The Swallow Nightdress Pocket.
Isn’t it just lovely to be able to make things all by yourself, without
having to wait to be shown what to do next all the time. Mother is
sure to be busy just when you want to know how to go on, and not have
the time to stop to arrange your work for you. This pretty nightdress
pocket can be made out of a long straight strip of material, folded up
like an envelope. That sounds quite easy, doesn’t it, and I am sure
you have often folded up paper like an envelope, haven’t you? You just
divide it into three, and let one end lie over the other like a flap.
[Illustration: THE BIRDS ARE FLYING HOME TO BED.]
You will want about half a yard of white canvas, or linen, to make the
pocket, and about 1½ yards of Cash’s Fancy Frilling, to put round the
edge of the flap. Also you will need a ball of blue “Brighteye.”
Now, take a tape measure and measure your material each way. You want
to have a strip 30 inches long and 15 inches wide. When you have
cut this, measure up 18 inches of the length, and cut 1½ inches off
the width of the strip at each side up as far as this, leaving the
remaining 12 inches wider, to allow of the deep hem round the flap.
Now turn a 1½ inch hem across the narrow end of your strip of material,
hem it along on what will be the inside of the pocket, and fold this
end of the strip up to form the pocket, until the lower edge of the
hem reaches where the material comes out wider at each side.
[Illustration: ONE SWALLOW WORKED ON PENELOPE CANVAS.]
[Illustration: AN OUTLINE SWALLOW FOR COUNTING THE CROSSES.]
Sew up the side seams with a run and back-stitch, then oversew the
edges of the seams together, so that you do not have any frayed edges
inside your pocket. The ends of the hem are not joined into the seams
at each side, but these are turned in and oversewn to make them neat.
This loose hem at the top of the pocket makes it easier for the
nightdress to be slipped in and out.
Now you turn in an even hem all round the flap and hemstitch it.
Directions for hemstitching are given on page 30. You will also find
out how to work cross-stitch designs over canvas on page 26, and you
can work your birds in the same way from the diagram given.
You will see that your nightdress pocket would be quite complete
without the frill, but this makes a very pretty finish to it. Cash’s
Frillings are supplied with a thread that draws up already in, so that
you will have no need to gather your frilling but just to draw it up.
If you measure round the flap, and then draw your length of frilling up
to this size and distribute the fulness evenly all the way along, you
can then just oversew the drawn-up edge of the frill to the edge of the
hem all round on the wrong side of the flap.
[Illustration]
An Easy-to-make Pinafore.
Every little girl would rather make something that is pretty and useful
than something that is useful without being pretty. Now here is a very
delightful pinafore that you can make for yourself, that is pretty,
useful, and also easy.
[Illustration: A LITTLE GIRL IN HER PINAFORE.]
The little girl in the picture looks so stylish in her pinafore that
you would hardly believe you could so easily make one like it. But
look at the picture on page 19 and you can see better what an easy
little pattern it is—just a straight piece of muslin, hemmed and tucked
and pleated into a band. This band comes across the chest, the two
ribbons are taken over the shoulders, crossed at the back (just like
a nurse’s apron straps), and brought round the waist to tie in a bow
in front. The pinafore is made of white spotted muslin, trimmed with a
sweet little insertion and tucks, and the ribbon used on it is pink. A
pinafore like this would brighten up your school frock, and I am sure
you are wanting to set to work to make one at once.
You will need a yard of spotted muslin 24 inches wide, a yard of
insertion, and two pieces of 1¼-inch pink ribbon each 1¼ yards long.
Now ask mother to tell you what length you require from the yoke to the
bottom hem, because you want to have your pinafore the right length.
The little girl in the picture is eight years old, and she measures 28
inches from where the pleats are put into the band, to the bottom of
her pinafore. Then another 3 inches is allowed for turning up the hem,
making 31 inches altogether.
Now, having cut off this length, the sides have to be hemmed. For this
the edges must be folded over twice. The first fold is only enough to
turn in the raw edge, the second fold should be ¼-inch wide. Now tack
it, so as to keep the turnings straight, by making a long stitch on top
and a short stitch underneath.
[Illustration: PUTTING PLEATS INTO A BAND.]
If you are not sure how to hem, look at the little picture on this
page. Put the needle in just under the fold, slant it towards you, and
put it through the fold near the edge. Repeat this stitch, taking up
only a few threads of material each time.
Having hemmed the sides, make a deep hem at the bottom, first turning
down a little fold, and then a deep 2½ inch fold. Tack and hem it.
[Illustration: MAKING A TUCK.]
For the lowest tuck, crease the material 3½ inches from the bottom of
the pinafore, and tack it about ½-inch below the crease, to keep the
fold in place. Now, we only want our little tuck to be ¼-inch, so just
at that distance below the crease, start running it along with tiny
stitches as you learned to do for the work apron on page 4. To keep the
tuck the same size all the way, you might keep testing it with a piece
of paper notched in two places—the notches to be ¼-inch apart—the width
of your tuck. When you have finished the tuck, take out the tacking
stitches and turn the tuck down so that the stitches come at the top
and the tuck below them.
[Illustration: HOW HEMMING IS DONE.]
Make a second tuck above the first, the bottom of the second to be
½-inch above the top of the first. Make a third tuck, the bottom of
which must be 2½ inches above the top of the second, and a fourth,
having the bottom ¼-inch above the top of the third. In this way you
have two tucks together, then a space, and two more tucks together. On
to this space between the pairs of tucks you sew the insertion. Cut
off enough to go across the pinafore, allowing a little more at each
end to turn in. Tack it, and then when you are sure that it is quite
straight, run the insertion along both edges on to the muslin, taking
an occasional back-stitch to keep it quite firm.
[Illustration: THE FINISHED PINAFORE.]
The top part of the pinafore is now put into a band, which must be as
long as your width across the chest. You were shown how to put material
into a band on page 5. The little difference here, however, is that
instead of gathering the material, you pleat it. Mark the centre both
of the band and the material to be pleated into it, with a pin. Turn
three little pleats on each side of the centre of the material. On the
little girl in the picture these pleats are each ¼-inch wide, but you
must test carefully and get them the size just to fit the band. The
picture at the top of page 18 shows pleats being put into a band.
Now sew on to the band a little length of insertion, as you did at
the bottom. At each end of the top of the band, however, leave about
¾-inch of insertion not sewn to the band. This makes two tiny pockets
into which you can slip the pink ribbon afterwards, and you can then
sew the ribbon and insertion through to the band. Then, as you won’t
want to have the pink ribbon washed as often as you do the pinafore,
you simply have to take out those few stitches each time the pinafore
goes to be washed. Besides, you may not always want to wear pink. With
some dresses you may prefer to have pale blue ribbon, or heliotrope, or
even red. Whatever colour you choose, sew it into the pockets, and your
pinafore is ready for wear.
[Illustration]
The Pink Sun-bonnet.
A sun-bonnet—what does it make you think of? Doesn’t it remind you of
your last summer holiday—the country, the birds, the flowers? Close
your eyes and try to imagine it. Can’t you almost feel the heat, and
hear the hum of the insects, and hear, too, the rattle of the pails, as
you used to hear it when Maggie, the rosy-cheeked milk maid, wearing
_her_ pretty lilac sun-bonnet, went down to milk Brindle and Beauty and
Cherry. You thought that sun-bonnet looked so pretty, and kept the sun
from Maggie’s head and neck so beautifully, and you wished you had one
too. You will wish it again, when you go to the country for your next
holiday, and I expect you will want one when you are working in the sun
in your own garden at home.
Suppose, therefore, you start to make a sun-bonnet for yourself. This
one, that is shown in the picture, is really very easy to make. It
is of a pretty pink print, with tiny flowers on it. But perhaps your
favourite colour is not pink. Probably, you want a lilac one. Whatever
colour you decide on, get ½-yard of print that shade, and you are
ready to start.
Cut off 18 inches along the full length of the print, and hem along one
edge. About 1 inch from the hem make a ¼-inch tuck, and 1 inch from
this, another tuck. Now fold your print in half, and join up the two
edges for the back of the bonnet with a French seam, which is described
in the chapter on “Dolly’s Underwear.”
Your sun-bonnet is now rather square in shape. To get it rounded at the
back, take hold of the point and draw it down a little way on to the
seam at the back. There catch it with a few stitches.
[Illustration: THE SUN-BONNET READY FOR WEAR.]
No sun-bonnet is complete without a frill, so the next thing is to sew
this on. Cut off 18 inches of print 5 inches wide, hem along one side
and both ends. Gather the other side, and draw it up until it is the
length of the bottom edge of the bonnet beyond the second tuck. Sew it
on the inside to the bonnet edge, leaving a little piece of the edge
above the gathered piece. Turn in the edge, and hem it over the seam.
This makes it quite neat. The edges along where the frill does not come
are also hemmed up.
For the strings, cut off two lengths of 14 inches, each 1½ inches wide.
Hem each side and one edge. Turn the opposite edge in, and sew it
neatly to the inside of the bonnet.
Your sun-bonnet is now finished, and you will be able to ask nurse to
put it into the trunk the next time she is packing to take you to stay
at the farm. Won’t Maggie be surprised when you arrive with a bonnet
like hers, only just a few sizes smaller!
A Red Satin Housewife.
What a tiresome way needles have of getting lost, haven’t they, and
even whole packets of needles have a trick of disappearing nobody
knows where. Every little girl who does any sewing really needs some
safe place in which to keep her needles. This little housewife, which
is shown both open and closed, is just the thing. You can stick odd
needles in the flannel, and slip packets of needles in the pocket at
the end. If you always remember to do this, you cannot very easily get
them mislaid, and the little red housewife will be quite a friend to
you. And what is more, it is not difficult to make.
[Illustration: THE NEEDLE-CASE CLOSED.]
To make one exactly like that in the picture, you want a piece of
crimson satin, 12½ inches long by 3¾ inches wide, a piece of white
flannel, 10 inches long by 2¼ inches wide, some crimson embroidery
silk, salmon pink embroidery silk, some crimson sewing silk, and a
pearl button.
[Illustration: THE DOUBLE FEATHER-STITCHING.]
First lay your flannel on the wrong side of the satin. If you put it on
quite straight, you will find there is ¾-inch of red showing each side
of the flannel, and 1¼ inch at each end. At each side turn down a hem
of satin, so that it comes over the edge of the flannel. Tack and hem
it. Now turn down and hem each end in the same way. You will have wider
hems here.
Having hemmed the satin to the flannel all round (taking care that
the stitches do not go right through to the right side of the satin),
turn down 2 inches at one end, to make the little pocket you see in
the picture, sewing it neatly at each side with oversewing stitches.
Oversew also the open ends of the opposite hem.
[Illustration: The Housewife When Open.]
Now you know how to feather-stitch, don’t you, or if you do not, you
will see on page 5 how it is done. Work single feather-stitch with
salmon pink silk down each side and end of the housewife. The inside
is now divided up into four divisions, by double feather-stitch worked
in crimson. This is worked in the same way as single feather-stitch,
only that you take first two stitches one way and then two the other,
instead of one each way. A little piece of double feather-stitching has
been separately worked for you to see how it is done.
At the end opposite the pocket, make a loop in red silk of two threads,
covered with blanket stitch. This is described in the chapter on
“Dolly’s Bed.”
Now, starting at the pocket end, fold the needle-case over and over,
and just opposite where the loop comes, sew a little pearl button,
and the housewife is finished, and quite ready for you to stick your
needles in.
You can use silk quite as well as satin for your housewife, and if you
like any other shade better than red, make it of your favourite colour.
[Illustration]
Presents you can make for People.
A Feeder in Cross-Stitch.
Here is a pretty little feeder for baby that you will be able to make
all by yourself. I expect mother will be only too pleased to help you
to get the materials. You will want about half-a-yard of some soft
white washing material, a small quantity of Penelope canvas, a ball of
coloured “Brighteye” embroidery thread, and three-quarters of a yard of
a narrow silk ribbon.
Do you see the three happy little dogs running after each other across
the bottom of the feeder? These are worked in cross-stitch, also baby’s
name in the centre.
If you haven’t yet done any cross-stitch, you had better first look at
the little illustration on page 26, and see exactly how it is done,
before commencing to cut out your feeder.
[Illustration: BABY WILL LIKE THE THREE HAPPY DOGS.]
Just for practice, take a small square of canvas, and thread a crewel
needle with the embroidery thread. Bring your needle up through one
of the large holes in the canvas, count over two canvas threads to
the right, and two upwards, put your needle in this hole, and pick up
two threads towards the left. Pull your thread through, and this will
give you the first part of the cross. Now put your needle in the hole
two threads to the right of the hole you started from, and bring it up
through the hole two threads to the left of the first hole, as shown
in the second part of the little illustration.
[Illustration: MAKING THE CROSSES ON THE CANVAS.]
This, as you will see, completes the first cross, and brings the thread
ready to make a second one in the same way.
The lower part of the illustration shows the dog’s tail commenced, and
how you should place your needle when you want to make a cross on the
slant below. One thing you should be very careful about when working
in cross-stitch: see that the threads are always crossed in the same
direction, and not sometimes one way and sometimes another. Your work
will look so much better if this rule is always followed.
When you feel quite sure you can work the crosses evenly, you can cut
out the feeder. Perhaps you may like first to cut it out in paper.
Take your tape measure and measure off a piece of paper 12 inches long
and 11 inches wide. Fold this right down the centre, the longest way.
Measure two inches down the fold and two inches up the cut edges from
one end, and cut round from points A to B, as shown in the little
diagram. This will give you a curve for baby’s neck. Now measure down
an inch on the long outer edges, and cut from point B on the slant to
this point, which we will call C.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM FOR CUTTING OUT THE FEEDER.]
Now that you have a paper pattern, you will be able to place this over
your material and cut it from this. You will want to have two pieces
exactly alike, so that you can use one to line the feeder.
We have now come to the interesting part of working the little dogs.
Tack a strip of canvas along the bottom of the right side of one of the
pieces you have just cut out; the dogs are nine crosses high, so the
strip should be wide enough to take the design and leave a few extra
threads of canvas above and below. It is best to commence with the
centre dog, starting the centre cross of the design in the centre hole
of the canvas, you will then be sure of getting it right in the middle.
When working the other dogs, leave 16 threads of canvas between the
middle one and each of these. You will then have your three little dogs
at equal distances apart, and there will be no chance of their catching
each other up! Canvas must be placed across the centre for the name in
the same way.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE CROSS-STITCH DOGS.]
From the illustrations of the dog and the letters, you will easily be
able to count the crosses, and see how they are placed. If baby’s name
is not May, and you want to work another name, designs for a whole
alphabet appear on another page.
When you have worked all your designs, the canvas threads must be
pulled away. Cut the canvas down fairly close to the embroidery, and
pull out the threads one by one. Baby’s name is shown with all the
threads of the ‘Y’ pulled out, and the ‘A’ as it looks when only the
cross threads have been pulled away.
To make up the feeder, place the plain portion of the feeder over the
embroidered one, with the right sides facing one another, and run round
all the edges about a quarter of an inch in from the edge, leaving
only the curved neck edges open. A running stitch, with a back-stitch
put in now and then, is the best for this, as this will hold it firm.
Turn the feeder out on the right side, then turn in the neck edges
and oversew them together. How the oversewing stitch is made is shown
in the little illustration on this page. Hold the edges to be joined
together firmly in your left hand, and work from right to left, always
putting your needle in slanting just as the little picture shows, and
taking up about a couple of threads of the material from each of the
edges you are joining together.
[Illustration: MAKING OVER-SEWING STITCHES.]
The piece of work in the illustration has been flattened out, in order
that you may see the stitches more clearly; but when you are oversewing
you will hold the two pieces together with the thumb and first finger
of your left hand, oversewing the top of the two edges.
Now cut your length of ribbon in half, and sew one piece to each end of
the neck of the feeder, so that it can be tied round baby’s neck when
she wants to take her food.
[Illustration: This shows how to pull the Canvas away after the
Cross-Stitch is done.]
Cats on a Chair Back.
Here is a very pretty thing that you will be able to make for Mother.
How amused she will be, when she sees these two funny cats sparring at
each other, and how nice the Chair Back will look hanging over the back
of father’s chair, where he puts his head.
The Chair Back is hemstitched at each side and across each end, so
before we commence to make it we will find out how to do this stitch.
Shall we take a small piece of linen and try and copy the little
picture we have of the stitch just for practice? When you have tacked a
hem along, draw out five of the horizontal threads of your linen, just
beneath the edge of the hem.
[Illustration: They don’t look very pleased to meet, do they?]
Now for the stitch itself. Hemstitching is always done on the wrong
side of your piece of work, and the stitch is worked from right to
left. Thread your needle with linen thread or a fairly coarse crochet
cotton, and fasten the end of it to the commencement of the hem.
Now look how the needle is placed in the top part of the picture, and
put yours in in the same way. Place it under four of the open threads,
then pull your needle through, which draws these four threads up
closely together. Then make a small upright stitch up through the hem,
placing your needle as shown in the second part of your illustration.
These two stitches are repeated all the way along. This is the simplest
form of hemstitching, and is what is used on the sides of the Chair
Back.
[Illustration: SHOWING HOW HEM-STITCHING IS DONE. SERPENTINE STITCH IS
ILLUSTRATED AT THE BOTTOM.]
For ladder hemstitching you work along the other side of the open
threads, just as above, taking the same group of threads. When working
on coarse linen, or canvas, two or three threads need only be picked up
each time, all that really matters is that you keep to the same number
all the way along.
The stitch we have across the ends of our Chair Back is called
serpentine stitch, and the small piece of canvas at the bottom of the
picture shows how to work this. The first side is worked as in the
simple hemstitching, taking up four threads each time, but in working
the second side four threads are again taken up, but the needle is here
put between the threads taken up on the opposite side.
[Illustration: A FINISHED CORNER.]
When you want to turn a corner in hemstitching a square cloth, you
first draw your threads out where the edge of your hem is to come each
way; then you fold the material on the wrong side diagonally through
the corner, turn the pointed end in until the point reaches the open
threads, make a crease, turn the point back and backstitch along the
crease. You have a little picture showing just where the backstitching
is done. After this cut off the point beyond the backstitching, turn
the corner inside out, and you have a neat little seam going diagonally
from the corner to the edge of your hem (as in illustration).
[Illustration: DOING THE BACK-STITCHING ALONG THE CREASE.]
You will find that these simple forms of hemstitching will be very
useful to you in making all kinds of things.
To make the chair back you will want a strip of white Hardanger canvas,
a yard long and about 17 inches wide; this will allow for the hems.
First measure up five inches from each end, and draw out four threads
of canvas across each end, then draw out two threads at each side,
about three-quarters of an inch in from the set of open threads at one
end to the other; you will have to cut the threads at each end. Now
tack all the hems along; you can turn in the ends of the wide hems and
oversew them together.
Hemstitch the side hems in simple hemstitching, taking up three threads
of canvas each time, and the wide hems in the serpentine stitch,
taking two threads of canvas each time; you will remember to take the
alternate sets on the second side.
Now you have only to embroider the cats. These are worked in
cross-stitch, using “Peri-lusta” Pearl Knit, size 5. Shade No 249
is a pretty red that would do beautifully. Directions for working
cross-stitch on canvas are given on page 26, and you will be able to
copy the cats from the enlarged designs given below.
[Illustration: THE TOM CAT——]
If you fold the chair back right down the centre, and start the
whiskers of the cats four threads on each side of this line, they will
be about the right distance apart. The bristles on the legs and tails
are made by working half crosses, and those on the back by making long
single strokes, the length of two crosses.
The whiskers of the cat extend the length of three crosses. Three
threads of the Hardanger canvas are allowed for each cross. On the
material used for the chair back in your picture, each cross worked out
at about an eighth of an inch across, but if the canvas you are using
happens to be a coarser one, you may perhaps find your crosses work out
much larger, in which case you must go over two threads each time so as
to get your animals the right size for the chair back.
[Illustration: ——AND HIS ENEMY.]
Perhaps you would rather not make your chair back of Hardanger canvas
at all, but would prefer to use linen, or some material that has not
got wide even threads; this is not easy to count when working your
crosses. In that case you must first tack Penelope canvas over your
work, and embroider the cats over this; the enlarged designs in your
pictures were worked on Penelope canvas, and you can see what nice
large holes it has, and how easy it is to work on. And when you have
finished the designs you just cut away the canvas quite close to the
design, and pull the threads of canvas out of the crosses. You can put
cross-stitch on to any material in this way.
A Hardanger Handkerchief Sachet.
Have you thought yet what you are going to make Mother for her birthday
present? How would you like to work her a handkerchief sachet in
Hardanger Embroidery? You don’t know how? Well, if you follow this
little talk very carefully, I think you will soon learn.
What is Mother’s favourite colour? Rose Pink? Very well; how delighted
she will be with what you are going to make!
[Illustration: THE FINISHED SACHET.]
What to get for the Sachet.
Can’t you take Mother shopping with you one day, because you will want
to buy a few little things for the sachet. You will want a piece of
Congress Canvas—cream or white—a square 12 inches each way, a ball of
Ardern’s “Star Sylko” No. 744, size 5, a square of white silk the same
size as the canvas for lining the sachet, a crewel needle, 3 yards of
pink ribbon half-an-inch wide. (The best kind to get is a silk ribbon
having threads running through, that you pull and draw the ribbon
up into a ruche. This saves you all the trouble of running a thread
through to make a ruche). You also want a little pink sewing silk,
some white sewing silk, a pair of sharp scissors with points, and, of
course, your thimble.
How to Start.
First, make sure your canvas is perfectly even all round, 12 inches on
each side. When cutting it, be careful to cut between the same threads
all the way down. Turn in about a quarter of an inch all round very
carefully, and tack it. Fig. 1 shows the edge being tacked. When you
come to a corner, just turn in again the end of the second side, to
make it quite neat. You will see in Fig. 1 what I mean.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
With the Pink Thread.
The tacking done, the pretty work begins. Thread your crewel needle
with the “Sylko.” At one corner count 24 threads in from each side. The
hole just where these threads cross is your starting point. Now leave 3
holes below, and in the 4th bring your needle up from underneath for a
satin stitch. You will see how to do this stitch in making the doll’s
bedspread (page 67), only as you are using a different kind of canvas
here, you leave 3 holes instead of one. Make 4 of these stitches. Leave
3 holes, and into the 4th start another little block of satin stitches.
Do 4 of these little blocks. This brings you to the corner. Fig. 2
shows the little blocks.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
To turn the corner, after making your 4th stitch, bring your needle
up into the 4th hole from the _top_ of your satin stitch, not the 4th
from the bottom as before. Make one little block this way. Turn another
corner in exactly the same way, bringing the needle up in the 4th hole
from the _top_ of the satin stitch. Start another block. When you have
put the needle down for the 4th stitch of this block, bring it up 4
holes below the last hole at which you brought it up. Then put it back
into the last hole at which you brought it up. Fig. 3 will make this
clear. Make 4 stitches, now working from right to left. Turn again,
and make 4 stitches, working from left to right. You will notice that
wherever you turn a little corner—or make an angle—2 stitches go into
the same hole, one each way.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
When you have made 8 little blocks in this way, turn again, and make
4 blocks of satin stitch as you did on the first side, the last
stitch of the 4th block should take you back into the hole we called
your starting point. If it doesn’t, you have made a little mistake
somewhere—either you have missed a thread, or made two stitches in
one hole, or something like that, and you will have to undo the work
until you find your mistake. This sounds rather hard lines, doesn’t it,
but unless you have got this outside part right, you cannot cut and
draw the threads properly, and we want to have Mother’s sachet quite
perfect, don’t we?
[Illustration: Fig. 4.]
With the Scissors.
How much quicker we seem to get on with scissors than with a needle and
cotton, don’t we? It is such quick work to cut a hole, but quite slow
work to mend one! Well, you are going to do some “scissors work” now,
but you will have to do it carefully, and make sure first just which
threads you are going to cut. I want you to notice one important thing.
Always cut across the ends of your stitches, never along the sides of
them. Isn’t this quite clear? Well, look at the little diagram for
cutting, Fig. 5. You cut the 3 threads between A and B, and between A
and C, and between C and J, and between D and E, and between G and H,
but never those between J and I, or between I and D. You see what I
mean now, don’t you? Then be careful always not to cut too far, that
is to say, never cut beyond the satin stitches, only cut the threads
enclosed by them.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.]
Pull out the threads you have cut, and you will have a little corner,
like that shown in Fig. 4.
[Illustration: Fig. 5.]
[Illustration: Fig. 6.]
Weaving Work.
Now you have to do the weaving, and this is very easy, and nice work
to do. Only remember not to drag the threads too tightly, but you must
not have them loose—just firm and even. Bring your needle up from
underneath, in the middle of one of the groups of 4 threads, take it
over 2 threads on one side up into the middle again, and over 2 threads
on the other side. Look at Fig. 4 again. Repeat this until you have
5 stitches on each side. Bring your needle up between another set of
threads, and repeat. When you have finished all the weaving, fasten
off neatly at the back of the canvas, and your corner is done. Work the
other 3 corners in the same way.
[Illustration: Fig. 9.]
[Illustration: Fig. 8.]
Putting on the Ribbon.
Take your ribbon and cut off two pieces, each 8 inches long. These are
for the bow. Divide the remainder into four equal lengths, and mark
each little division with a small pin. This is so that you will use
just the same length on each of the four sides of your square. With
a needle, draw out three or four threads running through the middle
of the ribbon, and pull these gently to draw the ribbon up. It is not
enough to pull on one thread or two, because, although it is easier to
draw, it may snap before you get very far. Draw up the ribbon until
it is exactly the size to go round your square; then pin the gathered
ribbon round the sides, taking care to get one of the divisions marked
by the pin on each side of the square.
[Illustration: Fig. 13.]
Thread a needle with pink sewing silk, and sew the ribbon on,
through the centre, taking a very tiny stitch on top, and a longer
one underneath. Make a back-stitch every now and then, by putting
the needle back instead of forward. This makes it a little more
secure. Allow a little extra fulness at the corners, so as to turn
these carefully and evenly, and here you will need one or two little
backstitches. When you get round to the corner from which you started,
turn in the end of your ribbon, and join it neatly to your starting
end. Take out the pins.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.]
[Illustration: Fig. 12.]
[Illustration: Fig. 11.]
Lining the Sachet.
Take the square of white silk, and turn in once all round about a
quarter-inch, and tack it. Lay it on your square of canvas, so that the
turned-in sides of canvas and silk come together. Pin these together
all round. With the white sewing silk, hem the silk to the canvas
carefully, so that each stitch catches up a thread of the canvas,
but does not come through the gathered ribbon. At the second corner,
slip in one end of one of your lengths of ribbon between the silk
and canvas, and when you come to that, hem it in with the silk to the
canvas. When the hemming is finished, the tacking stitches can be taken
out of the silk.
[Illustration]
Folding and Finishing.
You have now got a silk-lined canvas square, with a little end of
ribbon attached to one corner. You must now fold your square so that
all the worked corners meet, as you see in the picture on page 34. We
will call your square A, B, C, D, as the corners are marked in the
diagram, Fig. 6. Divide each side in half (just put a tiny pin in to
mark the division), and call these points E, F, G, and H. Now fold
along the lines E to F, F to G, G to H, and H to E. This will bring
your corners A, B, C and D all together in the middle if you have done
your measuring quite carefully. (See Fig. 7). Let us call D the point
that has the ribbon end. Now A, B and C have all to be joined together,
but D is not sewn to them. D’s little ribbon end is only tied to the
centre, so that the sachet can be opened and closed. Catch A F and B
F and A E and C E together with just a few tiny stitches under the
ribbon, sew the points A, B, C neatly together. And here is where you
attach your last little bit of ribbon having turned in one end neatly.
While you are sewing on this centre you had better keep your left
fingers inside the sachet, and your thumb outside. Then you will be
quite sure that you are not sewing right through the sachet, because
it would be serious if when Mother came to put her handkerchiefs in,
she couldn’t get them down because it was sewn through, wouldn’t it?
You have now only to tie your two ends of ribbon in a nice bow, and
Mother’s handkerchief sachet is complete.
Of course, you will want to make some more of these sachets, and you
can work them in other colours, or line them with coloured silk. It
would look pretty, for instance, to have a deep cream canvas, worked
with Ardern’s “Star Sylko” No. 734, Size 5, which is a lovely cream
shade. Then have for the lining, forget-me-not blue, and blue ribbon to
match. Or you could work the satin-stitch in dark green, No. 753, and
the weaving in a paler green, No. 751, and have a white silk lining and
pale green ribbon. And I am sure you will think of lots of other pretty
colours you can use.
Some other Pretty Corners.
Perhaps you would rather work another kind of corner. Six others are
shown, any of which you would be able to manage, I am sure. For four of
them, you do not have to cut any threads. The one with the cross in the
middle, Fig. 8, would be very quickly worked. The outer part of this is
worked almost like the corner on the sachet, only there are no straight
blocks in a row here, and you take 5 stitches over 5 threads for each
block. Then you work 5 stitches over 5 threads each way into one hole
in the middle for the centre cross.
Fig. 9 is another little corner, just like the one on the sachet, only
instead of cutting any threads, you fill up alternate squares with
satin-stitch blocks.
[Illustration]
Then the star pattern, Fig. 10, is pretty and easy. You start by taking
a stitch over 8 threads, then take one over 7, over 6, over 5, over
4, over 3, over 2. Now over 2 again, and so on, up to 8. Then start
another row at right angles to the first, and two more rows in the same
way. The long stitches in the middle are taken into the holes from
which the short stitches were taken.
Another easy little design shows two straight rows of satin-stitch
crossing two in opposite ways (Fig. 11).
Sometimes a few rows of blocks outside a design will improve it, and
make it look bolder. This is the case with the open-work square, Fig.
12. A second row of blocks has been added outside the first, working
the stitches the other way.
In the last open-work corner, Fig. 13, 4 stitches are taken over 4
threads, and 5 over 8 threads, then 4 over 5 threads again, and so on.
All the threads are then cut away, except the 4 in the middle of each
side, and these are woven as usual.
Now set to work and see what you can do. After a little practice, you
will probably be able to make up some corners for yourself, but until
you are quite sure of the work, it is better to practise those I have
shown you.
[Illustration]
Pale Blue and Heliotrope.
You don’t know what to make for Auntie? Why not make her a pretty bag
to keep her work in? The one on this page is in pale blue, and looks
ever so pretty. Too difficult? Oh no, everything is easy when you know
the way, and you are going to have a little lesson in Hairpin Work
to-day. No, the work isn’t exactly done on a hairpin, but on a staple.
This is similar in shape, only larger.
For this bag you will want your staple—get one about 2 inches in
width—and a No. 1 steel crochet hook. You will also want a ball of
Strutt’s Macramè Thread No. 512, Size 10. Then, if you want to line
your bag, you will need something pretty for this. The bag you see here
is lined with a heliotrope sateen, which peeps very prettily through
the pale blue. One more thing—a few little white bone rings for the
drawing-up strings to go through.
[Illustration: The heliotrope sateen shows through the pale blue
hairpin work.]
All About Loops.
Commence by making a loop in your thread, you will want this loop to be
as long as half the distance between the two prongs of your staple, so
that when you hang it over one side the knot comes just in the middle.
So do not tighten it until you see that it will come just here. Put
this loop over the left side of the staple. Put the thread across the
front, and over the right prong of the staple. Now take your crochet
hook, put it in the loop, and catch the thread that you have put over
the right prong from front to back. This makes the first loop on the
right. Slip the hook over the right prong *, turn the staple over
towards you, wrapping the thread round the left prong, as you do so. By
turning, you now make the left prong the right one, you have now one
loop on your crochet hook. Put the hook under the loop which is now on
the left side of the staple, draw the thread through this. This gives
you two loops on your hook. Put the thread over the crochet hook, and
draw it through the two loops. Slip the hook over the right prong, and
repeat from *. The picture shows the thread being drawn through the
loop.
[Illustration: The work being done on the staple. Notice that the
commencing knot must be quite in the middle.]
You must keep on making these loops until you have 90 on each side of
the staple. Then finish off in this way. When you have made the 90th
loop, don’t turn the staple, but make two or three chain stitches, cut
the thread from the ball about 3 inches from your hook, and draw it
through the loop on your hook. This finishes the strip.
Take the strip off the staple. Don’t be afraid—it won’t come undone.
Make 6 strips the same length. These strips are twice as long as the
bag is deep. In making the strips, don’t pull the loops round the
staple too tightly. After a little practice the work will come quite
easy, and you will get along quickly with it.
Joining the Strips.
Having finished your strips you have to join them. One of the pictures
shows this being done. Take two strips and lay them side by side on the
table, with the commencing ends of each towards you. Take up on your
crochet hook three loops from the strip on the left, then three loops
from the strip on the right. As the six loops lie on the hook—three
from each side—draw the three from the right through the three from the
left, with the help of your left thumb and first finger. (If you look
at the picture you will see that these loops usually lie twisted. They
should be taken on to the hook in this way, and if one is not twisted,
turn it over with your finger and thumb).
You have now three loops on your hook, which were picked up on the
right hand strip. Take up three more from the left, and so on, for the
length of the strip. When you get to the end of the strip (your last
loop will have been taken from the right as you started on the left),
stick the hook with the loops on into the middle of the strip on the
left, and drawing through the length of thread which was left at the
end of the strip, fasten off securely.
Now take the third strip and lay it on the right of the second strip;
start by taking up three loops from the third. In joining, see that you
always commence on the odd strip, that is to say, on 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.,
so that whether you are joining strips 2 to 3, or 3 to 4, you commence
on strip 3, and whether you are joining 4 to 5, or 5 to 6, you commence
on strip 5.
[Illustration: Here are two strips being joined.]
Getting it into Shape.
You must now fold in half your long piece of work, and join up the
sides to make it into a bag. The sides are joined just the same as the
other part, taking first 3 loops from one side and 3 from the other
until you get to the bottom. With a little piece of thread, fasten off
very neatly on the wrong side, sticking the hook in the middle of one
of the strips before finishing off, to make it quite firm.
To finish the top of the bag make a loop in the thread, draw this
through the top of one of the strips, make 5 chain stitches, then 1
double crochet into the joined loops, 5 chain, 1 d c into middle of
next strip. Do this all round the top of the bag, and fasten off.
For the cord, make a chain of 36 inches. Sew 10 little white rings at
even distances round the bag, about 2 inches from the top. Run the cord
through these rings twice, and when you get back the second time to the
ring you started from, join the cord neatly with a needle and cotton.
Now you see it will pull up quite nicely each side, and Auntie can hang
the bag on her arm.
We have not talked about lining the bag. Perhaps you don’t want to line
it, but if you do, make a bag of silk or sateen (like the one described
on page 11), the same size as the macramè bag, and slip it into it,
just catching it at the corners with a few tiny stitches, so that the
lining does not slip out of the bag. This lining should have a nice
deep hem at the top, which could peep over the top of the macramè bag.
Your bag is now finished, and if Auntie is not delighted with it, I
shall be very much surprised.
The Amiable Pussy Cats.
Doesn’t your pussy cat always like to be near at hand when the table
is laid for tea, on the chance of perhaps getting a saucer of milk? Of
course, you never let pussy himself sit on the table, but it would be
rather uncommon, wouldn’t it, to have a cosy on the table with two dear
little pussies worked on it like the one in the picture? I think Mother
would like it, too, don’t you?
The cosy cover in our picture was made of white Hardanger canvas, and
is not fastened to the tea cosy itself, but is made loose, so that
it can be taken off and washed. Red “Bright-eye” thread was used for
working the cats.
[Illustration: HOW THEY LOOK ON THE COSY.]
You will want to make it the right size for Mother’s tea cosy, won’t
you? Well, you will be able to get it exactly the size, if you first
take a piece of paper, lay the cosy on it, and draw round the cosy with
a pencil, then cut the paper out on the pencil line.
This gives you the shape of the side of the cosy, but the material
will need to be cut larger than this to allow for a seam and a hem
across the bottom, so take another piece of paper, and using the piece
you have already cut as a pattern, cut the side out again, this time
allowing an extra quarter of an inch all round the curved edge for the
seam, and an inch along the straight edge for the hem.
Now that you have a pattern, cut out two pieces of canvas exactly this
shape, and you can commence to make up your cosy cover.
The hems at the bottom of the cosy have to be hem-stitched, so you had
better pull the threads out for this first. Measure each side up 1¾
inches from the straight edge and draw out four threads.
Directions for the simple hemstitching used are given on page 30, but
before you do this part you must work your cats and join the two sides
together, so that you can turn up your hem all along both sides evenly,
and not have to join the hem after they are turned up.
Work your cats in cross-stitch. This stitch was described on page 25,
so that if you don’t know how to do it, just turn to this page and see
how it is done.
You will be able to count the crosses from the drawing you have of the
two cats. The lowest cross of the tail of the cat sitting down should
come six threads above the open threads for your hem; this will help
you in starting to work the design. Work two cats on each side of the
cosy.
[Illustration: THE DESIGN FOR COUNTING THE CROSSES.]
When you have finished the pussy cats, place the two sides together,
with the right sides facing one another, and sew round the curved edges
with a run and back-stitch, then oversew along the cut edges to make
them neat.
[Illustration: THE CATS WORKED ON PENELOPE CANVAS.]
Now turn up your hem and hemstitch it, then turn the cosy on the right
side, and sew a piece of red cord over the seam of the cosy, making
three little loops in the centre at the top. You must use red cotton to
sew on the cord, and take tiny hemming stitches that will not show too
much.
If you don’t want to make your cosy cover of canvas, but would like to
use linen or some other material, you can work the cats on Penelope
canvas, tacked over the material, as you learnt to do when making the
Feeder.
What a Contrast!
Lazy Lizzie uses pins
When she sees a tear!
Her buttons lie upon the floor,
The lace is off her pinafore;
And don’t the people stare!
Hilda is industrious,
Nothing ever tires her;
She simply gets her sewing-box,
And quickly mends her pretty frocks;
And everyone admires her!