FINE SPREADS MAKE FINE BEDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17231, 24 December 1923, Page 9

FINE SPREADS MAKE FINE BEDS.

The glory of the housekeeper no longer is drudgery but competence. She is proud, not of the amount of work which she does, but of its quality and its accomplishment in short periods of time. Sho looks about- her for methods of achievement by which, without sacrificing her home, she can salvage hours out of the week’s routine. Tho world of trade has perceived this and i 3 offering her in all departments new types of merchandise. An excellent article of this, kind is a bedspread which is of light- weight, so that it will wash easily, and of strong weave, so that its wearing qualities are equal to those of the heavy types which are the bane of the laundress. Moreover, the designs in the various weaves are of a character to shed, rather than to absorb, dust. •Some of the styles need no ironing but dry smoothly if hung in tho wind. COLOURS ARE DELICATE. The covers may be had in pure white, cream or eciu, but most of them make use cf colour in stripes, block designs, or machine-embroidered patterns. The use of colour is dainty, not riotous, expressive of American home life rather than of stage settings or Eastern potentates. Blue, rose, and yellow add emphasis and interest to the textiles and give opportunity to key the colour scheme of the room from the bed. Tho colours are absolutely fast, the material being bleached after weaving. Obviously, if the colours withstand this process they will continue bright through sunshine and soapsuds. If an additional double spread is bought it may be cut into a pair of matching curtains or used for such accessories as vaiances. cushion covers, or summery furniture slips. Shams and day pillow cases can bo bought to match some styles of spreads; other spreads are made long to fold over the pillows. Different types of beds have been considered, certain counterpanes being cut for the solid footboard and others for the open one cr the four-poster. HAND EMBROIDERY. For the white spreads a number of designs for hand embroidery at home have been worked out, all of them easy for the amateur to copy, without stamped patterns, from the booklet in which they are reproduced and which is furnished on request. Crossstitch, cat-stitch, satin and buttonhole stitches, darning, running and stepping stitches all scamper logically around the interesting patterns of the weaves. The effect is quaint and particularly suitable—as are all the designs shown bv these spreads—to the early American stylo of bedroom or to that unnamed out comfortable chamber which we create out of no period tradition but as an expression of our personal response to the many forms of beauty which the trades are offering.