Lit du Creneau

Finally I have had time to both finish the 2023 June Clinkscales class project and post it to this blog. I actually finished the bed in October, but I’ve been too busy until now to post.

Starting at the beginning:

We were supplied the cast headboard / footboard and canopy pieces, the metal pieces for the canopy support, all the fabric (option to use our own, of course), the MDF for the mattress base, gold leaf, and various foams and trims.

The above photo is after I gold-leafed and glued the basic bed together. Gold-leafing in a dry, dry, dry climate is fun (June in Arizona). Forget letting the size dry for half an hour. Brush on the size and immediately slam the gold leaf on it, or you have no chance of it sticking. At least it seems that way!

If you look on the metal squaring jig center right, you’ll see small gold balls. Those are for the tassels, and we gold leafed those tiny things as well.

We also had cane inserts for the ends of the bed. Two in each slot to give it some depth.

We learned how to make the padded and upholstered end medallions. Here are my pieces completely finished.

I did not take photos of the draping process (or if I did, I can’t find them). There is an outer drape and a lining, and we used a pretty pleat for the main folds. And also glue (the ultimate glue and fabri-tac). So much glue.

The swags (hanging from the canopy) are pieces of fabric folded tightly accordion style and then folded in half.

You can see the gold balls from the gold leafing stage. They hold the tassels on the ends of the bolsters and are also hanging from the canopy.

My pleats aren’t perfect in the back, but I thought you’d want to see what it looks like back there. We added a padded canopy top.

I’d sleep here!

Lit du creneau, BTW, means something like: “The niche bed” or “Bed for a niche.”

I’ve signed up for two more of June’s classes, because I can’t get enough. She’s also teaching one in Chicago this April (https://www.bishopshow.com/ws23) A little pricy but it looks gorgeous! (I sadly will not be in Chicago this year. Too much work to do. Hope to get there again soon.)

I am working on many more minis–will post more soon!