The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1883-03-30
HOUSEHOLD DECORATION.

LOVELY little brackets for the wan
are now made of ebonized wood, with
the back shaped exactly like q round
Japanese fan. The shelf and the lower
part, including the handle of the fan
are of the plain black, but the fan must
be decorated in gay colors. An ingen-
ious woman may improve the appear
ance of an ordinary bracket by lacking
an ordinary round fan to the wall be-
hind it.
A CARRIAGE RUG of colored felt looks
very well with q large monogram
worked in the center and q spray Of
flowers in each corner. Brown holland
and chintz flowers in olive shades ar
hanged all around and appliquied, look
we'll. A design of flowers and leaves
on broad band of dark blue, green or
red, stitched on to o carriage cloth, is
effective, adding long stitches on either
side of the band with thread the same
color. They should be very long,
"spikey" stitches, which are pretty and
quickly done.
FOLDING screens are being used con-
siderably. Some are quite small for
standing before fire-places, others are
high enough to hide door. A very
effective one can be made of common
kitchen clothes-horse, with coarse
muslin nailed tightly down each side,
and strip of red plush or velvet turned
over the wooden edges and tackled
around forms the binding. To form
the panels use blue satin and embroider
in colors design of one or two long
stalked ox-eyed daisies, few leaves
and blades of grass and several rich
hued butterflies. Another pretty way
of decorating is to press flowers and
grasses, tie them in punches as desired
and fasten on the panels; then back
of the spray paint shadows of flowers
and leaves and long, bending grasses.
For piano mat procure some cam
vas not too coarse, cut it the size You
wish your mat, leaving margin at least
an inch, a wood mesh one inch deep,
and q dozen large and strong rug
needles A small pattern with border
is the most suited to the work. You
should mark on the canvas border of
two or three inches in width, and line
this border on each side with two
the middle of this border work O small
star or scroll of thirteen stitches; work
this in white, and the ground between
the two line in lighter shade of gre
nat; for the center mark your design ON
the canvas with pen and ink-a small
geometrical one would be in character.
When this is marked thread your
needles with very long pieces of wool
and work them double. The work is
now commenced. Work carefully in
rows and every stitch pass the wool
over the mesh for each part of the
stitch. Have q few stitches of one
color, and then change the color. To
effect this leave the needle, just run
ming the wool in and out of the canvas
under the mesh, and draw the thread
out and cut off; if it does not waste too
much, carry it on to the next place
where required, as the fewer joins the
better. 1t is better to cut the rows
when all are worked. A skillful cutter
will make this kind of work look much
like velvet pile, but an ameteur would
not succeed in producing that effect,
especially with such coarse material.
We have seen steel meshes half and
three-eights of an inch in width, with a
little movable knife at one end. When
the whole row was worked this way the
knife was slipped into the place. The
mesh was then pulled through the
work, and the knife cut as it passed
through, making the work very even
and the work softer than velvet pile.
After the mat is completed it should be
lined throughout with burlap or canton
flannel and trimmed all around with an
edge of colored cloth pinked out, or with
wool fringe of gay colors, to match
the shades used in the work.