The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-06-24
The STARS AND STRIPES.


THE STARS AND STRIPES.
How % Make the beautiful American
Flag.
s For the first time ii thirty-flye years
the American flag Is the most popular EN-.
blem That can float the breczes, whether
you wear It on the lapel Of your summer
Jacket or haunt 1t from your brown stone
front. The flag industry has picked nm
20 such IN extent since the declaration Of
war tnat the factories have stopped taking
orders: Flagmakers freely say that they
cannon, working night. and day, hope to
supply the demand tor onc-half the flags
thar are demanded of them.
Inc government has chartered all the
bunting manufactures, aud the navy has
g mortgage on the flag shops. If yon
want 70 get flag now, you must trust to
luck. Since this is the case, il is best to
learn how to make an American flag for
yourself, lest you lack one when you need
it the most. s. 81 ! -.4. 3 = :
10, make an American flag YOU must
nrst take your choice Of materials. This is
Ike buying a dress. You must know what
you are going. to use your flag for before
you begin: 1t you want it for parlor
nag. one that you can drape over the por-
traits Of Your ancestors, you will need
saun ribbon. If you desire n flag to
drape over large arch you will need silk
Dy the yard to serve as the separate stripes
N the flag. If sou merely want a flag
to- wear in your buttonhole. baby ribbon
VIII do IN red and white. But if you
need a flag to fly from your flagstaff, then
you Will want coarse Turkey red and com
mon white muslin.
= IN mn IN n oil rlor 0oc, h,,,, .,,.,1,
OF red satin ribbon four inches wide, and
hyc. yards of white satin ribbon the same
width. Cut the ribbon in strips two fee,
long and overland them neatly together
SO that the flag is bordered top and bottom
with a red stripe. In sewing the stripes
together place red stripe, then white
one, then red one, and then white
one, and so on until you finish with rcd
one. There should Ee thirteen stripes in
your flag.
When you have completed the banner
part Of the flag. you still have to make
the held" This consists of square of
blue with white stars upon it, and it is
somewhat more difficult to make than the
stripes. Purchase one yard Of navy blue
taffeta. Cut two pieces of silk eight
inches square and "fell'' neatly upon the
upper right-hand corner Of the flag. Now
Jay your flag upon some fiat surface and
press with hot iron until it lies perfect.
~ nat. You may need to cover 1t with a
vet cloth and to press it several times be-
tere 1t Is perfectly smooth.
The new flags are showing forty Eight
stars, but the government flags have only
forty tive, There have been three new
states added since Utah became a state,
put they have not passed both houses,
the government. You will find it more
convenient to use the forty-five stars, on
account of the easy way in which they
are arranged. Take seven stars for the
top row and fasten them in place with
pins until you have obtained the effect of
the whole upon the blue field. Under
meath place seven more stars. These
stars you must fasten OH the flag so that
they shall alternate with the first row.
above it and SO on until you have pinned
seven upon the flag. The next row re-
quifes eight stars, SO you must begin
nearer the border of the field in this third
row. Continue with yot1r work Of alter
mating the stars until you have covered
the field nicely with the white constella-
tiGh9. If you do 1t tastefully YOUR field
w WAN Pc eo very cyn leey covered yet will In no
To make the stars Is the most difficult
part about the flag. Very few people are
equal to cutting out star. A star has
FIVE points.
It is much more convenient to buy your
sthrs. Any fancy goods store will sell
yoa, stars of silver paper, which you can
easily paste Upon your blue field. If you
WANT to spend a little more money, you
al, which will be very handsome, or you
can go to flag dealer and get white stars
in patches Of forty five, each ali ready to
be 1pay-sl upon your flag. If you sew the
stars vi, do it with small, neat stitches.
Count the number of stitches and be sure
that no star has more than the other. If
you glue them Oh the flag, pay special at
tehtion to: the points and use the paste
employed by tailors in making mems trou-
hem, and this sanle will answer nicely for
yont flag. =
Rot a Duttonhole flag get baby ribbon CT
red and white. Overland the striues to-
gether, press well, and for tile stars en-
&broider little white figures upon a tiny
square of blue silk. :-5, zaz ~
There are few special rules to be OBJ
served about the fag-making, which, if
omitted, make the flag look unnatural,
For one thing, the blue field always COW
ers four red stripes and three white ones
This is an excellent guide to the size of
the field, which must be in proportion to
the size of the flag. There must fall be-
low the field the three red stripes and
three white ones.
navy, equal to that of 6 to 10. Its depth
is six-tenths OF three-fifths of it's float.
In the small flags that are sold in the
streets the depth is four-fifths of the float,
and you will often notice that these little
flags are nearly square. This would only
do for very small flag, but in making a
large flag, it is well to preserve the three
hfths proportion.
The flag can be mounted on a very nice
silver cord, which in turn is fastened to a
rod, or it can be tackled directly upon a
pole. Fancy poles with eagle heads cap
be obtained for these flags.
- The Cuban flag is precisely the same in
many respects. 1t is the same shape and
is made in the same way, and on that &C.
count it makes very excellent twin flag.
The star and stripes in the Cuban flag
are white and blue. The stripes alter
and two white. The field is a pointed
red one, with big lone star.
The Cuban flag is, however, made in
different ways. The infant republic has
not yet been able to declare one flag and
one only. One of the most popular ways
of making a Cuban flag is in stripes of
blue and white, with center field Of red,
in which CLEANS big lone star. Others
have red ends, with white star. This
is much used for decorative purposes,
although it is not the flag of the Cub, a
junta.
The flag of the Cuban republic was
chosen by T. Estrada Palma and Maxine
Gomez. They wanted to invent flag as
much like ours as possible, without in
fringing upon it. They therefore pre-
served the shape and the cslors, only
changing the arrangement, to make their
flag decorative. Their first idea was to
have a number of stars, but acting on
the advice of the President Of the United
the adoption Of the flag, they decided to
have only one star.
The United States government is great
ly troubled over the fact that it must add
a star each time state is admitted to the
Union. This necessitates an entire
change of flags upon all the government