LETS GO GOSSIPING

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3941, 18 August 1937, Page 4

LETS GO GOSSIPING

WOMEN’S INTERESTS: THE HOME.

(By

MISS MARY TALLIS.—

-Special Service to Te Awamutu Courier.)

ACCESSORIES WE HAVE SEEN. Belts of every shape and hue, and in many different mediums! One scarf and belt that particularly took our fancy was made of black velvet with a leaf design embroidered upon it. An amusing corded belt is simply made by twisting strands of two shades of wool. Two blouses have been recently shown that are delightfully feminine, the one in its vagary and the other in its gossamer fineness. Both are utterly irresistible and both are easy to make. The first was made from a yard and a half of Schiaparelli’s newsprint and is designed to wear under your suit. It will keep both you and your friends amused. The frivolour little cocktail blouse (the second) is of black chiffon, banded with velvet ribbon, tied in baby bows down the front, shading from deepest scarlet at the throat to palest pink at the waist. Wear it gaily —and you’ll look your best. Flowers are used in enchanting ways. A large posy of simple flowers is fastened at the waistline of your evening frock, and one or two loose flowers are stitched down the skirt, as if they were tumbling from the posy. An evening bag, ifiade from a circle cf lame, folded in half, with a bunch of flowers at the clasp, goes well with a frock decorated as above. Last year’s black dinner gown is completely transformed worn under a little chiffon coat with flowers stitched in gay profusion over the sleeves. A simple summer garden frock is converted into something more intrigusing with the help of a long chiffon scarf. This is draped over the shoulders and down the back, and has little hearts in contrasting colours appliqued to it. BEAUTY. THE WIND AND THE RAIN. Those who have any tendency to tiny red veins in their cheeks should be especially careful during the cold months. Remember that it is sudden extremes of temperature that cause the minute blood vessels to break, so please don’t dash straight from a warm room into the cold air outside, without first protecting your skin with a generous layer of cream and powder. In any case your make-up will be slightly altered now that the wind and rain, and the cold, are waiting round every corner to play havoc with it. In the first place you will need a good powder foundation. This preparation has to guard the delicate skin of your face against all the elements, as well as counteract the drying, shrivelling effect of cold winds; so choose it with care. Then there is another matter to be discussed. How can a nose be prevented from shining, supposing (horrid thought!) one contracts a cold and lias perforce to polish one’s nose with a handkerchief every five minutes or so? My answer to this is definite: powder cream. You can buy sixpenny boxes of the best powder cream, and surely sixpence is no great price to pay for a really and truly de-lustered nose. .Powder creams are available in a choice of shades, so you will be able to match your own skin, and if necessary even do a little mild nose camoufage by choosing a slightly whiter shade. Of course your powder will be several shades lighter than that you were using at the end of summer, for by now your skin will have lost all traces of its holiday tan. Your present powder should be a rachelle, a naturelie or a peach—but in any case it should contain sufficient pink in its tone to give your skin just the faintest suggestion of warmth. If you are careful of this point you can use powder generously during the winter months (as you should do to protect your skin) without ever creating that flour bin effect that is caused by a too white powder. Rouge and lipstick too, should tend

to become more pink in tone. The orange shades, so lovely on a glowing sun tanned skin must give pride of place during the winter, to clear rosepink shades that will add natural colour where necessary, or supplement cheeks that have been whipped to natural roses by the wind. Your rouge and your lipstick must be pink—and stay pink. HEALTH. WOMEN’S -CLOTHING. Some women do .not Vary their clothing winter or summer. Men wear too much in summer, do women wear too little in winter? The elder women, especially the much elder, incline to warmer and heavier garments in winter. But with the younger generation there is little ur no alteration to meet the colder days and nights. This is largely the result of the newer mode of life of the young woman of to-day. Once upon a time they used to go to a dance about once a month. Now many of them go to one almost every night. Moreover, the modern girl plays far more outdoor games than did her sister of yesterday. In general, the more exercise one takes the lighter is the clothing necessary. It is agreed, of course, that the purpose of winter clothes is not so much to keep the cold out as to keep the heat in—the natural bodily heat. Bobies require warmer clothes than they usually get. Often they aie brought to the health centres in the winter in silk coats. They are heavy enough—they weigh about 8 oz.—and the mothers say that the chief reason for them being worn is that they were presents from well-meaning relatives. But silk is not asigood as wool, and a little wool coat weighs only 2 oz. It is most important that a baby should have much external warmth, and there is nothing so comfortable and warm as wool. Australian women, generally, do not adapt their clothing in a sensible way to meet the inclemencies of winter, yet this can be done without any loss of attractive dress effects. Of course, many women who follow slimming processes become anaemic, and so feel the cold more than a healthy woman should. For outdoor wear on the coldest day, no more than a light topcoat is necessary, so long as they keep their blood count up to the normal. Pi'actically, the climates of New Zealand are not so severe as to warrant a lot of heavy clothes for winter. COOKING. t Small fancy cakes: Quite a number of small fancy cakes can be made from a good foundation recipe. Here is one that has been approved generally: To 1 lb self-raising flour allow 1 ,1b butter, 1 lb castor sugar, 8 eggs, and 12 dessert spoons of milk. Have a bowl warmed and in this cream together the butter and sugar, then add flour and beaten eggs alternately, well mixing until all is used and alternately adding a dessertspoonful of milk until 12 dessertspoonsful have been put in. This mixture can be varied in a dozen ways. It is quite wholesome and will make the foundation for jam sandwiches if you wish, or if baked in a round sandwich tin can be split open, spread with chocolate butter, jam, lemon-curd, or jelly and then iced and decorated to your fancy. If you bake the mixture in small tins or shaped moulds, see that they are well greased beforehand. . Raspberry Buns: 6 oz. flour; 6 oz. ground rice; ’ lb butter; I lb castor sugar; the yolk of 1 egg; a little milk; and 1 level teaspoonful of baking powder. Mix flour and ground rice and ruo in the butter with the fingers, then add the sugar. Mix to a stiff paste with the beaten yolk of egg and milk

and roll in the hands to the size of large walnuts. Make a hole in the middle and put in a small teaspoo'i•ful of raspberry jam and close up. Place the buns on a floured baking tin and bake in a slow oven. LAUNDRY. To remove mildew from linen, moisten the affected parts and sprinkle liberally with salt. Leave in the sun, renewing the treatment as the cloth dries. If possible, leave the cloth overnight in the frost. If lace is required in a hurry and you do not want to make starch, dip in a little milk. After it is ironed it will be just the right stiffness. Instead of using the ordinary clothes brush, brush serge with a small rubber sponge. Rainspots on clothes can be removed by placing a clean damp cloth on the material and pressing it with a hot iron. A satisfactory method of removing grass stains from clothes is to rub on pienty of treacle, and then wash the garment :n tepid water. When marking linen, write the name first in pencil and then W!tn marking ink, thus preventing tae ink from running or smudging. After washing fine muslin, sil-c cr crepe de chine, rinse the articles in a strong solution of salt and they will be slightly stiff when ironed. Before washing flannel trousers run a white thread (tacking) up the seams. This saves time and trouble when pressing as the thread marks the exact position of the creases. To preserve the silky appearance, of crepe de chine, use borax instead of soap when washing it. Always soak new stockings fo v a few hours in cold water, to which a little salt has been added. Rinse in cold water. When pressing men’s trousers use slightly dampened brown paper. This keeps the creases much better. GENERAL. For the Evening Party: For an evening party there are three things you should have—whiskey (and don’t forget the soda), gin (with its two accomplices, lime and tonic), and beer. If you’re expecting a lot of thirsty men, it’s an amusing idea to have a barrel in the kitchen and let them turn on its tap when they like. But if the party is small, a few bottles of pale ale should do. Cider cup is a popular party drink and a very inexpensive one, and it’s always a good idea to have at least one soft drink, such as lemonade. As the evening progresses and people show signs of leaving, offer them something hot to drink to fortify them against the cold. Piping hot soup is usually very welcome—either tomato or chicken or gravy broths. But if you really want to send away your guests vowing that it has been the best party they’ve ever been to, new is the time to brew a nice hot punch. Mittens for Weeding: Weeding mittens as a substitute for gloves can be made from old sugar sacks. Take a piece of clean sugar sacking or ordinary canvas _ of similar texture, double it, and lay it flat on the table, place the left hand on the sacking and draw a pencil or chalk marit following the shape of the hand with the four fingers together and the thumb stretched out to its widest angle. All that is now necessary is to sew or machine along the drawn line and to cut outside the stitching about a quarter of an inch or so around; then sew a piece of ordinary string to the wrist at either side to fasten the mitten to the hand, or a piece of elastic which can be pulled over the hand. Turn inside out to cover rought edges before sewing on elastic if desired to make mitten neater. Make another mitten to match. It is not necessary to be particular about the finish of this homemade weeding mitten, yet if a pair is made to give away the rough edges may be bound and the part covered with the finger-tips cut double to wear longer.