USES OF AN OLD-FASHIONED WARDROBE.
Shortly after Mary's advent at the farm she one day said: "Aunt Sarah,
the contents of this old trunk are absolutely worthless to me; perhaps
they may be used by you for carpet rags."
"Mary Midleton!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah, in horrified tones, "you
extravagant girl. I see greater possibilities in that trunk of
partly-worn clothing than, I suppose, a less economically-inclined
woman than I ever would have dreamed of."
Mary handed her Aunt two blue seersucker dresses, one plain, the other
striped. "They have both shrunken, and are entirely too small for me,"
said Mary.
"Well," said her Aunt, considering, "they might be combined in one
dress, but you need aprons for kitchen work more useful than those
little frilly, embroidered affairs you are wearing. We should make
them into serviceable aprons to protect your dresses. Mary, neatness
is an attribute that every self-respecting housewife should
assiduously cultivate, and no one can be neat in a kitchen without a
suitable apron to protect one from grime, flour and dust."
"What a pretty challis dress; its cream-colored ground sprinkled over
with pink rose buds!"
Mary sighed. "I always did love that dress, Aunt Sarah, 'Twas so
becoming, and he--he--admired it so!"
"And HE, can do so still," replied Aunt Sarah, with a merry twinkle in
her kind, clear, gray eyes, "for that pale-green suesine skirt,
slightly faded, will make an excellent lining, with cotton for an
interlining, and pale green Germantown yarn with which to tie the
comfortable. At small cost you'll have a dainty, warm spread which
will be extremely pretty in the home you are planning with HIM. I have
several very pretty-old-style patchwork quilts in a box in the attic
which I shall give you when you start housekeeping. That pretty
dotted, ungored Swiss skirt will make dainty, ruffled sash curtains
for bedroom windows. Mary, sometimes small beginnings make great
endings; if you make the best of your small belongings, some day your
homely surroundings will be metamorphosed into what, in your present
circumstances, would seem like extravagant luxuries. An economical
young couple, beginning life with a homely, home-made rag carpet, have
achieved in middle age, by their own energy and industry, carpets of
tapestry and rich velvet, and costly furniture in keeping; but,
never--never, dear, are they so valued, I assure you, as those
inexpensive articles, conceived by our inventive brain and
manufactured by our own deft fingers during our happy Springtime of
life when, with our young lover husband, we built our home nest on the
foundation of pure, unselfish, self-sacrificing love."
Aunt Sarah sighed; memory led her far back to when she had planned her
home with her lover, John Landis, still her lover, though both have
grown gray together, and shared alike the joys and sorrows of the
passing years. Aunt Sarah had always been the perfect "housemother" or
"Haus Frau," as the Germans phrase it, and on every line of her
matured face could be read an anxious care for the family welfare.
Truly could it be said of her, in the language of Henry Ward Beecher:
"Whoever makes home seem to the young dearer and happier is a public
benefactor."
Aunt Sarah said earnestly to Mary, "I wish it were possible for me to
impart to young, inexperienced girls, about to become housewives and
housemothers, a knowledge of those small economics, so necessary to
health and prosperity, taught me by many years of hard work, mental
travail, experience and some failures. In this extravagant Twentieth
Century economy is more imperative than formerly. We feel that we need
so much more these days than our grandmothers needed; and what we
need, or feel that we need, is so costly. The housemother has larger
problems today than yesterday.
"Every husband should give his wife an allowance according to his
income, so that she will be able to systematize her buying and
occasionally obtain imperishable goods at less cost. Being encouraged
thus to use her dormant economical powers; she will become a powerful
factor in the problem of home-making along lines that will essentially
aid her husband in acquiring a comfortable competency, if not a
fortune. Then she will have her husband's interest truly at heart;
will study to spend his money carefully, and to the best advantage;
and she herself, even, will be surprised at the many economies which
will suggest themselves to save his hard-earned money when she handles
that money herself, which certainly teaches her the saving habit and
the value of money.
"The majority of housewives of today aren't naturally inclined to be
extravagant or careless. It is rather that they lack the knowledge and
experience of spending money, and spending it to the best advantage
for themselves and their household needs.
"'Tis a compulsory law in England, I have heard, to allow a wife pin
money, according to a man's means. 'Tis a most wise law. To a loyal
wife and mother it gives added force, dignity and usefulness to have a
sufficient allowance and to be allowed unquestioningly to spend that
money to her best ability. Her husband, be he a working or
professional man, would find it greatly to his advantage in the home
as well as in his business and less of a drain on his bank account
should he give his wife a suitable allowance and trust her to spend it
according to her own intelligence and thrift.
"Child, many a man is violently prejudiced against giving a young wife
money; many allow her to run up bills, to her hurt and to his, rather
than have her, even in her household expenditure, independent of his
supervision. I sincerely hope, dear, that your intended, Ralph
Jackson, will be superior to this male idiosyncrasy, to term it
mildly, and allow you a stated sum monthly. The home is the woman's
kingdom, and she should be allowed to think for it, to buy for it, and
not to be cramped by lack of money to do as she thinks best for it."
"But, Aunt Sarah, some housewives are so silly that husbands cannot
really be blamed for withholding money from them and preventing them
from frittering it away in useless extravagance."
"Mary, wise wives should not suffer for those who are silly and
extravagant. I don't like to be sarcastic, but with the majority of
the men, silliness appeals to them more than common sense. Men like to
feel their superiority to us. However, though inexperienced, Mary, you
aren't silly or extravagant, and Ralph could safely trust you with his
money. It makes a woman so self-respecting, puts her on her mettle, to
have money to do as she pleases with, to be trusted, relied upon as a
reasoning, responsible being. A man, especially a young husband, makes
a grave mistake when he looks upon his wife as only a toy to amuse
him in his leisure moments and not as one to be trusted to aid him in
his life work. A trusted young housewife, with a reasonable and
regular allowance at her command, be she ever so inexperienced, will
soon plan to have wholesome, nutritious food at little cost, instead
of not knowing until a half hour before meal time what she will serve.
She would save money and the family would be better nourished;
nevertheless, I would impress it on the young housewife not to be too
saving or practice too close economy, especially when buying milk and
eggs, as there is nothing more nutritious or valuable. A palatable
macaroni and cheese; eggs or a combination of eggs and milk, are
dishes which may be substituted occasionally, at less expense, for
meat. A pound of macaroni and cheese equals a pound of steak in food
value. Take time and trouble to see that all food be well cooked and
served, both in an attractive and appetizing manner. Buy the cheaper
cuts of stewing meats, and by long, slow simmering, they will become
sweet and tender and of equal nutritive value as higher priced
sirloins and tenderloins.
"But, Mary, I've not yet finished that trunk and its contents. That
slightly-faded pink chambray I'll cut up into quilt blocks. Made up
with white patches, and quilted nicely, a pretty quilt lined with
white, will be evolved. I have such a pretty design of pink and white
called the 'Winding Way,' very simple to make. The beauty of the quilt
consists altogether in the manner in which the blocks are put
together, or it might be made over the pattern called 'The Flying
Dutchman.' From that tan linen skirt may be made a laundry bag, shoe
pocket, twine bag, a collar bag and a table runner, the only expense
being several skeins of green embroidery silk, and a couple yards of
green cord to draw the bags up with, and a couple of the same-hued
skirt braids for binding edges, and," teasingly, "Mary, you might
embroider Ralph Jackson's initials on the collar and laundry bag."
[Illustration:
A-12 Pine Tree Quilt
A-13 Tree of Life
A-14 Pineapple
A-15 Enlarged Block of Winding Way Quilt
A-16 Lost Rose in the Wilderness
A-17 Tree Quilt]
Mary blushed rosily red and exclaimed in an embarrassed manner, most
bewitchingly, "Oh!"
Aunt Sarah laughed. She thought to have Mary look that way 'twas worth
teasing her.
"Well, Mary, we can in leisure moments, from that coarse, white linen
skirt which you have discarded, make bureau scarfs, sideboard cover,
or a set of scalloped table mats to place under hot dishes on your
dining-room table. I will give you pieces of asbestos to slip between
the linen mats when finished. They are a great protection to the
table. You could also make several small guest towels with deep,
hemstitched ends with your initials on. You embroider so beautifully,
and the drawn work you do is done as expertly as that of the Mexican
women."
"Oh, Aunt Sarah, how ingenious you are."
"And, Mary, your rag carpet shall not be lacking. We shall tear up
those partly-worn muslin skirts into strips one-half inch in width,
and use the dyes left over from dyeing Easter eggs. I always save the
dye for this purpose, they come in such pretty, bright colors. The
rags, when sewed together with some I have in the attic, we'll have
woven into a useful carpet for the home you are planning.'
"Oh! Aunt Sarah," exclaimed Mary, "do you mean a carpet like the one
in the spare bedroom?"
"Yes, my dear, exactly like that, if you wish."
"Indeed I do, and I think one like that quite good enough to have in a
dining-room. I think it so pretty. It does not look at all like a
common rag carpet."
"No, my dear, it is nothing very uncommon. It is all in the way it is
woven. Instead of having two gay rainbow stripes about three inches
wide running through the length of the carpet, I had it woven with the
ground work white and brown chain to form checks. Then about an inch
apart were placed two threads of two shades of red woolen warp,
alternating with two threads of two shades of green, across the whole
width, running the length of the carpet. It has been greatly admired,
as it is rather different from that usually woven. All the rag carpets
I found in the house when we moved here, made by John's mother,
possessed very wide stripes of rainbow colors, composed of shaded
reds, yellows, blues and greens. You can imagine how very gorgeous
they were, and so very heavy. Many of the country weavers use linen
chain or warp instead of cotton, and always use wool warp for the
stripes."
"Aunt Sarah, I want something so very much for the Colonial bedroom I
should like to have when I have a home of my very own."
"What is it, dear? Anything, e'en to the half of my kingdom,"
laughingly replied her Aunt.
"Why, I'd love to have several rag rugs like those in your bedroom,
which you call 'New Colonial' rugs."
"Certainly, my dear. They are easily made from carpet rags. I have
already planned in my mind a pretty rag rug for you, to be made from
your old, garnet merino shirtwaist, combined with your discarded
cravenette stormcoat.
"And you'll need some pretty quilts, also," said her Aunt.
"I particularly admire the tree quilts," said Mary.
"You may have any one you choose; the one called 'Tree of Paradise,'
another called 'Pineapple Design,' which was originally a border to
'Fleur de lis' quilt or 'Pine Tree,' and still another called 'Tree of
Life,' and 'The Lost Rose in the Wilderness.'"
"They are all so odd," said Mary, "I scarcely know which one I think
prettiest."
"All are old-fashioned quilts, which I prize highly," continued her
Aunt. "Several I pieced together when a small girl, I think old-time
patchwork too pretty and useful an accomplishment to have gone out of
fashion.
"You shall have a small stand cover like the one you admired so
greatly, given me by Aunt Cornelia. It is very simple, the materials
required being a square of yard-wide unbleached muslin. In the centre
of this baste a large, blue-flowered handkerchief with cream-colored
ground, to match the muslin. Turn up a deep hem all around outside
edge; cut out quarter circles of the handkerchief at each of four
corners; baste neatly upon the muslin, leaving a space of muslin the
same width as the hem around each quarter circle; briarstitch all
turned-in edges with dark-blue embroidery silk, being washable, these
do nicely as covers for small tables or stands on the veranda in
Summertime."
"Aunt Sarah," ecstatically exclaimed Mary, "you are a wizard to plan
so many useful things from a trunk of apparently useless rags. What a
treasure Uncle has in you. I was fretting about having so little to
make my home attractive, but I feel quite elated at the thought of
having a carpet and rugs already planned, besides the numerous other
things evolved from your fertile brain."
Aunt Sarah loved a joke. She held up an old broadcloth cape. "Here is
a fine patch for Ralph Jackson's breeches, should he ever become
sedentary and need one."
Mary reddened and looked almost offended and was at a loss for a
reply.
[Illustration:
A-18 Fleur DeLys Quilt
A-19 Oak Leaf Quilt
A-20 One Block of Fleur DeLys Quilt
A-21 Winding Way Quilt
A-22 Tulip Quilt
A-23 Flower Pot Quilt]
Greatly amused, Aunt Sarah quoted ex-President Roosevelt: "'Tis time
for the man with the patch to come forward and the man with the dollar
to step back,'" and added, "Never mind, Mary, your Ralph is such an
industrious, hustling young man that he will never need a patch to
step forward, I prophesy that with such a helpmeet and 'Haus Frau' as
you, Mary, he'll always be most prosperous and happy. Kiss me, dear."
Mary did so, and her radiant smile at such praise from her honored
relative was beautiful to behold.
[Illustration: OLD RAG CARPET]