Long-Lived Silk Stockings.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16846, 23 September 1922, Page 15

Long-Lived Silk Stockings.

Really good silk stockings are comparatively long lived, if they are properly cared for. Spun silk ones very rarely ladder and. if they are washed very often, and before wearing, they can be made to last throughout the season. The leg of the stocking rarely shows wear, out the feet have a nasty trick of getting worn out long before their j time. When the heels begin to fall into holes, and have to be mended, there is one way of darning that is almost imn'ereeptible. and extremely strong. It is known as the French darn and never gets undone or worn out. Beginning at the top of the hole, yop buttonhole stitch across it. Having reached the other side, you bring the thread back so that it forms a bar across, and over this you do another row of buttonholing, putting the needle through the loops of the first row, and so on, every row, until the hole is no more. It is not a noticeable darn when finished, and it is very easy to do it neatly—quite impossible in fact, not to do it neatly—while it is everlasting in wear. It is a particularly good way of strengthening or reinforcing the weakened parts of the soles and heels, and is not bulky or uncomfortable to the foot. Some of the French shops sell cotton stocking feet to slip over thin stocking* to protect the soles and heels. It is possible, also, to re-foot a pair of good stockings with these protectors, which are an excellent shape and can be sewn on to the soles of the stockings without difficulty.—H.H.