The Orchid Flower Bag.
Have you been trying very hard to think of something else that you
can make for Mother? I wonder if she has a Stocking Bag? If not, you
could easily make her one of these, couldn’t you, and I know she would
like to have one, especially if she has several little boys and girls
to mend stockings for. If you make her a lovely big bag like the one
in the picture, she will be able to keep all the stockings that need
mending together, and will know exactly where to find them when mending
day comes round.
[Illustration: This Bag will hold a lot of stockings.]
It will be best to make the bag of a material that will wash nicely. A
good strong Holland or Crash would be very suitable. You will want a
strip of material about a yard long and fifteen inches wide to make a
good-sized bag.
[Illustration: THE ORCHID DESIGN FOR THE BAG.]
The pretty little flowers across the bag are worked in cross-stitch,
and you have an enlarged diagram of the design which you will be able
to count the crosses from.
Use “Bright-eye” embroidery thread for working the flowers. A purple
thread would look pretty, but perhaps you know another colour that
Mother is very fond of, and would like to use that.
You must work the designs before you make up the bag. Fold the strip
of material in half and tack a strip of Penelope Canvas across about
four inches up from the fold. Directions for working cross-stitch over
Penelope Canvas are given on page 27, in case you want to know how this
is done.
[Illustration: A ROW OF ORCHIDS WORKED ON CANVAS.]
How to make up a bag, too, was described on page 11, and you can make
this one in exactly the same way. You will notice that this one has a
cord threaded through rings outside of the bag instead of through a
runner at the top though, and if you like this way better you can sew
twelve white bone rings at equal distances apart round the outside of
the bag just at the bottom of the hem, and put the cord through these.
You will want about two yards of coloured cord, in the same shade as
the thread you used for working the flowers. Thread the cord twice
round the bag through the rings, join it together, and your bag is
complete.
An Alphabet that can be copied in Cross-stitch.
[Illustration]
More Letters for Cross-stitch.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Furnishings for Dolly’s Cottage.
For Dolly’s Bed.
One of the most enjoyable times of the day spent with dolly is the time
when you can undress and put her to bed, just as mother does baby.
And how much nicer, too, if you can feel that you have made all the
bedclothes yourself. You may perhaps think that you could never manage
that, but just look at these pretty little pictures of the things and
see how simple they all are. I am sure then that you will want to try
and copy them for your own dear dolly.
Before starting to make the outfit for the doll’s bed, get your
materials together. Perhaps someone gave you a bedstead on your last
birthday? If not, buy one the right size for your favourite doll. The
one in the picture is a metal one with a wire mattress.
For the mattress, try to get a material something like that generally
used for mattresses, but not so thick; a striped print would do quite
nicely. The mattress illustrated and the pillows are made of grey, and
white striped material, bound with red ribbon.
The cover for the wire mattress is made of white calico, the blankets
of cream flannel, the sheets and pillow-cases of white linen; the
bedspread and nightdress case of canvas worked with “Brighteye” thread.
[Illustration: THE BED READY FOR DOLLY.]
The Mattress.
Cut out two pieces of material a little larger than the bedstead, and
another long narrow piece the depth of the mattress. Sew one side of
the narrow piece around the sides of one of the large pieces (running
stitch will do quite well for this part of the work), leaving the edges
of the seam on the outside. Then join the other side of the narrow
strip to three of the sides of the other piece you have cut, leaving
one side open to put the filling in. This mattress is filled with
horse-hair; but cotton wool, small pieces of rag, or paper could be
used instead.
[Illustration: THE COVER FOR THE WIRE MATTRESS.]
When the mattress is filled, sew up the fourth side and bind all
the seams with narrow ribbon. Red ribbon is used on the mattress
illustrated, and a little specimen is illustrated, showing how to put
it on. The ribbon is held over the seam edges with the left hand and
back-stitched along, taking your stitches right through the seam edges
and both edges of the ribbon each time.
Now you will need to stab the mattress in places, as in the picture, to
make it look just like the one on your own bed.
[Illustration: THE MATTRESS.]
Take a long needle threaded with coarse thread the same colour as the
binding, put the needle through the mattress, leaving a long end, make
two more stitches through the mattress in the same place, pulling the
thread tightly, finish at the same side as you began, tie a knot with
the thread used and the long end left at the beginning and cut the
threads, leaving small ends of threads beyond the knot.
Look at the illustration to see the positions in which you must put
these stitches and knots.
[Illustration: THE HEMSTITCHED TOP SHEET.]
The Wire Mattress Cover.
Cut the material a little larger than the wire mattress to allow for a
quarter-inch hem; hem the piece around, and sew two narrow pieces of
tape (or coarse thread will do) at each corner of the cover: the cover
is tied to the wire mattress with these pieces of tape.
The Blankets.
Cut the flannel out large enough to cover the top and sides of mattress
and allow for tucking up.
[Illustration: THE BLANKET EDGED WITH BLUE.]
Turn down about a quarter of an inch single turning at each end of the
blanket on the wrong side, then work in blanket stitch across both
ends. You will see that a little specimen of work is illustrated,
showing how to make this stitch. It is worked from left to right. The
turned-in edge of your blanket must be held along the first finger of
your left hand, and the needle placed in your work downwards towards
you, the thread always being held under your thumb as you make a
stitch, so that when you pull your needle you have a knot right at the
edge of the work.
The Sheets.
These should be cut a little longer than the blankets to allow for
the wide hems, and for turning back at the top. The very narrowest
of hems should be put at each side of the sheets, and one about half
an inch wide along the bottom of each; but the top hems are about
three-quarters of an inch wide, and are worked in ladder hem-stitching.
All about how to do hem-stitching will be found on page 30.
[Illustration: SOME OF THE STITCHES USED:
No. 1 shows Blanket Stitch.
No. 2 shows Outline Stitch.
No. 3 shows Whipping Stitch.
No. 4 shows the Stitch for
Binding the Mattress.]
At the corner of the top sheet the initial B is worked. Of course, you
must work the first letter of your doll’s name. If you are not sure you
can write the initial on linen yourself, get someone to do it for you;
then work it over in a fancy outline stitch with embroidery thread. You
have a little specimen of work showing how the outline stitch was made
for the B. In working this you hold your thread down along the design
of your initial with your left hand, and take a small stitch over the
thread, putting your needle in just above the thread and bringing it
out just underneath; this makes a little knotted stitch, and the knots
are repeated along the design at equal distances apart. You can use
this outline stitch for many purposes.
The Pillows.
Make the pillows of the same material as you used for the mattress.
These will need to be each about three inches wide, and a little longer
than half the width of the bed. For each pillow cut two pieces of
material exactly the same size. Run the two pieces together round three
of the edges on the wrong side, then turn on to the right side, stuff
the pillows with wool or small pieces of rag, and oversew the edges of
the fourth side together.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE PILLOWS.]
The Pillow-Cases.
Make the pillow-cases in the same way as the pillows but a little
larger, and hem round one end so that you can slip the pillow in. Sew
two pieces of very narrow tape to each side of the open end, and tie
the pillow into the case.
One of the pillow-cases has a frill round. To make this, cut out a
narrow piece of linen, hem one side of it, and work a simple crochet
edge on to this. Or you can use Cash’s Frillings for this, which are
made to draw up easily into frills.
[Illustration: THE PLAIN PILLOW CASE.]
When the frill is ready to sew on, roll the edge of the other side of
frill between your finger and thumb and sew over the roll, as shown
in the little illustration. Use a coarser thread for this, working
from right to left, pulling the thread to gather the frill as you are
working it. This is called whipping, and is really very much the same
as oversewing, only the stitches are taken right over the hem. Cash’s
Frilling needs no whipping.
Oversew the frill around the edge of the pillow-case.
[Illustration: A PILLOW CASE WITH A FRILL.]
The Bedspread.
Cut out a piece of canvas large enough to cover the bed, and hang over
the mattress, allowing extra around for the hem.
Hemstitch around, taking two sets of threads together; for the second
side of the hemstitch sew together two sets of threads, but take up
alternate threads to those taken up on the other side; this serpentine
stitch is shown on page 30.
The pattern of the bedspread is shown on page 61.
Each slanting stitch is worked over two holes—that is, pull the needle
through a hole, leave two holes on the cross, put the needle into the
next hole, leave two holes on the cross in the opposite direction, pull
the needle up through the next hole, put the needle back into the same
hole as the end of first stitch, and up again through the hole at the
beginning of the second stitch.
Continue to work in this way all round the piece of canvas.
Work three more rows like this, arranged so that the stitches form a
diamond pattern as you see illustrated.
Then fill in the corners with the same pattern, and work the pattern in
the centre of dolly’s bedspread.
The Nightdress Case.
The nightdress case is made with the same materials as the bedspread.
[Illustration: THE NIGHTDRESS CASE.]
Cut out a piece of canvas two and a half inches wide and four and a
half inches long; fold this so that it makes a bag with a flap over
it the same size as the bag. Put the two ends of the canvas for bag
together, and work in blanket stitch round through both pieces at once,
also around the edges of the flap to finish off the little case.
[Illustration: THE STITCH FOR THE BEDSPREAD.]
[Illustration: THE BEDSPREAD.]
Work three diamonds on the front of the nightdress case. This completes
the outfit for dolly’s bed, and I am sure she will like it.
[Illustration: This Patchwork Quilt is for the spare bedroom used by
Seraphine’s Doll Friends when they visit her.]
A Patchwork Quilt.
SUPPOSING Miss Seraphine’s doll-friend Clementine were to write and say
she was coming on a visit next week. Wouldn’t you be in a fix with no
nice bedspread for the spare bed, because you were reading that book
instead of attending to the dolls’ spring cleaning? You will have to
see about a new bedspread quickly, and you can make one that will be
very pretty, with just a few little pieces. Here is where those scraps
that Grandma gave you the other day will come in usefully.
We are going to make a patchwork quilt. It won’t be as large as the one
Grandma has, but Clementine doesn’t require a very big one to cover
her. First, let us just see what pieces we have got together. Some
unbleached calico, some pieces with roses and rosebuds on, some dark
ones with leaves and bunches of grapes, one piece with a little pink
flower all by itself, a few flowery bits, and some with different kinds
of spots. There is just enough here to make something really lovely,
and I shouldn’t wonder if when Clementine sees it she doesn’t want to
change bedspreads with Seraphine.
Arranging the Pieces.
But to get to work. We must think out a little scheme of how we are
going to arrange the pieces. Whatever you do, don’t put the dark ones
on one side, or throw them away, because they are just what you will
want to show up the light ones nicely. We will decide to have our
design in squares. A little square of the pink flower could come in
the centre. Then to show it up, a dark square with leaves and a bunch
of grapes could come above, below, and at each side of it. You might
have four little spotty patterns at the corners between two dark bits,
and above the top and below the bottom dark piece might be a little
fancy pattern. At the four corners left, we will put a rose or rosebud.
Look at the picture of a patchwork quilt, and you will see how we have
arranged them all. Then we might have a border of the unbleached calico.
Before we go any further, do you know what makes this so attractive
and pretty? It is the dark pieces—the pieces you wanted to throw
away—and the plain border. These darker pieces throw up the pretty
light designs, and make them look even more pretty, whereas, if you put
all light together, you could not so easily pick them out.
[Illustration: Tacking the material through the paper square. An old
letter has been used here.]
Covering and Joining the Squares.
If you haven’t done any patchwork, you will wonder how to get the
little squares even, and to join them together. This is how it is
managed. You want 15 squares of stiff paper, each measuring 1½ inches
each way. Stiff old letters will do beautifully to cut up for this. Get
a piece of cardboard, 1½ inches each way, and cut your papers by this,
taking great care that they are perfectly even and true. Cut out your
15 pieces of material in squares, which should measure 2 inches each
way. That will allow you ¼ inch on each side for turning the end over
the paper to make it neat. Tack a piece over each square of paper, as
in the picture. When the 15 squares are covered, join them all together
on the wrong side with oversewing stitches, arranging them as we
decided. You will see how to do oversewing on page 28.
[Illustration: This shows the right side of the square. The tacking
threads are afterwards cut away and the paper pulled out.]
How to Manage the Border.
For the border, cut a plain strip of unbleached calico, 2 inches wide
and about 37 inches in length. On each side of this strip tack down ¼
inch. Now, leaving about 2 inches, start sewing on the border at one
corner of the quilt, on the wrong side, with neat oversewing stitches.
When you come to a corner you must mitre it. From the corner measure
along your border twice the width of the border, _i.e._, 3 inches.
Mark with a pin or thread. Now pleat your border strip so that the
pin comes just on the corner. If you have done this quite neatly
and evenly, your corner will be quite square. On the wrong side you
will have a crease across the diagonal of the border. Stitch along
this firmly with run and back-stitch. Then cut away just beyond the
stitches, and oversew the raw edges to keep from fraying. When you come
to the corner from which you started, you must join the two ends of the
border, and this is done just the same as the other corners, by first
creasing and then stitching on the diagonal.
[Illustration: Here is a corner being mitred.]
[Illustration: This picture shows a corner mitred.]
The Fancy Stitch.
On the quilt in the picture a little fancy stitch has been worked in
coloured “Star Sylko,” and this is a great improvement. This is worked
from left to right, with first a little horizontal stitch then a long
slanting stitch, and below the slanting stitch another horizontal
stitch. Bring your needle up from the wrong side. Take a few threads
of material, bringing the needle out on a line with the first place at
which you brought it up, but a little to the right of it. Bring it out
under the stitch just made, and carry it down in a slanting direction
and make another little horizontal stitch in the same way, this time,
however, keeping your needle above the stitch. Then up again, and so
on. The little pictures will make this stitch clear. When you have gone
all round the border, you can take out all your tacking stitches and
pull the paper away from the little squares.
Now all that remains to be done is to line your quilt, and this is done
by taking a piece of white sateen 7¾ inches wide by 10¾ inches long.
Turn in once and then tack ¼ inch all round, and hem it neatly to the
counterpane, as you were shown how to line the sachet on page 39. Be
careful not to let the stitches come through to the right side of the
quilt. If you want to make it extra warm you can put a layer of cotton
wool in between the quilt and the lining. It is now quite ready for the
spare bed.
[Illustration: How to work the fancy stitch round the border.]
But perhaps some little mother says: “I haven’t got any pretty pieces
like those in the picture. I have only got plain pink, blue and white.”
Well, you can arrange these to look pretty, even if they are only plain
colours. Put a square of pink in the middle, have a white square above,
below, and at each side. At the four corners, where the spotty bits
are, have blue. The four outside corners could be pink, and the top and
bottom centre ones white. Then you could have a white border with blue
stitching on it. This is only one suggestion for plain colours. You
will soon think of plenty more. There is ever so much you can do with a
few pieces and a little patience.
Just Think!
Mary Mabel Melancholy
Wouldn’t even dress her dolly!
The only thing that she would do,
Was sit and sing “Bo-hoo! Bo-hoo!”
So the cold, uncomfy creature,
Was confiscated by the teacher,
And given to Alice Always-Good,
Who made it such a pretty hood.