The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1892-07-16
STOCKINGS AND SHOES.
Pointers About Two Articles of Everyday
Wear.


"Your old stockings and my old
Shoes the first disliked on every hand
or foot-the second loved and chung
to by all but the very young and un-
tender! On this account l might rather
speak of the last first, but, you see, 1
have said ''your old stockings" and
courtesy requires that I mention them
first. | want to begin by saying that
when those old stockings are right new
care should be taken that they are the
right size. A stocking too small cramps
the foot almost as badly as a shoe, while
if too large land they always stretch in
washing) they will hurt your feet and
give you corns.
But want to specially deal with old
stockings | have found, or rather
founded, "A method to put off this evil
day of age considerably. This is to
darn the smallest hole as soon as it ap-
pears; in this way many nine stitches
are saved. But this is only possible
with those on your own or the very lit
tie peoples feet. You do not see the
others in time. But darn all the holes
before the stockings arc washed. They
come out of the wash nearly as large
again as they go in. Air them first,
then darn, and darn loosely. This
saves much work, and also saves the
stockings Put in whole new heel,
cut out of an old top, if the heel is woru
very much. Lay the heel down on a
folded piece Of stocking, cut it curved
at the bottom, square at the sole seam
and across the top; overseam the bot
tom seam and run it fat; cat-stitch the
heel fatty on the old heel, and then cut
the latter away. This is quite as COM
Portable as big darn. By the way, a
girl know says she is going to make
herself tights to wear when she takes
off her under-drawers, by sewing the
upper legs of old ribbed stockings to the
top of her stockings, thus making them
reach up and making the change less
striking.
Now, to my old shoes. 1 love them.
They are my sole's delight part with
them with greater regret every year
(and, by the way, have you ever noticed
how the foot enlarges as we grow older?
When a girl wore twos with ease; now
wear threes and last wider). Well,
of course, | try too keep those shoes
from getting too old and l have found
that their lives can be prolonged con-
siderably by never using stove polish
OF dressing" on them, but using, on
their first falling off from newness,
plain cosmoline, or vaseline, and later,
when they grow rusty, cosmoline with
as much lampblack as is necessary to
make a black-looling paste-say a
heaping teaspoonful of lampblack to a
five cent, bottle of cosmoline. Five
cents worth of lampblack will last three
years in family of two. Apply with
a cloth or toothbrush, or both, clean
ing the shoes first. 1t makes them soft,
black, and new looking, not blackened
Then keep the buttons firm and tight.
If l let the shoes grow too loose and
stretched, they cut at the wrinkles.
Then, my shoes will cut at the top of
the heel stiffening and in the instep,
even if do have velveteen bindings on
my gown. And when send them to the
cobbler he puts on an ugly big patch
and charges me quarter. So have
taken to doing that cobbling myself.
take piece of old black kid glove,
cut it a little larger that the rip or hole
in my leather, and hem it down firmly
with strong black thread. l find cotton
keeps its color better than linen. Silk
wears out Immediately. I have to re-
new these patches once in while, but
they are much better than the cobbler's,
and when the shoe is blacked they
really hardly show at all.-Housekeep-
er's Weekly.