St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-27

or SILK thread. 1t loOkS like long,
narrow silver box without q top, and
II Is impossible for the thread to get
tangled In 1t; and then one is not ag-
gravated by losing the ends. Another
box with two spools with three COM
partments each, is intended to hold six
colors Of embroidery silk and thimble.
It Is the shape Of a hair pin box, and
the chrysanthemums show especially
well on the long fiat top. I do not keep
my thimble in this box. for, you see,
several or my cases have compartm entS
for thimble, and so do not use any,
but have a separate thimble box, as
that saves time in looking around for it.
or course, pins are almost as much of
necessity in sewing as needles, for
what woman does not pin her work to
her lap, especially if she happens to be
doing a piece of hemming? My pin
cushion is one of the prettiest pieces,
and the only one that hasn't the chrys-
anthenum design. 1t is small and
round, having a Columbian half dollar
on the bottom. The top is olive green
velvet, and my emery, mounted in two
silver shells, is the same color. En-
cries come made up in acorn, goose
berries, blackberries, tomatoes and
strawberries, too, but they are not so
new as the shell design. Wax for the
thread is made up in the same designs,
with silver caps, varying in price from
IS cents upward.
THE things used in embroidery work
interest me more than aything else, be-
cause L do enjoy fancy work. Instead
Of the wooden embroidery ring that
you used to make yourself, / have one
of solid silver, and it cost s6, but, Of
course, the wooden frame answered
every purpose. L suppose, though, it
was an unsightly thing. Then there
are the silk winders. 1 have two double
ones and four single, all alike; two
cupids with wings form the design, and
the silk is easily transferred to them
from the skeins. l also have several
silver boxes with compartments for
silk embroidery The things that
ought to interest me most are those
used in darning, but they don't, though
they are the prettiest of all a silver
ball holds a ball of darning cotton, the
end of which is pulled through a hole
just as Irvine is taken from a twine
ball holder. This piece cost S1225, and
is one of the handsomest and most use
full, as it keeps the cotton handy to get
at. Then come my two darners. Both
have wooden tops which unscrew from
the handles The latter are hollow, so
that the darning needles can be kept
in them. One has a pearl and silver
handle, while the other is all silver,
darners are of similar pattern. I have
three measures, the first a tape, sixty
inches in length in a silver case, the
second a solid silver folding foot rule,
and last, and most useful of all, q hem
measprer. The girl who gave me this
said she was tempted to break over
and buy me one Of gilded silver, stud
ded with stones. but I'm glad to say
she stuck to the design that I settled
he Not. g y
the folding foot rules So.
To-day I'm going to buy several
sharp things, and then I'll have every
thing. 1 want-a ripper" and suiting
the action to the word she had clerk
put out several before her.
why, those look like silver pencils
to me-" ventured the older woman.
so they do" said the girl; but I'M
screw this end and out comes a sharp
blade, which rips the highest stitching
in no time; unscrew the other and you
have a stiletto for piercing eyelet holes.
'I'll take that" she said, turning to
the clerk. Now give me silver
crochet needle, one Of those at rs cents,
a tape needle and bodkin at 60 cents
each, and-oh, yes, don't forget to put
in silver court plaster case, for I
shall be certain to prick my fingers
constantly, as I don't know how to sew
up a straight seam"
do you mean to say that you've
bought all of this truck and don't
know how to hem pocket handker-
chief?" asked the older woman in a
disguised tone. "Well, that beats me.
Why how much did your outlay cost?"
"Oh, not more than $780," answered
the girl, land of course I don't ever
expect to use them much, but it's
really essential to have such things,
for I've heard my brother say dozen
times that men never admired
woman so much as when she sat by a
daintily appointed work basket, bend
ing over in graceful attitude, as she
chased a needle and thread through
some fimsy' stuff; and I guess he
knows"
well, the young men of these days
have queer ideas of beauty" contend
ed the older woman. "a man in my
day would have said that that was
tomfoolishness,. and he would have
thought it much prettier sight to see
a girl darning the heel of a pair of silk
or wooden stockings with her knitting
needles. or to watch her down on the
floor cutting herself out q gown with
strong pair of shears, such as we used
to shear the sheep. But times do
change and somehow I don't change
with them, dear. so go on and be hap
by with your sillS-lined basket and its
dozens of silver fol-de-rols, and don't
mind me, but it does seem a terrible
extravaganza to spend SO much, eS-
pecially when Won couldn't mend a rent
in your intended husbands trousers.