The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 20, 1903, Page 22

THE SAN FR/ NCISCO SUNDAY CALL—CHRISTMAS NUMBER. ANDRWERCHI\EF e UBT how to make the best ap- pearance for the least money Is the all besetting question about two weeks before the 25th day of Lecember, and If y ve solved the proposition of $20 take the piace of $40 1 are about one of the luckiest individ n the face of the earth gifts is a led affair that enings, but rated with sized pen placed ture If you have even the of inge of it, an wi k may be pu If a dollar, for t is the pla ‘ fact, the pla the better for the contrast. of a cord the stiffer and wk with the paltry most, ays it costs a well worth the amount trinket ug One of tk convenient trifies for the s is & pin scrap. Not tha rdinary pin cushion for everything, but ! e affair that may be tucked away into a corner of the trunk or pinned on the Lureau where it ¥y be easlly gc n at. one of the beauties about it is the trifiing cost. There is scarcely a house that does not contain a scrap bag and there is scarcely a scrap bag that does not contain a ce of eider- down twelve inches square. For that is the main part of it. There is, of course, an outside ribbon, but as it may be any color, there generally is not much difficuity in finding that part of it. Silk or satin will do quite as well for that matter, and while it is prettiest when made of a baby blue or a rosy pink it is not half as serviceable and after & few months will look as though it bad come out of the ark itself. The making is so simple that any child could put it together without the slightest difficulty. An interlin of cheese cloth and sprinkled lavishly with sachet powder is nice, but it is not necessary and runs the expense up quite a little. But either with or without it the making is quite the same. The silk is turned in all around the four corners, and so is the eiderdown, but the finishing touches are quite different. The outer cover is firmly caught down with a feather stitch, that try as hard as you may, will show through a little on the opposite side. Then to overcome that part of it, ribbon the color of the eider- down and about a half inch in width is put on in & blind fashion and the pretty bauble is nearly completed. That leaves it perfectly square, or oblong if you have chanced to make it that shape, and there is nothing to hold WHAT cAN BE DONE WIiTH A : PLAIN WHITE AN »: it together. Fold it three times and run two b s of narrow ribbon about the outside king care to see that the ends nough to tie, for then ade into a small, neat pack- not be a troublesome nui- sance. If you want to finish it up to a T, stock it with pins of all kinds and size and descriptions. Not until you have visited some pin counter and thorough- igated the supply will you re- variety and usefulness of them. ali There are wee ones that look like so many smalil pearls, tiny bits of coral mounted on a short brass pin, small jet imitations and such a countless va- riety that it would take just about half a minute to fill the nd do it well. a and un- Only a we iates derstands of pins and when she can lay her hand on half a dozen kinds when she is dressing in a hurry she counts herself thrice blessed. To the casual observer the useful article might seem more of a nuisance than anything else, but it is the kind of a one that is carried about from pillar to post and is duplicated year after year. Another homely convenience is the shoe bag. Not the one that hangs on the closet door and that serves as a sort of free grab-bag, but the one that is used exclusively in trunks and that saves all the fuss and feather of hunt- ing about the house for a plece of newspaper to wrap muddy rubbers and boots in. Glass toweling is about as good a ma- terial as it is possible to find, for it washes time after time and is never the worse for wear. It need not neces- sarily be plain or have an ugly red bor- der about it, for these days it comes in blue and white checks or ‘in the red and white, and there is enough varlety in the sizes to suit even the most fas- tidious. The best and easiest way to do Is to measure your own shoes and use them es a guide. Remember that the ma- terfal must be doubled to resemble a bag or else the boots would drop out. Fold the material over twice and then count on about a third of the length for e flap that buttons and holds them se- curely in place. Generally the flap is about five or six inches long and may be square or pointed to suit the fancy of the maker. That makes a suitable bag, so it should be stitched down the very cen- ter, dividing it into two equal parts. Even after each shoe is buttoned in its own little house, the effect is not good and they take up altogether too much room, so & plece of tape is sewed firmly on the middle of the bag and when it is tied the boots are ready to be stowed away next the best silk gown in the trunk. Feather stitching in a contrasting color is a pretty and quick way to fin- ieh them Instead of the plain machine stitching and when they are picked up now and then in the evenings and worked on for only a few minutes it is astonishing how rapidly they make a ehowing for themselves and how much they are improved. Then If you want to make them espe- clally attractive, mark the set with an initial and either work it in solid os merely outline it, but either way the result is good and the extra time spent is seldom considered wasted. Doylies are always pretty and ao- ceptable and the girl who takes pride in a dainty room never can get enough to entirely fill her wants. She places them under a wee vase that contains a eingle flower, under a silver tray or a bit of brass, but always to the best advantage and where they make the best showing. S0 here is where the home body is able to make another inning. Every time she finds a plece of stray huck that has been left over from roller towels she st;alghtway appropriates #t and in an idle moment puts a circular border around it and later embroiders it to suit her fancy. The entire piece is laid on a flat sur- face and a round ring placed about it and marked off, so that when the fancy stitches are finished all that remains to be done is to ravel out the huck and cut the fringe the proper shape. Pretty lingerie is always an acoepta- ble gift, especially when it is made every stitch by hand. While the good old days of hand work have almost en- tirely passed away, it makes the few pleces the more sought after, but if SOoOLL AR MaADE o you are rushed for time don't run &way with the idea that a corset cover or chemise is the easiest thing on earth to fashion. They are mo dainty and sheer. Col- ored corset covers are more of & fad than anything else and are only worn under a thin frock, but the other pleces are always made of white linen or of a soft dimity. . AT TING AND BEADS LINED There is hardly any the number of they vary whole. An especially good fashion for & IBBON AND LACE CORSET CTOVER SWITH BLUE SILw slender girl is to take the lace and ribbon and sew them, strip for strip, in & long plece and then send it to be accordion pleated. Then practically nothing remains to do but belt it with a bit of beading, both top and bottom, and sew ribbons on that which are to serve as shoulder straps. It's the sim- plest sort of a cover, but is cne of the fluMest that can be imagined. It re- quires no fitting and 1s perfectly straight, excepting a slight hollow under the arm, so that it will not bulge and feel uncomfortable, but otherwise it 18 plain sewing. Then, on the other hand, the ribbon and lace may be run the other way and the resuit is quite as good. Long strips gathered into a belt with a great ribbon fluff-fluff add the finishing touches, but either way the hand work is about the same, and you will find that it will take a great deal longer to whip the two together than you dreamed of. Handkerchiefs have been oconverted into pretty covers too, and as they are & great deal more serviceable deserve FRaye r EMBQO.%EA,Q_;‘; % B more populanm Of course, the bandkerchief must have a plain bor- der, but there may be all sorts of monograms and ralsed work In the gorners and about the border; In fact, the more the prettier and the mors elaborate the cover. When they are cut in two and the In- sertion is added, it takes but two fair- sized ones, but when the linen Is used by itself and they are made plenty full it takes three. The shoulder straps depend entirely upon the whim of the maker. A plece of insertion bound with lace on two sides is flufry and pretty, and it washes well, but ribbon adds a dash of color and 1s infinitely less work to put on the first time, and the maker, @s a rule, troubles her head but little @bout the numerous times the ribbon ‘will have to be ripped off and sewed on again when it goes to the laundry. For the girl that does a good deal of needlework there is the handy apron. Not the regulation white affair that is used to protect the gown from threads and the like, but a usetul fittle thing that is Intended to look dashing and yet be useful at the same time. It is made of any material that 1is soft and pretty, but those made of a flowered dimity are more attractive than a white wash silk one, for the rose buds of pink permit a belt of pink rib- bon and feather stitching of pink, while the white seems to look far bet- ter by itself. One yard and a quarter is plenty, for it they extend below the knees the chic look that half makes them is quite gone. One width straight goods is cut, and then about a third of the length 18 sewed on, not doubled up, for that would bring the right and wrong side of the goods in sharp contrast. Really that is all there is to f#t. In about two minutes the sides may be basted up ready to be feather-stitched at some future time, and the distances measured off in the bag that has been formed, so that there will be various ccmpartments. The strings are much prettier if they are of ribbon, and to carry out the entire idea should be feather-stitched with the same color as the ribbon. It is but a trif that costs exastly what you want ., for the actual ex- pense depends entirely n the qual- ity of the material There are some delicate bought any cents & yard used ginghama ere from that may be 20 to 60 or O not as fimsy looking and consequen never look quite as much a dr p affair as the organdy or the lawn ones. A pretty way of telling your friends what the apron intended for is to put a few spools of thread in ome pocket, & wee palr of scissors in an- other and line the third wi >dds and ends of s es and a thimble. That finishes it off to a nicety and makes of it a yet at the san ably more, wt h0re elaborate gify, e it costs consider- ) has a great deal to do w the holiday season. One of the b t around the money pr vay any small amount no matter how trifiing it may be—say nly 25 cents a week— even If al nights and it is it will grow and isn®t a half-bad A ¥ in summer fabrics, for th rger stores are all in- tent on clearing them out in order to make room for the spring styles, and there opportunities of yards of lawn > n aprons are to be made every little thing counts not a little. And it i{s the same at the ribbom counter. There are hosts of chances to pick up a yard or so left over, and the first thing you know the gift is ready to tie up in tissue paper, and the total cost has been but a few pennies. Neckwear is always appropriate and nice, and while it comes under the head of wearing apparel that has always been more or less religiously tabooed, it is one of the few articles that one never seems to quite enough of, and pever the right one at the right time. The latest in the simple ones are made of gentlemen’s handkerchiefs and they are not only pretty but are very serviceable as well, which counts for a great deal these days. Buy a "kerchief that has a border of some color, for in- stance a bright red or a pink, and by a little ma ring you will find that the middle part can be cut out and that there are exactly four small seams te be sewed up and the tle is completa. It takes at the longest probably three- quarters of an hour to make, and as the material costs about 25 cents or 3 cents you can easily make a set of three and call it square. Handkerchiefs themselves are & use- ful offering. Not the ones that come & solid dozen a box, but the ones that are 8o trying on the eyes and that show you have to wa or deny yourselt surprising how help out at st Remnant scheme eit e cream, quickl a every time they are taken out that they are something out of the ordinary. The linen may be had shop for 75 cents, but and plenty good enough at r a yard It comes in different widths, and you should be careful to get the w it will make three, and thers w be a plece wasted on the side. a thread to cut by, otherwise you may not get it absolutely correct, and later in hemstitching the linen would be puckered. Twelve inches square is the regula- tion size, and, while they are rather small they are large enough and are much daintier than those that measure full fourteen inches. The hem depends upon your own whim, but it usually looks better if it is about a half inch wide and never should be more than three-quarters. The corners are trying affairs, but the neatness of the hand- kerchlef depends upon it About the best way is to cut them out a little and then turn the edges In and take just the smallest posaible stitches in rounding the corners, and fn that way many washings will not affect them in the least. Be careful in plecing lace at any time At best it is a ticklish task, and noth- ing Tuins the appearance of a dalnty bit of handiwork so much as an un- sightly raw seam or a queer-looking bunch. Never sew lace straight across. In the first place the pattern was not made that way, and if you will take the trouble to go into any rellable shop and ask them to show you some real lace you will find that they never cut in, rather rip it, and jn following the pat- tern the end will look as though it had been cut on the blas. Don't try to double it over, but In- stead cut it rather closely and set to work to catch every place and strive to make it look as much like the orig- inal pattern as possible. If every tiny hole has been firmly caught it will hold from now until the crack of doom, and after a bit of practicing it will take an expert to detect the joine m’i"i\ere really isn’'t much sense sitting about and crying aloud that the holi- days always takes every cent you can rake and scrape together, for if you only take the trouble to think and take pointers from those about you; you will soon come to the edifying conclu- slon that Christmas isn’t such an awe ful bugbear as you fondly fancied it to be, and after the all eventful day has passed you may still find a stray dime ‘with which to bless yourself.