Out With Your Needles

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

Out With Your Needles

There are many ways of making dinner mats of raffia. The first kind described is made from rounds of cardboard, not too thick, and several bright shades of raffia. Cut out a round of the size desired it is better to make one suitable foi small plates first—and from the centre cut a small round about half an inch across. As near as possible to the outside edge of the cardboard punch a ring of holes about one inch apart; the larsrer the round the farther apart must be the holes. Thread a chenille needle with raffia, preferably black, and pass the needle up through the centre hole, brin.tr the raffia through and draw it to one of the small holes on the circumference; the needleful of raffia down through this hole to the wrong side of the cardboard, draw the raffia through and knot it tightly to the other end, before the end is lost. Xmv pass the needle up through the next hole at the circumference, from the underneath to the right side, draw the raffia through and down to the larger hole in the centre; pass it down through this and draw it up to the next small hole at the circumference. Continue working with black raffia over and over from the circumference to the centre until every small hole has been threaded. When it is necessary to take another needleful of raffia, be careful to have the join 011 the wrong side of the work and knot it securely.

Some weeks ago I published instructions for making raffia an interesting and fascinating handicraft. There is no limit to the number of delightful things you can make once you have mastered the art I came across directions for making a set of dinner mats recently, and I must admit they help to make meal times quite a gay occasion. As they are so simple to follow, I thought I would pass the idea on to you.

If these mats are required to suit tie colour scheme of a room or dinner service, select several shades which are in harmony, and niako up your mind in what order you want them arranged. As you have u>cd black for the radiating strands, it will be a. good idea to use black alternately with another colour for the filling in shades.

Start with the black raffia and take a long strand of it, thread a chenille needle, and secure the end of the raffia bv knotting it to one of the strands on the wrong side of the cardboard. Now bring the needle through the centre hole and, with a darning stitch, pass it over one black radiating thread and under the next. Continue working alternately over and under all round the circle, drawing the thread as tightlv as possible without breaking it.

When you have reached the point from which you started, with the tip of the needle force this ring of black as near to the centre as possible. Xow start a fresh circle, still of black, but pass it over the strands under which it parsed in tha previous row, and under the strands which it passed over; draw this up tightly and work two more rows in the same way. When you hare been round the centre four times, pass the needle to the wrong side of the cardboard, knot the raffia securely, and break off.

I see Mr. Printerman signalling to me not to take up so much space, so I Vill have to leave the rest of my instructions until next week. In the meantime, good luck, everyone!