As you can see in the above photo, I STILL have not installed the crown molding.  Someone asked me this week how you cut the pieces of molding to fit the corners and so I thought I'd show you, before they are all glued in.

First of all, I always mark my crown molding with little 'X's across the top side, which will butt against the ceiling.  It's very easy to get mixed-up because sometimes the molding looks pretty much the same up-side-down as right-side-up! And it is quite upsetting if you cut your molding up-side-down when you only have enough to go around the room once, with no mistakes. (Not that that EVER happens to me)!

I always start with the 'back' wall of the room.  This happens to be the easiest  --just measure the length of the wall and cut your molding to match.  Use straight (ninety degree) cuts. (above) You can make the cuts with a miniature miter box if your molding is wood and less than a half inch thick.  My molding is a little thicker than that (and it also is made from cast resin), so I used a normal-sized, power miter box just to speed things up a tad.

Next, we'll make the first corner cut.  For this cut, you need a coping saw. (below) You can pick one up at any hardware store and they're not too expensive.  Make sure you get some extra blades!

 It might help before we continue if I first show you the next cut.  This is how the corner joint will fit: (below)

 See how the angled edge will fit on top of the other piece, like a little puzzle? (above) Here's how to do it...

With a pencil, trace the outline of your molding onto the corner. (above) This is your cutting line.  You can use your miter box to remove the section up to the pencil line.  Then use the coping saw to remove the small bits up to the line.

Here's how the corner fits together.  (above) You can fine-tune the joint with a small file or sandpaper.  Any small gaps can be filled with Spackle, gesso or wood putty.

Make the other corner of your room the same as above.  If you have any 'bump-outs,' such as a fireplace chase, the corners are made by making two, forty-five degree cuts on the miter box: (below)

TIPS:

When cutting resin molding by hand, take your time:  the heat generated by the moving blade will start to 'melt' the resin and gum up your saw.

Do not try to make the 'coped cuts' in one pass.  Remove small pieces at a time until you meet up to the penciled line.

Buy extra molding in case you make a mistake!

Some of the fancier moldings (such as Sue Cook's) can be purchased with pre-formed corners.


And that, my dears, concludes our little lesson du jour!  (I hope it helped, Gwendolyn)...  Next time, I promise to have the crown molding glued into place!  But before I sign off, I wanted to thank everyone again for your kind words regarding my recent ghastly run-in with the shingles virus!  I am happy to report that all is well and I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for all your thoughtful, well-wishes!