Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-08
TO MEND TABLECLOTHS,
Invisible Darns Easily Made on
Table Linens,

The life of table linen may b. pre-
served by carefully searching for small
holes and repairing them neatly as soon
as they appear There is then no chance
of their becoming larger, az ! il mended
when little the ravages are scarcely no.
ticed. Pin holes. as they are called. when
nicely mended appear to be only tiny
satin dots, and even larger ones can be
so finished that they will be almost equal
ly ornamental.
English women are exceedingly partic-
ular in regard TO The keeping of home
linen, and they e.aploy f1ourishing cotton
for darninS instead of the thread from
the linen. largely used by housekeepers in
this country. Flourishing cotton is quite
glossy. and though loosely woven is ex-
lceedingly strong. The loose weave lakes
| the darn lie fat.
| In darning damask a square of card
| board is basted on the right side of the
| cloth and the d:.rning is done on the
wrong side. The worn edges of the hole
! should not be cut away. thus making a
| square or round darned patch; instead tne
| jagged edges are left and the needle
woven skillfully in and out until the
| space is filled. Start this mending one
half inch outside the hole until the rent
is entirely surrounded. These stitches
must be taken SO they will not show on
the right side, and the needle should be
passed through the raised pattern OF the
damask, taking up the threads as though
those left are taken up. and SO on, just
as one would darn This strengthens the
linen around the hole and prevents the
darned hole from tearing away, as is al
ways the case when Ii is not>reinforced,
thus manlng the last state worse than the
first.
The holes that come from ordinary
wear and tear are mended in this way,
but accidents will happen ana jagged
tears and clean knife cuts are sure to ap-
pear some time. These require different
treatment.
If the knife cut is discovered before it
goes to the laundry the trouble of re-
pairing is lcsScncd, for all that is neces-
Sary then is to draw the edges together
on the right side haste q strip of card
board over tho rent and darn neatly on
| the wrong Size, as directed above In this
case the reinforcing previously described
may be dispensed with, as the linen will
not be thin OF the edges of the cut. as it
always is around the edges of a hole. OF
| course, one must go outside of the cut
| sufficiently far to give the necessary
! strength, but the aim in this work is TO
conceal the darn. When complete cut
away the stitches on the right side that
We're used to draw the edges together.
| SuppoSing such a rent has not been dis
| covered until after the linen has been
| Numbered, then the simple darning will
seldom suffice. Instead darn the cut and
at the back hem down neatly a strip of
! white linen tape. This should entirely
! surround the slit.
Three-cornered or other jagged tears
are more neatly mended if the tape is
used When possible do the darning first
and apply the tape afterward, but when
/ the Jagged edges are very open the better
/ way IS to sew the tape at the back and
| darn down to it on the right side.
| The simple Sits that come from wear on
account of folding can be darned across
and across. holding the tear over the
/ fingers of the left hand. When these raw
| ages begin to show it is Il good plan to
| cut off few inches both at one end and
one side of the cloth: the folds then will
not come in the same pl--ces as hereto
| fore.
| Hens are very apt to tear at the ends
of tablecioths and these should be mend
! cd with the tape as directed for jagged
/ tears.
| When tablecloths become much worn
the corners will often appear whole and
| fairly strong, so that If cut away they
will answer nicely for tray cloths or CEN
ter pieces. The neatest way to bring
about this transformation is to edge tie
| square with a hemStitched border or hem
| of the damask. This is a much better
finish than the plain hem and is very SIM
| pie TO accomplish. If one does not care
| to use the folded newspaper for the pur-
| pose there is an excellent little device
| called the krag AemStitcher, which. at
| tached to a sewing machine, will make
| perfect hemstitching as easily as the or
binary stitch. The better parts of table
| cloths may be cut up INTO nursery sery-
iettes, simply hemmed, if no other use
| can be found for them. and l have seen
| very handsome sidcboard cloths made
| from borders cut from the side of table,
| cloths and finished all around with the
| hemstitched edge. these do not have the
| wear that n tablecloth receives and will
often last a long time. 1t is the contin-
| ual folding that wears out the table,
| cloths as much as actual usage
| The smallest bits of table linen rolled
| up and put away will prove invaluable in
| sickness, for in nine cases out of ten old
| linen is much to be preferred to new