Evening star., 1898-08-27
TABLE AND BED LINEN
Supply Never Was Pettier Nor More De-
sirable.
A Well Arranged Linen Closet is the
Housekeeper's Delight
Marking Towels,
From IIarper's Bazaar.

| Inc POSSESSION OF a well-Stocked linen
| closet is, proverbfally a great comfort to
| The mind of the good housekeeper, and GER
! talnly every woman who likes to have
nice things about her does take a great
oeal OF pride in having pretty linen. The
care of linen now is point well gone into,
and there are very few houses built with
| out linen closet. even though It be a
very small one well arranged to show the
piles of sheets, pillow cases, towels, &C.,
| as well as the table lnen each and all
| with sachet bag of sweet lavender: for
It is well understood that lavender is the
| correct scent to use. One of the incest
| Weddit-g presents that can be given any
| one is stock of household linen for to
| buy all that is required costs a great deal
OF money, and it is an expense that people
| feel they must sometimes go without when
| they have to provide it for themselves.
Never has there been time when linen
| could be bought cheaper, but at the same
| time there are more expensive qualities CT
| linen to be bought than ever before, and
| fashion has instituted q great many
CT fanges in the more expensive articles.
! Bed linen, TO begin with, comes in sew
eral different qualities. At the bargain
| sales at the different department shops
| advertised at intervals there are a great
many bargains to be found, but the great
| trouble is that the sheets that are sold
| then are not always full length and width,
| and nothing is more annoying than to buy
a sheet too short or too narrow for the
| bed for which it is intended Even ready
n ade sheets now are sold with the hem
| stitching. This is very effective and dainty
IN appearance, but from strictly econom-
ical point of view is not a good thing.
Careless laundering very soon does away
with the entire hem long before the sheet
| is worn out, so that it is foolish to buy
any of those excepting for best. There
are, of course, great many different quail
| tiles of linen. Some are very light in
weight and very fine; others that are quito
heavy are much thinner after they are
| washed. The best are of the medium
weight and of a medium price. In a we'll
stocked linen closet it is a good plan to
have six pairs of handsome fine hem
stitched sheets, and these will look par
ticularly handsome if they have the mono
gram embroidered by hard just under ,;he
hem in the center of the sheet On the
other sheets a palmer monogram is used
or even the initials of the name. 1t is still
the fashion to have strip of linen, hem
put on after the bed is made and turned
down over the coverlid. This when the
white coverhd IS used. But besides the
pain hemstitching there are often most
elaborate pieces of drawn work let in.
This drawn work is sometimes put on both
ends of the sheet, but that is rather
fo olish waste. az
| Pillow cases must match the Sheets but
| for those that are left on during the day
there can be more elaborate drawn work
than on those that are merely for use, and
finished only with the hem and the hem
stitching and an elaborate monogram.
great many different styles Of bed
spreads have lately come into favor. The
plain white Marseilles- Counterpart is rarely
seen now, and it's place is taken by white
men OF heavy quality, with most elabor-
a "a 1r>lt -r,-ly all
else in squares, always an enormous mono
gram, or a very fine white organdie or
lawn embroidered by hand in colored
flowers, or even painted by hand and fin
ished with a lace ruffie. The cost of these
bedspreads is always excessive, but they
rep1 esent many hours of work and work
that cannot. be done by machine. The ma
chire-made drawn-work is never used in
these bedspreads, and 1t is remarkable that
patience ard human fingers can accom-
plish such results. Under all the thin
spreads is a silk spread of d light weight
plaln color. This shows through the in
seruon or the sheer muslin, and is also
used for the lace spreads that have not
yet gone out of fashion, although the finer
races are now more used than the heavy
guipures that We're at one time in STYLE
Inc tayal-Work is greatly in demand for
the bedspread, and the pillow cases to
match the bedspread, but ii is still too
expensive to be within the reach of every
body. There are some simple bedspreads of
dotted Swiss put over the silk and trimmed
with ruffles Of lace, but these are not
worthy of comparison with those OF the
plain linen embroidered by hand.
Ibere is great deal of extravaganza in
the present use of table linen, but GER
lalhly II does make a great deal of differ
ence to everybody that the dinner table
should always look fresh and inviting The
German linen is used as much as the other
hinos' ana there are great many beau
tlful designs in it, but the double-faced
utDii ask Is stlll considered the handsomest
and the most fashionable. In the ordinary
styles of tablecloths there are no great
changes as to pattern. The snowdrop, the
polka dot and the all-over fiowered designs
are IN constant use, and are to be had in
many wonderfully cheap cloths. This
quality OF tablecloth does not require to be
iiarheo, except with an initial in some
place where it is not too evident OF course
the initial must be done by hand for in
oeIibie INK marking is never used.
Inere are great many different qualities
ot toWeiS SHOWN, some of which are very
cheap, others are not worth buying. The
so-cailed bargains are, a rule, too small
TO pc Oh any use. and while they look very
Wen before they are washed, after they are
washed are thin and poor. The old-fashion-
ed huckaback towels are the best for daily
use; put 1t is good plan to supplement
tnem with two or three dozens of fine dam
ask ones. 1t is astonishing how much bet
ter an ordinary towel looks when it is en-
proidered with the initial letters. These
can be done in red embroidery cotton; but
SNAS DSSe to"CiS SHOulU De OOno IN the white.
and should also be all of white themselves;
Ine otners can have a red or blue border.
In buying this colored border a better DUAL.
lty or toweling can be secured. One of the
new KINDS OF fancy work this summer has
Deen the marking of towels and bed linen
Inc cheapest and least trouble are those
marked with the fancy braid, which, If
neatiy sewn on, looks very much as though
II mad all been embroidered and stuffed
VI course this will not bear close inspec-
tion, put 1T Is good style of marking, and
one that Is excellent when not used on too
There are two things on which it is worse
than folly to economize-table napkins and
towels. A soiled napkin or towel should
never be given to a guest, nor, indeed
should ever be used by ones self. 1t is true
napkin that has become tumbled may
possibly be pressed out; towel never cam
Ihe cheapest way to keep a linen closet go
ing Is to put the linen away when it comes
home from the wash, first looking to see if
there is anything that should be mended.
PAIR OF sheets that are wearing out
should be taken and made into one good
one: towels when the fringe wears off
should be hemmed. and If a single piece is
missing from any set it should be renlaced