Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-13
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
BY Lsuea A. KlsknaA
MAKING YOUR OWN LAMP SHADES.

-ND'-~-~eS>
With the single exception Of window
valances Of oretonnc or SILK, believe there
j. nothing that gives a house . "homey''
look As quickly "A pretty and harmo-
NOUS silk lamp shade. The woman whose
living room lamp or drop-light in severe
" shaded in frosted glass or china (those
shades have their usee--but not in the
livinQoom) has not achieved the highest
decorative development OF the room from
standpoint sof soothing harmonious
ness.
Why not make these artistic shades
oureclves7 They are expensive If purchased
ready-made, but not Il made by our own
hands out OF remnants Of silk we already
have. Some women make them out OF
portions of worn-out silk dresses; Others
use faded silk cushion tops turned about,
or parts of discarded silk curtain. And
one clever woman of my acquaintance
used an old white silk pctticoat which
she had dyed old-rose!
The first step in amateur shade-making 4
is TO secure q wire frame. Those may be
bought at large department stores, but
to my mind II Il better to have one hand
made by tinsmith. For the cheap frames
that one buys ready-mAdc do not have
tlattened joints; that is, the round wire
is not hattened down wherever If crosses
over---as il should be. Another argument
for having the frame made by tinsmith
is that one can have il the exact size one
wants. The best way is to take the lamp
to the tinsmith (if it is not too large and
let him Use it As a guide in making the
shade-frame.
After procuring the wire frame, the
next step is TO wind il all ovsr with a
strip of silk the same color as the lining.
This strip should be about one inch wide,
and where il is necessary to piece il one
should mako bias seam.
And now comes the question of the
kind of hade-oovoring-shirre or plain7
This question depends largely upon the
amount of silk at hand. II one has plenty
of the material, ono can have tho pretty
shirred, or gathered style Of covering
This is made simply by gathering at
top and bottom a long piece of silk the
same width ss the shade il deep and pinning
this gathered strip at intervals around the
frame; distribute the gathers evenly
between the pins, then sew the gathered
strip to tho binding on the vim, cutting
of any edges that may stick out above
or below the franc. At this stage there
will be raw edges st top and bottom Of
tho frame, and these raw edges must
now be covered with some kind of trim
ming-either gold braid or narrow
shirred strip of the same silk that covers
the frame. A lining must now be sewed on
the inside of the frame.
II the frnme-maxer has not enough
silk for = shirred covering and must
have, therefore, plain one, she had
better try TO GARY out this plan: Make
panels Of the silk as wide as the space
between each two vertical WINS Of the
frame; run piece of braid (or other
trimming up each seam that joins these
panels; have an interlining of some pretty
figured silk that will show through the
plain covering when the light il turned on.
Then, as in the case of the shirred shade
Indeed of any kind Of shade) make n
plain paneled lining and sew 1T on inside.
Tomorrow--Recipes From Readers.
All inquiries addressed TO Miss Kirk
man in caro- Of the Efficient House
keeping department will be answered in
these columns In their turn. This requires
considerable time, however, owing to
the great number received. So If a per-
sonal or quicker reply rs desired, a stamp
ed and self-addrcescd envelope must be
enclosed with the qucstion.-The Editor.