CHARMS OF CRETONNE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1261, 17 October 1911, Page 9

CHARMS OF CRETONNE.

There is at present a positive furore for cretonne, including tV« '<f->,! taffetas und chintzes, and in this articlo we will confine our atteutiuu to us charms and advantages (says a writer in 'Good Housekeeping'). Several years ago cretonne was considered appropriate on?y for the bedroom or perhaps the boudoir. It was then adapted for the furniture coverings and hanging in the summer homo, but to-day it is the chosen material, not only in the living rooms of country homes and nll-thc-year-'round houses, but in city apartments and even city houses, lliis liberal use of cretonne we have borrowed from our English cousins, who fairly revel in it. The English .country homo, whioh so often serves as the all-the-year- round dwelling, is cretonne from top to bottom, and it is charming, hospitable, and deliciously livable. Tho Colonial Atmosphere. The use of cretonne in the bedroom or boudoir 19 too thoroughly understood to require further explanation, but its introduction throughout the house or in the living room is of comparatively recent i.-ato. Cretonno at once suggests tho colonial atmosphere—panelled white woodwork, a quaint old fireplace, antique mahogany furniture, or the moro informal wicker or willow. It is not at home with rletiHsh oak or mission furniture. Even in city apartments, if the interior decoration be developed along colonial lines, the cretonno treatment is successful. One charming little living room in a city apartment house was transformed into a bower of loveliness by tho liberal use of piiy-nWered yellow cretonne as window hangings, topping the long divan, and as upholstered cushions and seats for the willow furniture. Th« brick fireplace at tho other end of the room, a Inrge willow davenport joyous with its cretonne cushions invitingly before it, sustained the feeling of comfort and cheer which this clever arrangement of cretonne combined with white woodwork and the quaint architecture produced. American Fabrics Inferior. In England and Franco ore manufactured the loveliest of our cretonnes, taffetas, and chintzes. The domestic (American) fabrics are improving, but they do not yet enmparo with the foreign products. They arc a machine-made product entirely. In England and France the cretonnes are blocked by hand. Each colour in the rich and beautiful designs is applied separately and by hand. Think of tho amount of labour involved in this process. Take, for instance, the elaborate, all-over floral designs of the glazed chintzes in which flowers of every hue are combined. They are all the colours of the rainbow, and their supplementary colours ns well, blended mnrvellouslv with the unfaltering hand of tho artist into a perfect whole. Another all-cotton material is the glazed chintz so highly favoured hy the English. These chintzes are delightfully old-limey with their bold splashes of brilliant colouring and largt, stunning floral «V signs. There arc many ways in which this striking material can be used in addition to that of furniture coverings and hangings. A wido border of it is often arranged as a frieze with tinted or plainly papered walls. Again, wo find it as window shades and sometimes as the wall-covering for an entire room. Cretonnes and taffetas are not onlv admirably adapted for curtains and iiaii"ings, but they are highly successful as furniture coverings. Chairs of quaint old shapes, which originated in past generations,..are covered with cretonne, talfeta, or chintz, with the delicious down pillow of old-on days to suggest comfort and cheer. Great, roomy, comfortable rtifas, davenports, couches, as well as tables, dressing-tables, chests- of drawers, hat-stands, bedspreads, and bolster cases -in fact all tho furnishings of the roomnow receive their covering of materials of this type, whether they are Intended for

tho town or tho country house. Cretonne in many cases can bo secured to match tho wallpaper. The- newest idea is the cretonne with a black background, the gaily-coloured (lowers standing forth in bold relief. From France there are imported the exquisite shadow warp cretonnes, the designs giving tho ell'ect oi having been washed in with the brush of an artist. Thy warps aro printed before they are woven in these- good.", and this, in connection with the high quality of dye makes them practically sun-prcot'. The French dyes are among tho finest in the world, whether in sill: or cotton. Over-Curtains. Ono of the most delightful ways of using cretonne is as a top or over-curtnin. These curtains may hang to the window sill or to the floor. The former method of Clipping them at the sill is at preMnt the more in vogue. A plaited valance across the top of the window adds a dicoratiye touch, although it is nflt require;!. With these top curtains a window curtain is demanded. By the term "window curtain" is meant tho curtain hanging straight from the rod, not the £O-calied glass curtain, which is used in the formal treatment of windows in city homes where it is often desirable to shut out a view of tho exterior.