Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-19
Homemade Pretty Things.

glowing win nealth ana anlmatlOn. lnere |
is nothirsN ke brisk November breeze for
bringing roses to girlish faces.
"Unless she has had an auction sale and |
disposed of all the dreadful furniture" re-
piled Aunt Sophia " do not see that the is |
anything she could do which would work |
the slightest change or make any improve.
ment. And as the furniture was left her bv
her Aunt Ellen, ! suppose the poor child |
will have to endure it the rest of her life. |
I'm glad nobody ever left me any furniture
prefer buying my own"
How can you call it dreadful ?" said |
mother. "The sofas and chairs are old |
fashioned, but they are solid and respecta-
BILE, and are a sort of testimony to the world |
that Paul and Nellie Everett had forbears
who held good place in society several
generations ago"
"Paul's salary is very low, and Nellie has
no money to spend on frivolities," said Mrs
Lincoln "though my girls and declare
that she must be extravagant, so handsome |
as her dress and bonnets always are"
"She has a genius for good management |
and so had her mother before her." an
swered Aunt Sophia, quickly Z" am sure
her clothing costs very much less than that |
of some who never look half so well. But, |
Ruth, my dear, what has she been about in
her parlors 2"
81 called there this morning, to invite
hrr to take class in the sewing school, aud
for moment fanced must have made
a mistake and entered the wrong house.
Yet surely there was old Judge Everetts
portrait over the mantelpiece; and there
was madam's, in her lace bertha, and cuil
piled high over shell comb; and of course
| knew | was right. In came Mistress Nellie
tl,, oil nd Il ,t1 |
ceived that she was the arch-fairy. Elegant
curtains draped the windows they were OF
some pale cream-colored stuff, and were
trimmed with bands Of scarlet while IA deep
fluting of the same color made sort of cor
nice for them at the top of the window
They were looped back with scarlet ribbons
lied into full bows, and between them, in the
bright sunlight, hung two lovely baskets
over-running with vines and ferns and flow
ers in bloom. In one window, on a little
stand, was a miniature aquarium, with gold
and silver fishes, sticklebacks, and other
finny things darting to and fro through the
water. A floor of pebbles and sand was laid
in the tiny tank, in which aquatic plants
were flourishing. In the opposite window
stood table which held lovely fernery,
its glass sides beaded with dew, and the
prettiest possible things growing in it luxn-
riantly. Now, what do you think those
curtains We're made Of my dears ?"
Aunt Sophia said, " Silk or worsted OF
some sort, | suppose"
Nothing of the sort They were made
of unbleached muslin at seven cents a yard,
and trimmed with Nelie's old flannel wrap
per. The top futings were manufactured
Jut of Paul's last years undershirts, which
he had discarded. Fortunately the colors
matched precisely"
"Well, Ruth, | must see unbleached mus
| lin curtains, trimmed with old flannel, be-
| fore | eau believe that they are handsome
said Aunt Sophia, though admit you to
be young woman of taste, who understands
what she is talking about. But the old
hair-cloth furniture ~
Is all metamorphosed amazingly, auntie.
Nellie went to Broadway the other day. and
there she saw piece of cretonne, cream
color with clusters or roses strewn over 1t
here and there, as if they had been thrown
N it carelessly. She had gone 10 buy a new
dress, but she had concluded while on the
ferry boat to turn her old cashmere and
make it last another season. SO instead
,he purchased yards and yards of this ere
tonne. 1t is cotton fabric and has a
twilled appearance, without the glazed look
OF chintz. With the money she had letI
after buying this, she invested in a couplt
oi brackets on which to stand the pots o
flowers. She also bought a number of thost
small fancy pictures, which the children art
all wild about just now. Coming home
,he at once set to work, and made slip GOV
ers for all the furniture You have no idea
how gay and bright it looks"
The carpet, though 7" said mother
THE carpet, you remember, is one o
those dark, large-patterned things, whicl
were in vogue twenty years ago. 1t ha
faded out a good deal, aud the reds AM
browns are toned down and blended together
in way which is, to my mind, much NOR
inviting than one of those distressingly neN
r things. In fact, the Everetts carpet, old a
it is, has quite the advantage III point q
!, beauty over the most expensive Persian ru
YOU can find for your money. Nellie ha
\ been making magnificent mat to lay /
front of her piano, aud she boasts OF tina
8 too, as a triumph of cheapness. 1t wa
l. Knitted on No. ii steel needles, out of SCRAP
y aud ends OF worsted.'
|, Tell me how, il you can" said Elsi
=" want TO make IA mat for grandma
u Christmas gift
Its not worth while for Inc TO listen,
e said Mrs. Foster. with three children
II mend aud make for, mother gets no leisul
l. ior fancy-work."
g. Your pretty babies are much nicer tina
u any fancy things, and more ornamental, to
4 in my view," said Ruth, who liked TO mah
= everybody feel happy. But even you, Mr.
y Foster, have odd moments now and the
'e waiting-for dinner moments, and spells
i, ~ time when it's growing dark, and this kni
70 ting.work would come in nicely then. Yo
,a -, take zephyr worsted, and you set up min
w teen stitches, and knit plainly, backwa
aud forward, as ii you were making ga
ters or horse-reins for little boys TO pli
with, When you have a strip yard lon
the more colors the better, you lay 1t /
at tween the folds of a towel, well dampene
An aud press il with hot flatiron, until b
d. towel is dry. You then cut your str
er lengthwise through the middle, and att