# Embroidery and Fancy Work/Odds and Ends

ODDS AND ENDS.
In looking over my note-book, I find, as often happens by a housekeeper in clearing out closets and drawers, quite a number of things noted down which cannot easily be classified. Such "hints" I have reserved for this final chapter of "odds and ends," in which suggestions for both useful and ornamental work will be found.
CLOSET BAGS.
Amongst the novelties brought out last winter was a closet bag which recommended itself by its great capabilities in the way of holding the innumerable necessary articles which so tend to "clutter up" closet shelves and floors. I give the dimensions of the one in my possession, although these might be altered to suit the space where the bag is to hang.
Three and a half yards of good cretonne are needed together with alpaca braid of a suitable color, and a number of stout eyes, by which the bag is fastened to the wall. The foundation of the bag is made of a piece of cretonne twenty-six inches wide and fifty-four inches inches deep. Cut out a piece of cretonne thirty and one half inches deep, twenty-six and one half inches wide at the top, and sloping on either side to a width of sixteen and one half inches at the bottom. Cut the upper part into a deep concave scallop. Bind the top with a piece of braid. This piece forms two pockets for the reception ​of umbrellas and parasols. It must be placed in the middle of the lower part of the back piece, basting the middle of the pocket to the middle of the back, and laying the lower part in a box pleat on either side of this seam. Stitch this middle seam firmly down, and cover it with a piece of braid. To make these umbrella cases set well, baste the box pleats down the length of the pocket and then baste the whole pocket smoothly on to the back. On either side of this middle compartment place three pockets graduated in size as follows, remembering to lay a box pleat in each one before putting it on the back. The dimensions for the pockets are as follows: twelve by fifteen inches for the lowest; nine and a half by fifteen for the middle one; and eight by twelve for the top one. Of course, one side must be sloped a little to accommodate the slope of the umbrella cases. Cover the seams between the side and central pockets with braid. Above these put on three pockets fourteen inches deep by sixteen inches wide (before the box pleat is laid), binding and dividing these by braid. Cut a slanting piece off each upper corner, leaving room for a small pocket six and one-half inches in depth by eleven inches in width.
Bind with braid, and sew large eyes all round the bag at regular distances by which it may be fastened with large tacks to the door or wall.
Every one who has to pack a trunk often, knows the trouble of doing up shoes comfortably. A number of small bags or cases made of any stout material will be found a great convenience. These can be made to accommodate either a single shoe or a pair, and may be in the form of an oblong bag with a running string, or made like a pocket with a flap coming over the top and buttoning. Of course, these can be ornamented or not at pleasure, but if made of stout brown drilling, and marked in indelible ink with the name of the shoe they are to ​contain, they will be found even though not "things of beauty," yet "joys forever."
The following ingenious way of covering bottles may
Fig. 134.
be found useful for those extremely awkward bottles in which German eau de cologne is bought.
Procure some fine but good twine and a packing needle through which the twine can be threaded. Tie a piece tightly round the neck, carry it down the side, and tie it round the bottom of the bottle, up the opposite side, round the neck again, and down to the bottom. Thread the twine and work from the bottom to the neck. Make a row of close buttonhole stitches over the loop at the bottom, to begin with, and then work rows of loose buttonhole stitches round and round the bottle. Overcast the loops round the neck and plait a string to hang up by. If you have a Chinese ginger jar with the cane net work which is generally over them, you will see immediately how the foundation loops are to be put on.
TABLE MATS.
Very serviceable mats can be made of a kind of twine plait work, executed as follows: You will need for this ​work a wooden frame about the size and shape of the mat you propose making, with rows of pegs or large pins inserted at the top and bottom. Common seine twine can be used, the size to be chosen to suit your taste. Double the string and wind it up and down the frame in the pegs until it is quite full. Now thread a small packing needle with the twine, using it double, and darn in and out of the strands, over two, and under two. Cut the twine off at the end of each line of darning. When the whole is darned, brush the back well over with thick paste while the mat is still in the frame, and let it get thoroughly dry. Have ready a piece of mill board cut to the required shape and covered on one side with cambric or merino. Cut the plait work to lit the foundation, and baste the edges firmly to the mill board, binding with ribbon or tape to match the lining. To finish the mat plait nine strands in a three plait braid and sew over the binding. If the plait work is heavy enough, the mill-board can be dispensed with. Two or more colors can be used in the work thus producing a checkered pattern. Cross work patterns can also be worked on them.
TO TRANSFER COLORED PLATES TO GLASS.
Very pretty transparencies can be made by carefully transferring good colored plates to glass, by the following process:
Lay a smooth, thin coat of Venice turpentine on the glass, and then take the print and wet it on the back with a sponge dipped in water. Make it moist enough to render the picture soft, without being watery. Lay the picture, face downwards, on the turpentine, now carefully rub the paper away on the back with the fingers. If the paper dries too much before it is finished, it must be wetted again. When all the paper is worked off, let it dry, and with a fine camel's hair brush, lay a ​coat of oil of turpentine over the whole. I have seen prints transferred to white wood in the same way. In this case, the wood was carefully varnished and polished after the design was laid on. Great care should be exercised in rubbing off the paper at the back, as it is an exceedingly easy matter to rub through to the glass.
UTILIZING PEACH BASKETS.
Very serviceable and pretty scrap baskets can be made from peach baskets, by painting them black or any desirable color, and then ornamenting them with a band of embroidery, or a drapery of crochet or macramé fringe. Several coats of paint should be put on to hide the roughness of the basket, which should be lined with a suitable color. A pocket on one side for scraps which suggest doubts as to the propriety of throwing them away will prove a useful addition.
A small peach basket similarly treated, would prove a convenient ornament for some sitting room mantelpieces, to be used as a receptacle for the various articles which are apt to gather there.
Two of the large peach baskets fastened together at the lower end, so as to form an hour glass, and either painted or covered with cretonne, gathered at narrowest part with a band of cretonne bound with braid or else with a ribbon, makes an excellent work basket for holding large pieces of fancy work, or it may be used as the family mending basket. If used for the latter, one or more pockets should be put on the lining of the upper basket for holding pieces and the other necessary aids to darning and mending. A brace of inch wood in the shape of a cross put at the bottom will serve to balance the home-made table. If wished, a cover of heavy mill- board covered with cretonne can be fitted, to the upper basket or if the table basket is painted and trimmed ​with fringe, felt or serge of the color used in painting can be employed.
SCRAP RUGS.
Reference has been made, in the chapter on knitting, to rugs made out of scraps of woolen cloth. Another kind can be made very easily as follows: Out your scraps (which may be of all varieties of material only taking care that woolen pieces form a large proportion) into inch squares. Take a piece of twine three or four yards long and a needle sufficiently coarse to carry the twine; thread your pieces of cloth on the twine as though they were beads. When you have a sufficient number threaded, taking care to crowd them on the string, fasten your twine well into the last two or three stitches. Now roll the string of scraps round and round, taking long stitches through and through to keep it flat. When it is quite firm, lay the mat on the floor or a table and pare away the rough edges on both sides until the rug is about half its original thickness. If an oblong mat is preferred, it can be made by making a number of strings of pieces, as long as the desired width of the rug, sewing these strips firmly together. A border can be arranged without much trouble. It is worth while to try a little yellow or orange colored flannel to mix with the other scraps, because it adds so greatly to the effect. The patent dyes can be used for old white flannel. Some white is also an improvement, time turning it down to a harmonious gray.
I have seen very handsome rugs made of pieces of woolen cloth cut to a uniform size and then sewed on to a ticking foundation. In some, quite elaborate designs had been attempted but the prettiest were those which were made with a centre of mixed colors and a border of black. In many places, materials for these rugs can be obtained at a very moderate cost, at a tailor's shop.
​Mr. Howell in "The Lady of the Aroostook" in describing the Captain's state-room alludes to still another kind of rug work called "hooking." The materials for this work are sold in some cities under the name of materials for "Home-made Turkish Rugs." At these places quite elaborate patterns can be obtained ready stamped for working. A piece of coarse burlaps or coffee bagging, a very large stout hook like a crochet hook, and a good assortment of rags are all that is necessary for this work. Cut the rags very much as you do for rag carpeting. I have found it convenient to sew mine into long strips, varying the color frequently.
Stretch your burlaps in a frame, just a little larger than the rug will be. Wind this frame with list and fasten the burlaps firmly in. Define the outer and inner edges of the border with a thread of coarse or darning cotton or a charcoal line. Holding your piece of cloth under the frame, put your hook through the burlaps from the right side and draw a loop through to a length of about three-fourths of an inch; repeat this every three or four threads, according to the width and quality of your pieces. When you have worked quite a space, shear it off evenly with large scissors. This is done much more easily as the work progresses than if you wait till the whole is done. A little practice soon teaches you how far apart to put your work in. When geometrical patterns are stamped on the burlaps, very excellent imitations of Turkey rugs can be made. These patterns can be bought at quite low prices.
In Fig. 135, a very pretty style of needlework is used for ornamenting a pillow case cover. The design must be enlarged and transferred to the material, and the work is executed in buttonhole stitch with white embroidery cotton, after which the linen between the design figures is cut away. Bureau and table scarfs can be ornamented in the same way.
​A remarkable pretty little basket came under my notice the other day, and the maker very kindly gave me directions for making it. The foundation consisted of a
Fig. 135
elliptical piece of cork covered on the one side with some inexpensive material, on the other with light blue satin on which a spray of apple blossoms was painted. Into the upper side of this piece of cork, pins
TO MAKE PICTURES OF BIRDS WITH THEIR NATURAL FEATHERS.
The following directions are taken from the "Family Friend" an English journal devoting much space to "fancy work."
First take a thin board or panel of deal or wainscot, well seasoned, that it may not shrink; then smoothly paste on it white paper, and let it dry, and if the wood casts its color through, paste on it another paper till perfectly white; let it stand till quite dry, and then get any bird you would represent, and draw its figure as exactly as possible on the papered panel (middle-sized birds are the best for the purpose); then paint what tree or ground-work you intend to set your bird upon, also its bill and legs, leaving the rest of the body to be covered with its own feathers. You must next prepare that part to be feathered by laying on thick gum arabic, dissolved in water; lay it on with a large camel's hair pencil, and let it dry; lay on successive coats, drying each one until you have a good body on the paper as thick, at least, as a twenty-five cent piece; let it dry quite hard.
Take the feathers off the bird as you use them, beginning at the tail and points of the wings, and working upwards to the head, observing to cover each part of your draught with the feathers taken from the same part of the bird, letting them fall over one another in the natural order. You must prepare your feathers by cutting off the downy parts that are about their stems, and the large feathers must have the insides of their shafts shaved off with a sharp knife, to make them lie flat; the quills of the wings must have their inner webs clipped off, so that in laying them the gum may hold them by their shafts. When you begin to lay them, take a pair of steel pliers to hold the feathers in, and have some gum-water, not too thin, and a large camel's hair pencil ready to ​moisten the ground-work by little and little as you work it; then lay your feathers on the moistened parts, which must not be waterish, but only clammy to hold the feathers. You must have prepared a great many sugar-loaf-shaped leaden weights, which you may form by castting the lead into sand, in which shapes or moulds for it have been made by means of a pointed stick prodded all over the surface, leaving small holes to receive the melted lead. These weights will be necessary to set on the feathers when you have merely laid them on, in order to press them into the gum till they are fixed; but you must be cautious lest the gum comes through the feathers, for it would not only smear them, but would stick to the bottoms of the little weights; and in taking them off you would bring the feathers also, which would quite disarrange your work; be cautious, therefore, not to have your coat of gum too moist or wet. When you have wholly covered your bird with its feathers, you must, with a little thick gum, stick on a piece of paper, cut round, of the size of an eye, which you must color to resemble the eye of a bird if you cannot procure a glass one of the kind; and when the whole is dry, you must dress the feathers all round the outline (such as may have chanced to start), and rectify all defects in every other part; then lay on it a sheet of clean paper, and a heavy weight, such as a book, to press it; after which it may be preserved in a glass-frame, such as are used for pieces of shell-work, etc.
A WALL BASKET.
A very convenient wall pocket can be made from a good sized Japanese fan, cretonne and ribbon. Cover the fan with cretonne and put on a pocket of the same. Trim with pleated ribbon and a bow on the handle. Covered with quilted silk, or satin on which a floral design is worked or painted, makes a very handsome affair.
HOME-MADE PICTURE FRAME.
It is sometimes desirable to frame pictures at home. Here are a few directions as to doing it.
If the margin of your engraving or picture is not perfectly clean make a "mat" out of tinted drawing paper. To do this cut your paper the size of the picture and cut in it an oval or square through which the picture may be seen. It will be necessary to draw the outline for this very carefully, making very accurate measurements, so that the margin will be symmetrical. If you wish to draw an oval and have no mathematical instruments, place a string over two pins firmly placed as foci of the ellipse. The string should be a little longer than the distance between the pins. Move a pencil round just inside the string and the result will be an ellipse of the required form. About half an inch outside of this draw a second oval, and with a sharp knife cut it half through the cardboard. These two ovals must be very sharply and neatly cut. The cardboard should be bent inward at this cut. Take a thick piece of cardboard and cut in it a hole just a little larger than the one in the "mat," and paste the latter on, laying the whole over the picture. Put the glass in its place on the top of the mat and it to the frame by strips of leather paper or even by very nice strips of brown wrapping paper making an even rim round the margin of the picture, and pasting enough over the back to hold it firmly in place. Paste a sheet of stout brown paper over the back, inserting a piece of tape holding a small ring at the top of the frame, pasting it firmly to the pasteboard.
You can vary this frame by rolling up some very stout brown paper and press it out flat till it is an inch or two wide. Glue it into shape and cover with tinfoil glued on. Then fit it to the glass, slanting the corners so that they will fit neatly. A little narrow margin of red or blue ​velvet glued under the inner side of the frame makes a pretty finish. Now glue the whole frame on to the picture.
If you have any old wooden frames you can guild them as follows: Put some boiled linseed oil in a saucer and expose it to the air for a few days. Then mix with some yellow ochre, ground in oil. This is oil gold size, which if you choose you can buy ready mixed. Give the frame a coat of white paint and three days after another. When quite dry, rub down smooth with the finest quality of glass paper. Then put on a coat of gold size and let it stand for twenty-four hours, when it will be ready for the gold leaf. To put this on, take a piece of tissue paper two inches square and rub one side lightly with wax. Get a straight edged knife and cut the pieces just the width of the frame. Put the waxed side of the tissue paper on the gold leaf, lift it up, and lay it on the frame; rub lightly on the paper with the finger, and the gold will adhere to the frame. Let each piece lap over the previous one about an eighth of an inch, so that the joinings may not show. When the frame is covered, put over it with cotton-wool. Set it away for a few hours, then brush off the superfluous gold, and your frame is done.
A FLOWER POT COVER.
Collect during the season large bunches of wheat, barley, or other heads of grass or reeds. Cut out the form of the flower pot in stiff card-board or paste-board. Cover this neatly with rows of grass or wheat arranged as closely as possible, tacking them closely around the bottom and expanding them around the top so that they will be eqidistant from each other. Then commencing at the bottom, proceed to interweave half inch scarlet or other colored ribbon in and out of the stalks, until the heads (extending above the top) are reached, when the ​end must be securely fastened off and hidden with a rosette or bow. When thus woven, cut the stitches top and bottom and remove the paste-board foundation.
A mat can be formed by cutting out a circular piece of paste-board as much larger than the bottom as the length of the heads to be used. Cover this with cambric of a color suited to the ribbon, and fasten the heads of grain around it so that they touch each other around the circle into which the pot fits, spreading like rays to the outer edge.
Such a cover makes a pot of flowers a beautiful ornament for the dining table. A pot of ferns is especially desirable for such a use.
WORK-BASKET WITH EMBROIDERED DRAPE.
Fig. 136.
The basket is of fancy wicker, the drape is of ruby plush, with the foliage design shown in Fig. 137, embroidered in outline stitch with green silk. It is edged with the trimming shown in Fig. 138, which is Venetian ​embroidery worked in ruby silk. The dark portions of
Fig. 137.
the design are covered with knot stitches in ruby silk,
Fig. 138.
A Home-Made Gypsy Table.
Fig. 139.