WOMEN'S INSTITUTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 19

WOMEN'S INSTITUTES

HANDICRAFTS EXHIBITION PRESENTS FOR THE PRINCESSES (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail) LONDON, Nov. 21. A mahogany Victorian workbox for Princess Elizabeth, a finely worked handkerchief sachet for Princess Margaret, and a coat made for 3d from sacking—a replica of others presented to Cabinet Ministers —were among the interesting exhibits at the Handicraft Exhibition of the National Federation of Women's Institutes. Princess Elizabeth's workbox was made by Miss Colby, who managed a 130-acre farm in Somerset, and who does most of the farm work herself. Some 200 minute pieces of silk and cretonne go to make up the patchworK padding. The lining of the lid was embroidered with tiny flowers from a piece Of glazed chintz over 100 years old. It was admired by the Queen when she paid a visit to the exhibition. It would, said her Majesty, be just in time for Princess Elizabeth to make her Christmas presents. Coloured floral embroidery for the handkerchief sachet, with a Queen Anne design in fine chain stitch, with miniature roses, marguerites, thistles, and oak leaves in coloured silk, was worked by the Misses Hamilton, of East Sussex. It was much admired by the Queen, who said that it would delight Princess Margaret. The Queen was also much attracted by the glove exhibits, and ordered a pair each for the Princesses in brown and white speckled lamb, with lambswool lining. Threepenny Sack Coat The 3d sack coat was the work of Mrs Hilda Hodges, whose husband farms 1000 acres in Warwickshire. It was originally a sugar sack, but arrived on the Plodges* farm filled with oats. Now it is a well-tailored gardening suit, and a replica of coats Mrs Hodges has presented to Mr Walter Elliot (Minister of Health), Mr Oliver Stanley (president of the Board of Trade), and Sir Kingsley Wood (Air Minister). When Mrs Chamberlain visits the exhibition it will probably be offered to her for the Prime Minister. The exhibition is the ninth to be organised by the National Federation, which has 5600 institutes in England and Wales, with a membership of more than 310,000. In the three years which have elapsed since the last exhibition the members appear to have improved greatly in 'the designs, and in somo crafts also in the quality of the work. Their touch seems lighter and not so serious, and beauty and skill appear to come easier to them than in the early days of 1915. when the movement started. Among the exhibits are canework by crippled workers from Devonshire, weaving by crippled girls of Stratford-on-Avon, and lace made by disabled women. Spinners from the Shetlands toymakers from Cornwall, weavers, lace workers, basket makers, potters, cottar quilters, all brought their work to London. Two of them were women who havp turned their family seats into centres of village industry. One was Lady Hart Dyke, who has turned Lillingstone Castle into a silk farm. The other was Mrs Thackeray, of Elsing Hall, Derenham, Norfolk, who has transformed her thirteenth-century moated grange into a weaver's shop, where she has taught the craft to scores of local people. She is so enthusiastic that she will wear nothing that is not woven—even her shoes are of woven leather. The Queen and Queen Mary both paid visits as Institute members, since they both pay their 2s a year subscription to the Sandringham Women's Institute. One of the many interesting exhibits to attract the Queen's attention was a beautiful toy theatre which

showed a Victorian Christmas party. She watched the puppets dancing round the laden Christmas tree to music. The theatre was made by Mrs K. Marshall, of Dorset. The thrift exhibits made from odd pieces also interested the Queen, and one of the demonstrators who goes round the country visiting the institutes explained how some pretty shoes for children had been made. Chairs from casks were another thrift exhibit, and aprons for field work made from sugar sacks. These came from Lincolnshire where there are three federations.

Queen Mary was much attracted bv a child's bedstead, beautifully carved from sweet chestnut wood cut from a tree in the garden of a member living at Westerham, Kent. This bed, together with the bedding, coverlets, a chair, a dressing table, and a rug, was the combined work of women living in the villages of West Kent. Her Majesty's purchases were an embroidered cushion made by Mrs Trevor, of Oswestry, and a set of raffia baskets made by Mrs Hawthorne, of Warwick. On leaving, Queen Mary said that she thought the design of the exhibits had greatly improved this year, and that the staging of the whole exhibition was better than in previous years.