The Portland daily press., 1878-12-30
Needle Pictures.


For beginner the little fruit doyleys will be
found the best to undertake at first. Select
close, even linen of the kind used for shseting,
and yard and half in width, ard be careful
to see that it has few if any uneven threads;
half yard and one inch, the latter to allow
for shrinkage and uneven ends, is sufficient for
one dozen doslsys. Have It washed In strong
boiling g-hot suds, we'll rinsed, and then boiled
in clear water to remove the starch and render
it pliable; rinse from clear cold water aud pat
it to dry, without any addition of blusing.
When dry. cut off the selvedge, and pull q
thread at top and bottom that it may be cut
perfectly straight. Do not attempt to cut any
part of the work without first pulling thread
as guide, for it is impossible to have 1t per-
fectly.regular either by creasing it or following
an unpulled thread.
Divide the linen into two pieces, each of
which will be quarter of yard in width BIZ
yard and half in length. Each of these
pieces is to be cut into six, giving twelve pieces
each nine inches square. Ravel them all round
until you have fringe seven-aights of an inch
in depth; it is bstter to make faint pencil
mark on each Of the four sides before com
meucing, that the fringe may bs perfectly even.
WithNo. 100 unwaxsd cotton and q ne needle
whip them around, taking up four or i've
threads on the needle at once, and having the
stitches as even and regular as possible; do not
use knots, but run the cotton along at begin
ming and end, commencing with q thread long
enough for sll the sides, and avoid catching the
fringe in the work.
Place the doyley straight before you, and
with coarsish needle mark a point ssyen-
eighths of an inch from both the upper aud
left hand sides, mark another point half an
inch bslow this one and parallel with the left
hand side of the doyley; with pair of sharp
pointed scissors cut the hneo from point to
point Turn the linen around so that the left
hand side shall be the upper one and the lower
at the left hand cut slit in this corner cor
responding to the other, and continue until
each corner has been cut 1t would be better
to practice the cutting on piece of paper first,
and when you fnd the cutting at each corner
is at right angles with the one below it, the
work: is right. With the needle point pull
thread loose at the top and bottom of the slit
cut, drawing 1t along until you come within
three-eighths OF an inch OF the slit cut in the
other corner. Cut the linen from thread to
| thread, and repeat at the other three corners
| When finished there will be eight cuts In the
| doyley, the two on each side parallel to each
other. With No. so unwaxed cotton batton-
hole around each one as neatly as possible;
| then pull out all the threads on each side thar
were made free BY the cutting. These threads
| are now to bs herring-boned, using q fue
| needle and the same cotton; this is done by
commencing at one end Of the threads, aud
| taking up four threads on the needle, draw the
cotton through them, bringing il up at right
| angles to the work; take another stitch in the
| same place. only catching the body of the linen
| slightly with the needle and cotton. Repeat
this until you come to the other end, when,
| turning the doyley upside down, commence
taking mp the threads again on the needle
| only taking two threads from each cluster of
the row before; this makes q sort of ladder
work in the border, much prettier than II the
threads were taken in corresponding clusters
| When they have all been herring boned the
fascinating work OF decoration begins. For
| this purpose the silks must all be boiled in
clear water, doing only one shade &c time, anc
using fresh water and a carefully washed ves-
sci for every one. 1t is best to buy only lin
tied number Of colors, as there are SO many
that fade when tested; and if they will not bear
it, they must be discarded, as the work will not
allow the necessary laundrying Letter ID but
ton-hole twist is the most satisfactory In all
colors save shades Of red and green. There are
four shades of blue-navy that is almost black,
navy that is bright, bright sky blue, aud q
very delicate one; brown of two shades; gold
color, lemon, and two shades of sage green.
Bright red shading on scarlet, and entirely free
from Solferino tint, deep and bright rose,
peach-blossom, and turquoise blue ara best
when on quills. Unwind the silks cutting H.
to strands about half yard in length, throw
into boiling water, keeping at the bJIlipg point
for five or six minutes Remove aud lay on q
cloth to dry. If they retain their color when
subjected to this test they will never fade.
Green is the most difficult color to manage, and
| it is only the old-fashioned apple-green found
IN skeins that will be at all satisfactory. In
using the silk it will be- found three-stranded,
but it must be separated, and oay one strand
used in working, carefully mostening it when
| in using it becomes hossy aud uneven.
The designs are now to b. drawn on the doy-
leys, using a sharp lesd-pencil and being care
sul not to soil the work by wrong outlines and
erasing. II the latter is necessary, 1t is better
to wash out the marks with warm water and
soap than to use any other method, and COM
mence outlining again.
| A set done in fans Of different shapes aud
decorations are as pretty as one could desire.
Ii 1t is impossible to draw from one lying bs-
fore you, cut pattern in pastebosrd and out
line with the pencil. In the Bazar are often
found shsoes of fans very beautiful; aud in
Scrlboer's Moothly about year ago there was
an article on "Fsus," from which many designs
could be taken: the one in particular styled
| Eleanor dEste Fan was very handsome, with
| the sticks, handle, and chain done in gold, the
| waved lines in red, and designs IN two shades
| OF blue. The cheap Japanese fans give many
| an idea of color and figure; outline them in
bright blue with an inner line Of pink, navy