HOUSEHOLD LINEN
Most of us "women folk" have some one dear pet hobby which we love to
humor and to cater to, and which variously expresses itself in china,
bric-a-brac, books, collections of spoons or forks, and other things of
beauty and joys forever. But whatever our individual indulgences may be,
one taste we share in common--the love of neat napery. Her heartstrings
must indeed be toughly seasoned who feels no thrill of pride as she looks
upon her piles of shining, satiny table linen, and takes account of her
sheet, pillowcase and towel treasure. They are her stocks and bonds,
giving forth daily their bounteous, beauteous yield of daintiness and
comfort, and paying for themselves many times over by the atmosphere of
nicety and refinement which they create. For it is these touches,
unobtrusive by their very delicacy, which introduce that intangible but
very essential quality known as _tone_ into the home harmony.
Though this is true of all household linen, it is, especially so of table
linen, which seems to weave into its delicate patterns and traceries all
the light and sunshine of the room, and to give them back to us in the
warming, quickening good cheer which radiates from a table daintily
dressed. Its influence refines, as all that is chaste and pure must
refine, and helps to make of mealtime something more than merely
mastication. Human nature's daily food seems to lose something of its
grossness in its snowy setting, and to gain a spiritual savor which finds
an outlet in "feasts of reason and flows of soul." When we have
immaculate table linen we dine; otherwise we simply eat, and there are
whole decades of civilization between the two.
LINEN, PAST AND PRESENT
Linen is a fabric with a past: it clothed the high priests of Israel for
their sacred offices, and comes as a voice from the tombs of Egypt, where
it enwraps the mummies of the Pharaohs, telling of a skill in weaving so
marvelous that even our improved machinery of to-day can produce nothing
to approach it. And then it comes on down through the centuries to those
nearer and dearer days of our grandmothers, when it was spun and woven by
gentle fingers; while the halo of romance hovers over it even now as the
German Hausfrau fills the dowry chest of her daughter in anticipation of
the time when she, in turn, shall become a housewife. Small wonder that
we love it, and guard jealously against a stain on its unblemished
escutcheon.
BLEACHED AND "HALF-BLEACHED"
Belfast, Ireland, is the home of linen and damask. There are
manufactories in both Scotland and France, but it is in Belfast that the
fabric attains to the highest perfection, and "Irish linen" has come to
be synonymous with excellence of design and weaving and luster--a most
desirable trilogy. The prospective purchaser of table linen should go to
her task fortified with some information on the subject, that she may not
find herself totally at the mercy of the salesman, who often knows little
about his line of goods beyond their prices. First of all she will
probably he asked whether she prefers bleached or unbleached damask. The
latter--called "half-bleach" in trade vernacular--is made in Scotland and
comes in cheap and medium grades alone. Though it lacks the choiceness
of design and the beauty and fineness of the Belfast bleached linens, it
is good for everyday wear and quickly whitens when laid in the sun on
grass or snow; while the fact that its cost is somewhat less than that of
the corresponding quality in the bleached damask, and that it wears
better, recommends it to many. Occasionally the chemicals used in the
bleaching process are made overstrong to hasten whitening, with the
result that the fibers rot after a while and little cut-like cracks
appear in the fabric. This is not usual, but of course the unbleached
damask precludes all possibility of such an occurrence. One firm in
Belfast still conscientiously employs the old grass-and-sun system of
bleaching, and their damask is plainly marked "Old Bleach." The
half-bleach is sold both by the yard and in patterns.
DAMASK
Damask, by the way, takes its name from the city of Damascus where the
fabric was first made, and is simply "linen so woven that a pattern is
produced by the different directions of the thread," plain damask being
the same fabric, but unfigured. The expression "double damask" need
occasion no alarm; it does not imply double cost, a double cloth, or
double anything except a double, or duplicate, design, produced by the
introduction of an extra thread so woven in that the figure appears
exactly the same on both sides of the cloth, making it reversible.
QUALITY
The next thing will be to decide between buying by the yard and buying a
pattern cloth in which the border continues without a break all the way
around, adding about ten per cent to the price. The designs in both
cloths are the same in corresponding qualities. We are knights and
ladies of the round table these days, and cloths woven specially for use
thereon, with an all-round center design, come only in patterns. Cloths
of this description are used also on square tables, as the wreath effect
is very decorative. As to the quality of damask, it depends not so much
upon weight--for the finest cloths are by no means the heaviest--as upon
the size of the threads and the closeness and firmness with which they
are woven. Avoid the loosely woven fabric; it will neither wear nor look
so well as the one in which the threads are more compact. In the better
damasks the threads are smoother and finer in finish.
DESIGN
Styles in table linens change from time to time and render it difficult
to say what may or may not be used with propriety, except that the
general principle of coarse, heavy-looking designs being in poor taste
always holds good. One pattern alone has proven itself, and stood the
test of time so satisfactorily that it is as high as ever in the good
housekeeper's favor, with no prospect of falling from grace--our old
friend the dainty, modest snowdrop, a quiet, unobtrusive little figure in
a garden array of roses, English violets, lilacs, tulips, irises, and
poppies--for these are flowery times in linens. Occasionally we meet
with a scroll or fern design, though the latter is gradually falling into
disuse as being too stiff to twine and weave into graceful lines. So
true to nature and so exquisitely woven are these posy patterns that they
form in themselves a most charming table decoration. In order to secure
perfect reproduction a manufacturer in Belfast has established and
maintains a greenhouse where his designers draw direct from the natural
flower. This care is but the outgrowth of the more refined living which
demands that beauty shall walk hand-in-hand with utility.
PRICE AND SIZE
Before our housekeeper starts a-shopping she must lock up her zeal for
economy lest it lead her away from the straight and narrow way of good
taste into that broader path which leads to the bargain counter. She may
as well make up her mind at once that desirable table linen is not cheap,
the sorts offered at a very low price being neither economical nor
desirable, and that a cheap cloth which cheapens all of its surroundings
is dearly bought at any price. Occasionally the experienced shopper can
pick up at a sale of odd-length or soiled damasks something which is
really a good offering, particularly during the annual linen sale which
falls in January. But as a rule beware of bargains! The fabric is
liable to be a "second" with some imperfection, or to contain a thread of
cotton which gives it a rough look when laundered, and there is generally
a shortage in width--which suggests the advisability of measuring the
table top before buying, for cloths come in different widths, and one
which is too narrow looks out-grown and awkward and--stingy! The average
table is about 4 feet across, and requires a cloth 2 yards square, though
in buying by the yard it is safe to allow an extra quarter for
straightening the edges and hemming. The cloth should hang at least a
foot below the edge of the table, with an increase of half a yard in
length for each additional table leaf. A cloth 2 yards square will seat
four people; 2 by 2 1/2, six; 2 by 3, eight; 2 by 3 1/2, ten; and 2 by 4,
twelve. A wider table calls for a half or a quarter of a yard more in
the width of the cloth, at some little additional cost, as fewer cloths
in extra widths are made or called for. Usually a good pattern runs
through three qualities of table linen, with napkins in two sizes to
match--22-inch for breakfast and luncheon use, and 24-inch for dinner.
These are the standard sizes most generally used, though napkins are to
be had both larger and smaller. A napkin should be soft and pliable, and
large enough to cover the knees well. Prices on all-linen bleached satin
damask pattern cloths, with accompanying napkins, are about as appear in
the list on the opposite page:
CLOTHS.
GOOD QUALITY. BETTER. EXTRA GOOD.
2 x 2 yards, each $2.00-$2.75 $3.50 $4.50-$5.25
2 x 2 1/2 " " 2.50- 3.50 4.50 5.75- 6.75
2 x 3 " " 3.00- 4.25 5.25 6.75- 8.00
2 x 3 1/2 " " 3.50- 4.85 6.25 8.00- 9.25
2 x 4 " " 4.00- 5.50 7.00 9.00-10.75
2 1/4 x 2 1/4 " " 2.90- 3.75 4.50 6.00- 7.75
2 1/2 x 2 1/2 " " 4.25- 4.50 5.25 7.50- 8.75
2 1/2 x 3 " " 5.00- 5.50 6.25 9.00-10.50
2 1/2 x 3 1/2 " " 6.25- 6.50 7.50 10.50-12.25
2 1/2 x 4 " " 7.00- .... 8.50 12.00-14.00
2 1/2 x 4 1/2 " " .......... .... 13.50-14.75
2 1/2 x 5 " " .......... .... 15.00-17.50
2 3/4 x 2 3/4 " " .......... .... 11.00-13.00
3 x 3 " " .......... .... 15.00-16.00
86 x 90 inches, " 3.50
86 x 108 " " 4.25
86 x 136 " " 5.00
86 x 144 " " 5.75
NAPKINS.
22 x 22 inches, dozen $2.50-$3.00 $3.75 $5.00-$5.50
23 x 23 " " 3.00 .... 5.25 7.00- 7.50
24 x 24 " " 3.00- 3.75 ....
25 x 25 " " 3.50 .... 5.25
27 x 27 " " 6.25- 7.50 ....
The 3x3 yards cloth is called a banquet cloth, and is one for which the
average housekeeper would have little use.
NECESSARY SUPPLY
The amount of table linen to be bought for the first "fitting out"
depends upon the fatness of the pocketbook and the room available for
stowing it away. Since there are so many other expenses at this time the
best way will probably be to buy all that will be needed for a year, and
then add to it one or two cloths with their napkins each succeeding year.
Three cloths of the right length for everyday use, and one long
"family-gathering" cloth, with a dozen napkins to match each, will be a
good start. If the special-occasion cloth seems to be too costly, two
short cloths of duplicate pattern can be substituted for it, the
centerpiece and a clever arrangement of decorations hiding the joining.
If table linen is to be stored away and not used for some time after its
purchase, the dressing which it contains must be thoroughly washed out,
else the chemicals are liable to rot the fabric. It is advisable, too,
to put not-to-be-used damask away rough-dry, otherwise it may crack, in
the folds. The use of colored table linens is in the worst possible
taste, except on the servants' table. Those flaming ferocities known as
"turkey-red" cloths, which seem to fairly fly at one, are not only
inartistic but altogether too suggestive of economy in laundering to be
appetizing table companions.
PLAIN, HEMSTITCHED, OR DRAWN
Cloths bought by the yard must be evened at the ends by drawing a thread,
and hemmed by hand, never stitched on the machine. The inch hem of a few
years ago has been superseded by the very narrow one which is always in
good taste, regardless of style. Napkins come by the piece and must be
divided and hemmed on two sides, rubbing well between the hands first to
remove the stiffness.
There is nothing handsomer or more elegant than the fine, hemmed table
linen, but if a hemstitched cloth is desired, or one containing some
drawn-work design, it is better to buy the material and do the work
oneself; otherwise; the expense goes into the work, not the linen, and
the cost is usually about double that of the same cloth plainly finished.
Hemstitching and fancy work are appropriate only on cloths for the
luncheon table, which may be of either plain or figured damask, or of
heavy linen, which is often effectively combined with Battenberg and
linen laces. Neither drawn work nor hemstitching wears well, drawing the
threads seeming to weaken the fabric. Very pretty luncheon cloths can be
purchased in different sizes for $1.50, $1.75, $2.00, $2.75, etc.,
according to size, material, and elaboration, with accompanying napkins,
18 by 18 inches, for $2.50 or more a dozen. A cloth just the size of the
table top is a convenient luncheon size. These cloths save much wear on
the large cloths, and laundry work as well.
DOILIES AND TABLE DRESSING
The pretty present-day fashion of using individual plate doilies on a
polished table at breakfast and luncheon is also labor-saving. The plate
doilies, either square, oval, or round, and of plain damask or smooth,
closely woven, rather heavy linen, are hemstitched or finished with a
padded scallop worked with white cotton. The round doily is most used,
and offers a delightful field to the worker in over-and-over embroidery
for the display of her skill. Linen lace combinations are also used, but
they are rather for dress-up than for daily use. The plate doilies
should be at least 9 inches wide, with smaller corresponding ones on
which to set the glass of water or the hot cup, and an extra one or two
for small dishes for relishes and the like that may be kept on the table,
etc. They can he bought for 25 cents a piece and upward, but the average
housekeeper enjoys making her own, taking them for "pick-up" work. Small
fringed napkins are also used in the same way, and for tray covers, but
fringe soon grows to look "dog-eared," and mats in the laundering. Still
another dressing for the bare table is the long hemstitched linen strip,
12 inches wide, which runs the length of the table, hanging over the end,
and is crossed at the middle by a second strip extending over the sides,
two strips thus seating four people. When six are to be seated the
cross-piece is moved to one side and a third corresponding strip placed
about 18 inches from it.
The list of table linen is incomplete without a damask carving cloth to
match each tablecloth, which it protects from spatterings from the
platter. This also may be fashioned of plain linen, should be about
three-quarters of a yard wide and a yard long, and either hemstitched or
scalloped--embroidered, too, if one cares to put that much energy into
work which will show so little. And then there must be some doilies to
overlay the Canton-flannel-covered asbestos mats for use under hot dishes.
CENTERPIECES
Styles in centerpieces are fleeting; just now all-white holds sway, and
of a surety there is nothing daintier. Although pretty centers can be
purchased all the way up from $1, here again the mistress's industrious
fingers come into play, for there is a certain unbuyable satisfaction in
working a little of one's very self into the table adornment, and really
handsome centerpieces are quite expensive. They run in sizes from 12 to
45 inches. The center with doilies to match is pretty and desirable. It
is quite as easy to arrange them in this way as to gather in an
ill-assorted, mismated collection. Those for daily use should be rather
simple and of a quality which will not suffer from frequent intercourse
with the washtub.
MONOGRAMS
The fashion of embroidering monograms on table linen must be handled with
care; the working over-and-over of the padded letters with fine cotton
thread is a nice task which requires experience and skill. The cloth
monograms are from 2 to 3 inches high and are placed at one side of the
center, toward the corner. Either the full monogram or an initial is
appropriate in the corner of the napkin, and to be in the best taste
should never be more than an inch high. These letters are either plain,
in circlets, or surrounded with running vines, and add that distinction
to the napery which handwork always imparts.
CARE OF TABLE LINEN
Table linen, like friendship, must be kept constantly in repair. Look
out for the thin places and darn before they have a chance to wear
through. Ravelings from the cloth should be kept for this purpose. A
carefully applied patch or darn is scarcely noticeable after laundering.
The hardest wear comes where the cloth hangs over the edge of the table,
at head and foot. When it begins to be thin at these places cut off one
end at the worn point, if the cloth is sufficiently long to warrant it,
and hem the raw edge. This draws the other worn place well up on the
table where the friction is much less, considerably lengthening the life
of the cloth. The cut-off end may be converted into fringed napkins, on
which to lay croquettes, fried potatoes, etc., doilies for bread and cake
plates, children's napkins, or tray covers. Old table linen passes
through several stages of decline before it becomes absolutely useless;
when too much worn for table purposes it enwraps our bread and cake and
strains our jellies, and when at last it has won the well-earned rest of
age, it still waits in neat rolls to bandage our cuts and bruises.
HOW TO LAUNDER
There is a saying that "Old linen whitens best," to which we might also
add that it looks best, gaining additional smoothness and gloss with each
laundering. Table linen should never dry on the line, but be brought in
while still damp, very carefully folded, and ironed bone-dry, with
abundant "elbowgrease." This is the only way to give it a "satin gloss."
_Never_ use starch. The pieces should be folded evenly and carefully,
with but one crease--down the middle--and not checker-boarded with dozens
of lines. Centers and large doilies are best disposed of by rolling over
a round stick well padded.
TABLE PADS
Much wear and tear on both table and cloth is prevented by the use of a
double-faced Canton-flannel pad, which prevents the cloth from cutting
through on the edges, gives it body, softens the clatter of the dishes,
and absorbs liquids. It comes in 1 1/2- and 1 3/4-yard widths and sells
for 65 to 85 cents a yard. Pads of asbestos are also used, but are far
more expensive. It is a good plan to have two if possible--one for use
on the everyday table, and a longer one to cover the family-gathering
table. Covers for the sideboard and any small table used in the dining
room are of hemstitched or scalloped linen, either plain or
embroidered--never ruffled or fluffy.
READY-MADE BED LINEN
Buying bed linen is not so very serious a matter. Drygoods stores offer
sheets and pillowcases ready made to fit any sized bed or pillow at
prices little, if any, greater than the cost of those made at home.
Merchants say that they sell one hundred sheets ready made to one by the
yard, which speaks well, not for their goods alone, but for the spirit of
housewifely economy which maintains that labor saved is time and strength
earned. Moreover, the deluded seeker after bed beauty who wastes her
precious hours in hemstitching sheets and pillowcases--cotton ones at
that--is a reckless spendthrift, and needs a course in the economics of
common sense. Nothing is more desirable than the simple elegance of the
plain, broad hem, nor more disheartening than hemstitching which has
broken from its moorings while the rest of the sheet is still perfectly
good--a way it has. Hem-stitching may answer on linen sheets which are
not in constant use, but ordinarily let us have the more profitable
plainness. Good sheets are always torn--not cut--and finished with a 2
1/2- or 3-inch hem at the top and an inch hem at the bottom, the finished
sheet measuring not less than 2 3/4 yards. There must be ample length to
turn back well over the blankets and to tuck in at the foot, for it is a
most irritating sensation to waken in the night with the wool tickling
one's toes and scratching one's chin. Sheets are to be had in varying
widths to suit different sized beds.
PRICE AND QUALITY
The 2 3/4-yard length in an average sheet of good quality costs 90 cents
for a double bed, 75 cents for a three-quarter bed, and 45 cents for a
single bed, with hemstitched sheets of corresponding quality at the same
price. It is hardly worth while to pay more than this, while very good
sheets are to be had for 75 cents, with a decrease in price as the width
decreases. Half-bleach double-bed sheets of good quality cost 85 and 70
cents, and so on, and are more especially for servants' beds. They are
popularly supposed to outwear the bleached, but are somewhat trying
bedfellows until whitened.
Plain or hemstitched pillowcases cost from 25 to 75 cents a pair, each
additional width raising the price 5 cents. The average or sleeping-size
pillow is 22 1/2 by 36 1/2 inches, and calls for a case enough larger to
slip on easily, but not loose nor long enough to hang over the sides of
the bed. If pillows of different sizes are in use their cases should be
numbered.
Bed linen should be firmly woven, with a thread rather coarse than fine.
The amount purchased must be regulated by the number of beds to be
furnished, allowing three sheets and three pairs of cases to each. The
supply can always be easily added to, but if expedient for any reason to
buy in large quantities, set apart enough to supply all the beds and keep
the rest in reserve, otherwise it will all give out at once. If the
housewife is so unfortunately situated that she is forced to make her own
bed linen, she will do well to buy her material by the piece--40 to 50
yards. All hems can be run on the machine.
REAL LINEN
Though not everyone likes the "feel" of linen, most housekeepers are
ambitious to include a certain amount with their other bed linens, for
use in the summer or during illness, because of its non-absorbent
qualities. Sheets cost $3, $3.50, $4, $5, $6, and on up to $17, the more
expensive ones being embellished with hemstitching, scallops, or lace.
Pillowcases to correspond sell at from $1.25 up. Linen for this purpose
is always bleached, the 90-inch sheeting being $1 to $3 a yard, the
45-inch pillowcasing 50 cents to $1.50 a yard, and 50-inch casing 75
cents to $2 a yard. Inch-high monograms or letters may be embroidered in
white at the middle of sheets and pillowcases, just above the hem. When
sheets wear thin down the center, tear and "turn," whipping the selvages
together and hemming the torn edges, which become the new edges of the
sheet. Old bed linen makes the finest kind of cleaning cloths, and
should be folded neatly away for that purpose, sheets being reserved for
the ironing board.
SUGGESTIONS ABOUT TOWELS
Towels are best purchased by the dozen, huck of Irish bleached linen
being best for all-around use. These have good absorbent qualities,
plain or hemstitched hems, measure from 18 by 36 inches to 24 by 42
inches, and cost from $2.50 to $6 a dozen. Some of these are "Old
Bleach" linen, and therefore both desirable and durable. Pass by towels
with colored borders; the colored part is always cotton, and is in poor
taste anyway. Some huck towels have damask borders; other towels are of
all-damask, costing from $6 to $12 a dozen, but huck is the stand-by.
Fringed towels, of course, are not to be considered for a moment. Each
member of the family should have his own individual towel, or set of
towels, distinguished by some mark, particularly children, who find it
hard to learn that towels are for drying, not cleansing, purposes. Those
for their use may be smaller and cheaper. Turkish or bath towels are of
either cotton or linen, the latter being more for friction purposes and
costing $6 to $12 a dozen. The cotton absorbs better and is most
generally used for the bath. Good values in towels of this kind are to
be had for $2.50, $2.85, $3, and $4.50 a dozen. Good crash face cloths
cost 5 cents and even less.
Household linens must include, too, the 6 barred-linen kitchen towels at
10, 12, or 15 cents a yard, for drying silver and glass; and 6 heavier
towels, either barred or crash, for china and other ware, at the same
price, with 3 roller towels at 10 cents per yard; while last, but by no
means least, come the dozen neatly hemmed cheesecloth dusters at 5 cents
a yard, for men must work and women must sweep--and dust!