Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-15
BEAUTIFUL WEAVING MADE
BY ITALIAN WOMEN
Dyeing Done Under Advice of Profes.
sor of Columbia-Many Girls
Employed Making and
Mending Lace

NEW YORK, March 14.-One might
find such place in London, but rarely
in this city. 1t is known as Greenwich
house, and is at 1928 Jones street, in
old Greenwich village. The main house
belongs to the almost forgotten period
when the village was the abode of
wealth on the outskirts of old New
York. 1t Is now the center of an Italian
quarter. and one hears allen tongues.
But the Greenwich handicraft school
| forms one OF those radiating centers
which 1t is pleasing to dwell upon.
1--WE found,' said Miss Katherine
| Lord, who is the director of the school,
$50 many of the married women about
| here who could get nothing to do. In
Italy they had learned the lace stitches
| but here they did not know how to
| get their materials or their designs, or
how to dispose of their work if ii were
made. In italy all that had been done
| for them. So we started our lace In
dustry.
"Then there were older women, who
needed work, who could no longer do
the lace stitches, or who did not know
| them, and were too old to learn. Sc
| for those we started the weaving,
which is now an important industry
| If you will come with me / will show
you
Rugs and Hangings for Yachts
| Now 1t was that Miss Lord led the
way to the quaint little house in the
! rear, passing through what must be In
summer a pleasant little garden. I'll
you should come here in summer you
would find our girls at their lace work
under this arbor, which is then over
| ht1t xrrtfh vine Tn col
our rose garden, and the beds of the
| border are full of flowers"
Indeed some too ambitious snowdrops
were already up and looking sorrowful
| in the nipping air. The house was one
of those rear tenement structures now
happily a thing of the past. Artistic
coloring, coppers and old oak furniture
had transformed the lower room. Here
were kept the stores. Miss Lord drew
! forth some rugs woven with unusual
regularity and fine in color.
1--WE are proud of our dyes" she
said. 1--WE do our own dyeing under
the advice of Prof. Pellew of Columbia
and we think we have some good re-
suits. The material is double faced
cotton flannel, which is torn into larger
or smaller strips as they are needed
| She showed a blue rug with design
| of sea gulls in white. Another with a
cluster of butterflies in tints of fawn,
| others with archaic forms and stripes
of another weave.
"The sea gull design we are to do in
rugs and hangings for a yacht which
we are to furnish throughout. we
weave in the designs with the fingers
and can carry out any motive desired
The hangings are woven on the Nor
way looms; on these we also weave the
white cotton textiles and table covers
and teacloths. There is not so much
prejudice now in favor of linen. which
is not more agreeable and is much
more expensive"
This cotton fabric, with its faint sug-
gestion of stripe, is an interesting ma
terial and receives the woven design
| handsomely.
Curtains of Hand Woven Linen
Up stairs almost too narrow for one
person is the weaving room for these
hangings. Here a comfortable looking
Italian matron was at work. Here
too, were kept the laces not yet dis
posed Of
1.-THE best examples of our work are
off at exhibitions and sales" said Miss
Lord. 1--WE make three sorts of lace
flet, Carrickmacross and Irish crochet
We execute important orders in fllet
| We made a set of three curtains at 500
apiece. The material was hand woven
| linen ornamented with cut work and
deep borders, above and below, of tlet
lace. These took a year to make. We
are now doing a large teacloth in filet.
In the Carrickmacross lace was a
fam the design taken from an old
piece while in Irish crochet were the
dantiest of baby caps, pin cushions and
articles for the dressing table.
Our workers receive weekly wages,
Miss Lord continued, land the indus
try, If not the school. is self-support-
ing. We have also begun to work IN
clay and produce pottery. One feature
of the school is it's lace mending. IL
will undertake to mend, alter and
match Irish crochet, Carrickmacross
Limerick lace, filet and the various
! kinds of pillow lace. Venetian point is
now being taught in the school"
Miss Cornelia Hartman is at the
head of the committee which supervises
the Greenwich handicraft school; Mrs
Richard Morris Hunt, Mrs. FrederleR
Richardson, Mrs. c. C. Stillman Miss
Georgette Borland, Miss Julia w. c
Carroll, Miss Eleanor Mortimer, John
Bennett, j. William Fosdick and Chas
e, Pellew are members of the com
mittee; Mrs. v. G. Simkovitch Is di-
rector of Greenwich house, and Miss
Lord of the school.
e%
No Light of Day