Evening star., 1927-09-30
NEW WINDOW CURTAINS
Suggestions Are Made as to How to Choose
and How to Make Them-Special
Emphasis on Color.

trpuS ana 0uil. cllnSlHE anu huiiA d.
With dainty. painted furniture, or
CANDY. Swiss or voile curtains pre-
serve the spirit of the room. whereas
with heavy overstuffed furniture they
are lost. In this case heavy linen.
tapestry or even velours is necessary.
SILK, damask. rayUn and novelty cot
ton are suitable with fine mahogany
furniture With cretonne drapericS
scrim. marquisette or gauZe glass cur
tainS are pleasing Damask. tafTe a &.
satin and other silks call for the use
Of fine net. silk sauze or emma SILK.
Denim. monks cloth and crash may
he combined with theatrical gauze,
fish net or other coarse meShed nets.
Small patterns should he used in
small rooms and at small windows
and large patterns in large rooms at
large windows. IL reversed. the large
palterns seem to fill up the small
room and give a heavy appearance.
and the beauty of small pattern is
lost in large room. Patterned mate
rails have a tendency To relieve the
severity of a plainly furnished room.
With figured wall paper use plain cur
tains and with plain wall paper use
figured curtains. Very large pat
terms. with the design repea ed only
once or twice in curtain, do not
allow the eye to follow the general
design and can therefore be used more
or less freely at a window of any
size
When using figured cretonne. care
must he taken not to repeat it too
often in cushion covers or upholstery.
AS il would make the room confusing.
To judge the effect of cretonne for
curtains a fair-siZed sample should
he loosely gathered in the hand. y
we'll designed pattern looks better il.
folds than when stretched fiat, which
is not the way we often see curtain
materials at home. HoriZtonal stripes
especially in very high rooms, are
generally more effective than vertica
stripes. as these become confused
with the stripes made by the natural
folds into which the curtains fall.
1t is much wiser to buy curtain ma
terial that will he durable and stand
sunlight and washing. and make the
curtains at home than to buy cheaper
fabrics and have them made up, OF
to get poor quality ready-made cur
tains.
To give any very helpful estimates
of the quantities of material required
for curtains is very difficult, owing
TO the wide variety in the size OF
windows. AT least double, and in thin
material. treble, the width Of the win
dow opening must be allowed for
fullness. Skinny curtains are any
thing but attractive. When choosing
cretonne, care should be taken to
ascertain the width of the material
Either 80 inches or So inches would
be the usual widths, and it Is often
possible. by the choice of the width
best suited to a particular window
to plan curtains with greater economy
than by taking whatever pattern one
fancies without consideration of width
AS the pattern Is always fitted to the
width of the fabric. there is no waste
in joining the seams unless a de
sign with a very high repeating pat
tern is chosen.
Unless the material Is reversible. or
almost transparent, all curtains
through which light can penetrate re
quire to be lined. If an interlining is
necessary, 1t is best scanned up with
the lining, which should be cut an
inch or two narrower than the outer
fabric. Very little trimming is neces.
sary for curtains of cretonne. It's
variety of color and designs provide
their own interest, and 1t looks best
when made up as simply az possible.
Decorative Window Shades.
1t pays to buy the best grade of
rollers for window shades. The cloth
should be tackled in a straight line to
the roller. Many shade rollers have a
line drawn on them as guide for the
shade cloth. One.ounce tacks are
| used to tack the cloth to the roller.
Metal clamps should be used near the
ends of the roller where The springs
are, so that there will be no danger
of nail running into the spring. If
the material you use for the shade Is
exactly the right width, the selvage
need not be removed. If the cloth is
too wide, glazed chintz and oilcloth
may be cut the exact width and the
edges left unfinished. Linen or un.
| glazed cloth will ravel. so two inches
| must be allowed on the width for fiat
| hens If the cloth is too narrow, a lap.
ped seam with the edges raw will make
the fiattest joining. If they are bulky,
the shade will not roll well.
The simplest method for finishing
| the bottom is to hem it and run fiat
stick through the hem, or the bot
| tom Of the shade may be scalloped
and bound with "a cotton bias binding
| or ribbon. A tuck wide enough to
carry the slat should be made above
| the line of the scallops il they are
| used. Decorative beads, tassels, or
rings can be tackled on at the center
| for pull. Natural-colored linen
shades may have insertions Of hand
made lace or neutralcolored embroid.
| cry in them. Curtains are not used
with such decorative shades. Figured
or plain red or blue glazed chint2
| shades with ruff1ed Swiss, voile. or
organdy tie-back curtains are very eff
| fective.