The Washington times., 1906-07-25
BABIES CLOTHES UNUSUALLY
DAINTY AND PRETTY THIS YEAR

The one essential Of the baby's out
1T is daintiness. and. though modern
baby clothes do not often attain monu-
mental heights OF extravaganza good
taste has laid down rules 10 which even
the most extravagant of fashionable
mothers must needs conform.
The rage for hand embroidery has
emphasized the always important place
Of hand embroidery upon infants
clothing, and the fashtOnahly dressed
baby as we'll as his fashiOnably dressed
mamma. has delicate embroidery upon
every article OF his attire which will dd-
miT of such elaboration. The heavy
raised embroideries of the mother. :
frocks are not, however, permissible
upon baby clothes.
Fine Handwork
There one finds only the finest. the
most delicate of work and design, deli
cate little sprays and wreaths and gar
lands axquisitely executed. and in spite
of the labor and skill and cost they i'm
ply. eminently babyish. One sees much
Of such embroidery upon the me I'm
Ferie blouses and frocks of the grown
ups this season, but il Is pTe-eminenJly
suited TO baby things, snd no other
means of elabOrat on can compare with
il Tor trimming tIe dainty little gar
The latest and mos. modish form of
infants long dresses has been a tiny
yoke of plain material-batiste. hand
kerChief linen or whatever fine sheer
lingerie stun Is ch0sen-embroidered
delicately by hand and finished around
the neck by narrow fcill OF real va
lencieunes. The yoke may be round
and Joined 10 the skirt by line OF
veining or may be pointed or scauoped
OF edge and bordered By little lace
Fhe skirt is not shirred fun on the
nit r0f 81 wh FffI
ness. and shaped in the seams. with
far-away echo of the princess lines
so popular among grown-ups, and down
each side of the front runs a garland
or scattered spray design OF embrol-
derry. turning at the bottom 10 run
around the skirt above a hem or frill.
An Embroidery Panel.
or perhaps the embroidery forms a
panel down the front from yoke 10
point where it curves and runs around
the skirt bottom. No other trimming
Is needed save the lines of narrow real
Vaienciennes at throat and wrists and
possibly around a bottom frill. There
one has the most fashionable the most
costly, and which Is not always the
same thing, the loveliest OF models
Variations OF all ktnus are Tung upon
this idea. and upon a majority of the
embroidered models the embroidery is
confined 10 the tiny yol-e. Some of the
little dresses have minue .rotifs of va
lenciennes lace inset 10 jrm a part OF
the embroidery desigI- others show
tiny medallions of dIfwI wCrk intro
duced into the design, str-t ,ucs e models.
Of course. bring eXtraVagaLt prices II
the work is fine.
There is less intricate insetting of
valenCiennes insertions ULan was once
IN order. though OCcasiO IGlly one finds
such trimmings usually q -Jciated with
hand embroidery but simple inset bands
of insertion used in connection With fine
stitch trim a majority - tAe little
dresses upon which embroidery does not
appear.
Coarse Lace Should Be Avoided.
Coarse lace must be avoided upon
baby clothes. II the real valenciennes
is too expensive even for simple neck
and wrist frills. at least one must choose
a good imitation valenciennes. and
these limitations now come in excellent
likenesses of the real article Better
by far have a good bit Of lace at neck
and wrists and only tiny Uucas as a bot
tom finish than more lace trimming Of
inferior quality
If possible the baby dress should be
made entirely by hand. but this is. OF
course, out Of the question for the moth
er who has little time and less money.
If she does have the time though not
much money she may still obtain eX-
cellent results BY spending her money
upon fine material and her time upon
handwork
Hand embroidery is TOO difficult and
tedious a problem tIc the average