NOTES ON NEEDLEWORK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3006, 25 October 1911, Page 72

NOTES ON NEEDLEWORK.

Tbe chief —I had almost said the whole —-beauty of any decoration lies in its suitability to the object to be decorated. And that suitability must be twofold, first in regard to the uses of the article, second to the material employed. But there is always the danger of losing sight of this dual suitability when any form of decoration beomcs exceedingly popular. This is particularly the case with stencilling, which, purged of its oroginal crudity of design, and colour, stands high in popular favour just now. Thsre have been some very good articles on stencilling dri the Ladies' Home Journal lately, and the following sentence exactly illustrates what I mean: "Just as -wood is most appropriately fashioned by means of a chisel, and leather by tooling and a knife, so stencilling sees if* best and moat useful field in the ornamentation of stuffs for hangings, cushions, covers, or sometimes the backs of old painted chairs—after the manner of Sheraton —so popular and charming in our grandmothers' day; and all these used within bounds form a suitable and delightful aid to interior decoration.''

Being carried out in oil paints, the ■work may be washed with impunity, merely avoiding the use of powders, washing fluids, undue rubbing,, etc. It then lends itself most beautifully to the decoration of the summer and seaside cottage, where hangings of unbleached caiico, cotton poplin, crash, pongee silk, or cotton voile may be most charmingly decorated with stencilled designs. If a floral pattern is chosen, .and is also used with some variation for the couch and chair cushions and the broad white frieze which so many instances surmounts the plain, tinted wall paper, a delightfully harmonious and yet bright and. cheerful effect is obtained. But the suitability of stencilling for the home decorator does not end with the seaside or country cottage. The rich yet harmonious colourings of Turkish and Persian designs have recently been pressed into the service of the stenciller. These, with their real elaboration masked by an impression of dignified simplicity, form the most suitable and attractive designs for dining room, hall, <ST library hangings and decorations in curtains, portieres, or . cushions. Cotton shantung, cotton poplin, scrubbing cloth, heavy tussore silk are a few of the materials —the three first inexpensive enough to suit any purse —which would prove excellent materials for the application of these Turkish stencil designs.

The most appropriate colours for the material would be shades of brown, tan, putty, champagne, and grey. Upon any of these the rich crimsons, blues, and olive greens of the Turkish designs would be wonderfully handsome. In conclusion, for those of my readers who are not familiar with the work, I may mention that sheets of stencils, in- • eluding several floral designs suitable for , cvirtains, cushions, etc., may be bought ; ready cut for use, or the single sheets with the design selected, if A stencilling outfits including paints, ; brushes, etc., for those who do not already I possess oil-padnting materials, only costs .about 5s 6d, and will be sufficient to accomplish a practically limitless field of work. Now a word on j

CROCHET. The popularity of crochet increases instead of diminishes. This, no doubt, is largely due to- the beautiful designs and the ingenuity with which they are combinsd with other branches of needleoraft, such as tatting, Point lace, and drawnthread work to produce absolutely exquisite results. For many years crochet was absolutely banished from the smart woman's toilet Now the woman who is happy enough to possess any heirlooms of good Irish crochet esteems herself most fortunate, and hastens to adapt them to personal wear. I think some of you may be glad to have the directions for making the tiny rosis which are such a feature in Irish babe crochet. They are, as perhaps you know, made first and often crocbetted into a groundwork or foundation of Point lace singly at the required intervals without any leaves. Used in this manner," they make lovely yokes for blouses, baby's close-fitting bonnets lined with silk, and these pretty crochet bags, lined with black or coloured satin and finished with cords and tassels, which are at once so useful and so popular. These are the directions :

Use Manlove's crochet cotton—specially suitable for Irish crochet work—in a fine number, and proceed as follows: Make a tiny crochet ring, catch with a slip si in the edge of the ring, * ch 5, make a slip st one quarter around the Ting from the preceding slip st,. and repeat from * twice, making the last slip st in the first slip st of the round. There are 4 ch loops in the round. Second Round.—Make 1 s c, 5 d c and 1 s c in each oh loop of first round. Third Round.—Work like fiTst round, but put 7 oh in each loop and work the slip st in the slip st of the first round, behind the second round. Work this round carefully. Fourth Round.—Work like second round, but put 10 d c in each loop instead of 5. Fifth Round.—Work like third round, with 9 oh in each loop. Sixth Round. —Work like fourth round, but put 15 d c in each lood instead of 10. At the end of the sixth round fasten off. Dad I tell about the lovely blouse I saw on which six of these tiny crochet roses made such a lovely and delicate decoration ? Well, the blouse itself was of very soft, fine lawn. It fastened at the back, and the needlework decoration in front formed a rather j>ointed plastron. From either shoulder ran a delicate spray of roses and bads uniting in the centre front to garland a latticed scroll. The tiny roses Avere all fin fine crochet, standing up in high relief from the rest of the design, which was embroidered in satin stitch. The effect was very beautiful. A new departure in crochet which has beer, named ''Australian crochet," is being exploited in some of the needlework articles of the month. It as a combination of crochet and drawn-thread work, which personally I do not find very attractive so far as one may judge by the illustrations. The effect seems to me heavy. Crochet tabes the place of buttonholing in edges and scallops, and crochet insets combine with drawn-thread work to finish the design. It might be, doubtless would be, extremely durable, but fails in that artistic beauty which springs from beauty of design. One thing I shall ask you, my dear readers, before closing this second article on needlecTaft —Do you find the innovation in our list of topics either pleasant or helpful, or 'both? EMMELINE.