The Savannah morning news., 1904-07-24
THE RETURN OF
THE GIRL FEMININE
The Family EmbrOderer- the Dainty Little Domestic
Miss With Deft Fingers and Needle.
By ANNA S. RICHARDSON.

When the girl feminine appears in
the family circle in the guise of its
erbroiderer, there is no reason to be-
reve that she is fresh from con-
vent.
She has, in truth, school of en-
troidery quite her own. Ask her
whether she has ever embroidered a
Japanese screen or an American
Beauty center piece, and she will pass
off the question with an uplifting of
her fine eyebrows and a Whimsical
smile.
oh no." she replies, "I Just do
little things to wear-nothing big,
you know"
Then the visitor glances around the
family Circle-at mothers hand-em-
broidered collar and cuff set, at Mil
lies dainty open-work stock, at the
dainty monogram on Gertrudes hand
kerchief, and at the lace insets on the
embroiderer's own Isle hosiery-and
she decides that the young needle
woman must be a busy person, indeed.
This new embroiderer is nothing if
not up to date. She would look
puzzled if asked to give the correct
stitch and the proper coloring for
fling in viOlets on a doiley, but she
knows all about broderie d'Anglaise
or eyelet work. She can show half a
dozen patterns in Hardanger lace
She knows just where the monogram
should be embroidered on her big
brothers. shirt, and she can take the
cheap look off the simplest of home
made frocks by bit of hand work
which she designs and executes in the
cool shade of the porch, while some
good-looking chap Tolls in the ham
mock and thinks how jolly nice the
domestic little woman is after all.
The embroiderer. born and not
trained, is a positive genius. She
scorns set patterns and follows her
own sweet will, trusting to nothing
short of inspiration when a new gown
is TO be planned, or a new bertha or
stock is required.
The mother of four grown daugh-
ters. each of whom considers herself
something of a critic on dress, re-
Gently purchased for her best summer
frock a simple checked silk in brown
and white, with five yards of ecru
lace for ruff1es in the sleeves.
Mother, cried three of the girls
in chorus, "how could you get any
thing so cheap-looking, and for best,
too?"
The fourth girl sat with her head on
one side, studying the silk and lace,
and said nothing. She was the family
embroder. But when the house-to-
house dressmaker appeared on the
scene to make up mothers gown, she
found among the trimmings provided,
a vest and stock of cream-c olored chif-
fon, embroidered in small silk disks,
shading from cream to golden brown
and dashed here and there with gold.
To outline the vest was a galloon of
ecru lace, showing daisies, the hearts
of the flowers embroidered to match the
disks in the chiffon. The lace for the
wrist ruff1es had the principal design
run in gold thread. A crush girdle with
a gold buckle was added, and, thanks
to the family embroiderer, mothers
gown of inexpensive silk was trans
formed into a CONNECTION" merely by
well chosen and eXcellently executed
handwork ~
The up-to-date embroiderer is above
all things adaptable. She can make the
best of things and the most of them
One of her kind came home from a
weekend party recently to find her
younger sister in tears. The family
dressmaker had come and gone, and
left an unsatisfactory memento of her
stay in the form of a linen shirt waist