THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 65

THE WEEK.

One of the signs of approaching spring is the prevalence of bazaarj. People have been working through the winter, and are now anxious to get rid of the result of their labours before someone else takes the wind out of their sails. Now, perhaps some of vou have a sale of work in prospect in which you are interested, and you may be glad of a few suggestions for pretty and novel articles. Have you ever made ‘‘Liberty” boxes? They are very pretty for holding odds and ends on the dressing table. It is best to begin with a fairly small one, and the boxes in which cotton I’eels are packed make a very good size. Any obliging draper will supply you with as many as you want. You can, if you like, embroider the tops, or stencil them, or you can cover them entirely with some pretty flowered material. First of all, if the lid is joined to the box, take it off, as it is easier to cover them separately, and if it has a flap all round it remove that entirely. .Now, supposing your box is deep, you will want a strip of material four or five inches wide and long enough to go right round the sides. Cover the sides with this, stitching it through, the bottom of the box, close to the edge. A little practice will show you how to manoeuvre it round the corners, and you must always make your join at one of the back corners. .Then you make a “mattress” for the inside of the box by covering a layer of wadding with your material, and catching it right through the bottom of the box with a French knot here and there, and finish up by covering the outside of the bottom with a piece of material hemmed neatly all round. For the lid you stretch your piece for the top tightly over it, and hem on a piece of material for the underside, then stitch one edge of your lid to the box. put cord all round the lid, and your box is complete. You can if you like pad the top with a layer or two of wadding. A good idea is to make a set. all embroidered to match, consisting of a photograph frame, a box, and one of those nice large flat pincushions. To make these you want two pieces of material, eight or nine inches square, the top one embroidered; join them with a narrow strip-about an inch deep and stuff them with layer upon 'layer, until they are quite firm, of carpet felt, the kind that is often put under staircarpets. The stuffing being in layers keeps them nice and flat without the necessity of “buttoning” them like a mattress. A little sachet powder may be put inside the boxes and the pincushions. Here is a recipe for it if you would like to make vour own. Mix together £lb of powdered * starch, loz powdered orrisroot, six drops essence of bergamot, three drops essence of lemon, and five drops oil of lavender, passing them all through a fine hair sieve. If a bride-to-he has several girl friends who are clever at embroidery, they might combine to give her a set such“as I.have described for her dressing table, making boxes of different sizes for different purposes. A col'ar box is splendid for handkerchiefs, and a boot-box—only it must he a strong one—for yeils or gloves. A set of tiny lavender bags for her drawers would put a finishing touch to the gift. And here is a recipe for most superior lavenderbags, though as the lime of lavender is as yet far off, you had better keep it carefully for future reference. You strip the lavender flowers from the stalks, and

to £lb of the flowers add each of i dried thyme and mint, of ground j cloves and carraway seeds, and loz! common salt. The lavender flowers must be thoroughly dry before using. The best way to dry the lavender is to place it when cut on large trays in the sun, and when dry rub the flowers off. One more suggestion; and this is for a ; nice, fat—-not flat this time—hassocky ! sort of pincushion. Take two pieces of I material a few inches square; join them together all round except a space in the : middle of one side, and when you have i turned them right side out run a gather- i ing-thread diagonally across each corner i and gather it up tight. This transforms ■ your square into a circle with four little “ears.” Now stuff your pincushion with kapok just as tight as ever it will go, ; and put a cord round the middle to cover i the join, giving it a twist round each of i the little “ears,” and the result is an j extraordinarily cheerful-looking pincushion > of a rotund and comfortable appearance, j The ones I saw were embroidered with! little, fat roses of ribbon-work with stalks ' of gold thread; but any kind of embroidery I would do, or the top half may be of flowered material and the bottom half 1 plain. . | ELIZABETH. !