The Harrison Dollhouse Day 18

I went over all of the thatch with acryllic varnish. You can use a mattee or gloss finish, it doesn't matter because the fur will not pick up any sheen from the varnish regardless of what finish it has so you can use whatever is on hand.

I can tell you that the varnish makes the fur look awful when it is first applied. Wet varnish on fur looks grayish/white and just plain aweful. Allow it to dry so that it turns clear and makes the fur look like thatch.

Some fur will lay very flat on your roof and other fur will have natural wrinkles and waves to it. Sometimes the same fur remnant will have several different finishes to it. It just all depends on what type of fur is available at the fabric store. They always carry different styles. Sometimes you get lucky with wonderful fur and other times you get fur that is a little more difficult to work with.

When you are thatching a dollhouse roof, you will have to accept the fact that you may have some very flat looking roof panels and other roof panels with some texture to them. This is just the nature of some types of faux fur and you can comb until you take off all of the fur from the backing and it will make no difference in the outcome. It all has to do with the way the fur was applied to the backing at the textile mill, quality of the fibers and type of fur. This is beyond your control. Just like in a real life size thatched houses, you will have natural inconsistencies in your thatch work per panel.

After you varnish you may have some overhang of fur going over the edges of your roof, cut them flush to the roof edge with small, sharp scissors or leave them if you like the look of them. It's all a matter of preference. I cut mines flush.

I attached the chimney. I had to let it dry overnight and I had to use masking tape to give it a little bit more support as it dried. This is a very heavy chimney because of the pebbles.

I went over all of the roof eave edges with brown paint. I know I had first thought to leave them the color of the dollhouse but after seeing the thatch put on, I realized that I didnt like the way they looked. They clashed too much with the thatch so painting them brown to match, makes a much more seamless finish along the roof edges.

I didn't have enough varnish for the top flat roof but I'll get some more today.