This is a new project finished this month July 2024. Its a sewing commission for Kay.
Kay wanted a box to house and display a collection of sewing equipment that had belonged to her grandmother, and to provide storage space for her own equipment. We therefore started with ideas for a layout for her grandmothers’ equipment.
As this layout would be built into a drawer in the box, it dictated the width and back to front depth of the box. Its height would follow later based on the overall proportions of the box and the number of other internal drawers and compartments she wanted.
To help Kay with some ideas for the layout of her box I loaned her my copy of the classic work on antique boxes:
Antique Boxes, Tea Caddies & Society - 1700 -1880 by Antigone Clarke & Joseph O'Kelly ISBN: 0764316885
I also gave her an internet link to more in depth details and pictures of the books Sewing Box section. https://www.hygra.com/gallery-sewing-1.htm Plus another antique box internet site https://daniellucian.com The antique boxes on Daniel Lucian site are amazing!! If any of you box makers haven’t come across the book, or the two website, do check them out. They have certainly provided me with inspiration in the past.
So, we arrived at a design …. It was to have a traditional hinged lid, giving access to some lift out trays, and a drop down front giving access to some drawers - one of which would house her Grandmothers equipment. She also requested a bevelled lid, a secret compartment and an engraved monogram on the lid. As for what timber, Kay liked a desk that I had made for my wife. I was made from local Jarrah with burl maple veneered panels boarded with kingwood bandings.
So, this is how Kays box turned out - complete with her monogram on the top.
It is based on traditional sewing box designs from the late 1800s. This was the Victorian period in Britain after the industrial revolution when increased mechanisation led to thinner veneers and finer tolerances and more complex wooden artefacts.
It is constructed from veneered marine plywood with a whole range of solid Jarrah parts. The outside of the box is veneered with Red-maple burl panels, book matched on the front, back and lid. These are surrounded with Kingwood bandings, Jarrah strips, and a light maple string.
The whole box is then edged with black dyed boxwood.
Lifting the locking, hinged and bevelled lid reveals the lift out trays. Under the lid is a parquetry pattern of Birds-eye maple with a woven lattice work of Kingwood bandings matching those on the outside of the box - another feature from my wife's desk . The bevelled lid was by far the most complex element of the box. It is made from jarrah veneered marine ply with its compound angled corners, with a separate flat top rebated and glued on after..........
The drop-down front is lined with embossed leather, framed with fiddle-back jarrah – this was another feature Kay liked in my wife’s desk .
This drop-down front gives access to two drawers. These are made from a combination of Jarrah and Queensland Maple lined with a ‘claret’ coloured velvet, which is used throughout the box.
The lower drawer houses a range of Kays Grandmothers sewing tools beneath a lift out tray.
Above these drawers is the inner compartment, its inside surfaces are veneered in birds-eye maple. This inner compartment contains two lift-out trays made from Jarrah, which are also lined with the ‘claret’ coloured velvet.
Beneath these lift-out trays is a secret compartment………….
The KM monogram on the lid was laser engraved, filled with gold paint before being ‘re-varnished’.
The whole box is finished with a satin polyurethane oil-based varnish, polished off with wax polish.
Thanks for getting this far - hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions then please ask.
