Omaha daily bee., 1897-04-18

long so as to go with a narrow belt, TO
which there is a very general return. II
is carried out in burlap, it is carried out in
lace. 1t Is worn at morning, noon and night,
and on the subject of bodices this is the
first and last and all there Is to be said.
A novelty In material accepted by all
hands is taffeta covered with a coarse
square canvas made specially for the pur-
pose and introduced last winter for ball
gowns. The canvas is neutral, that is to
say, Is black. white or twine color, and its
mission Is to tone down and shadow the
color beneath and to furnish a ground of
cross threads. on which designs Of lace or
embroidery are appliqued, 1t is the method
of fancy work applied to dress. The results
of this combination are shown In the illus
t~rations below.
TafGetas that are made up by themselves
are In stripes, In plaids and in rather large
checks, shot grounds and Powered patterns
having dropped quite out Of sight. These
designs are not in hard contrasts as black
and white, but in tints that merge softly,
stripes that shade from dark blue through
pale to white, alternatiOns of shaded blue
with shaded pink with white between, cross
bars of pink on a white ground with a pink
and green rosebud in each square, ribbon
stripes with purled edges, delicious patterns
copied from the period etween 1850 and
1860, that many readers know so we'll in the
patchwork of their grandmothers.
A NEW SKIRT.
These silks are made with the skirt gored
or In sun plaits according to the design.
trimmed with pinked runles or ruches or
NelYet ribbon or appliques. A great many,
perhaps the larger number, are plain. The
sun skirt is one of the principal recent
discoveries. 1t is made as follows, and the
reader Will see that II has no relation to the
ordinary accordion or side-plalted skirt or to
any other skirt that was ever heard of in
christendom before: Sew together enough
breadths of the material to form a square
1MlnH Tho length that tha eltrs L., ~, - -
a little more; that is TO say, IL the skirt
should have forty-two inches I'm length when
made, make the piece 100 inches square. Now
II with the finger and thumb you take hold
OF this piece at the center and draw 1t
through the thumb and finger of the other
hand. You viii have an indication in gathers
% what this skirt Is when II is plated The
plaits begin at the center and ray out. they
begin at nothing and widen. This plating
Is done on a machine, and after IL is done
the center Is cut out and the edges are
rounded OF TO suit the individual figure. This
skirt, as will be seen. cannot be used for
all patterns, notably for stripes and for those
that have an up and down.
While on the subject OF skirts, IL will be
useful 20 say that the best practice now In
making a skirt with godets is to at the ma
terial smooth around the widest part OF the
hips. and from thence down let II widen
into as many or as few godets as are wanted.
and from thence up TO the belt let the slight
fulness be fitted In with gathers, or with
fne tucks. running up and down with one
or more cords running round, All these
methods OF arranging the top are In use for
the lining is separate from the outside and
9ored smoothly round the belt.
SOME MODEL GOWNS.
A gown OF plain taffeta In blue and green
covered with black canvas has a double
breasted blouse with a rufie of the plaid set