Fashions and Furbelows

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18465, 17 May 1928, Page 13

Fashions and Furbelows

NOTES BY SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS

CLEANING A SEWING MACHINE. If, after each time the machine, has been used for much sewing, you wipe the moving parts with a rag dipped in paraffin, the fluff and dust that have accumulated will be removed, leaving the machine clean and ready for use again. Oil with the special thin oil made for sewing machines; don’t use heavy oil, because it clogs the machine very easily. VINEGAR STAINS. Dilute some liquid ammonia with twenty times as much water. Spread out the stained material on a flat surface, dip a clean cloth in the cleaning liquid, and make a ring right round the outside of the stain, then rub round and round towards the centre. Repeat, if necessary, then sponge well with warm water and dry. If the stain has not quite disappeared, repeat the process the next da3*. TOP-HEAVY VASES. A WAY IN WHICH TO KEEP THAT LOVELY LENGTH OF STEM AND YET MAKE YOUR VASE I SECURE. Tall branches of autumn's last lovely! leaves, of spring’s delicate harbinger, j almond blossom, and of heavv-, high- ! growing flowers such as gladioli and | lilies, are ver3* apt to. over-weight slender vases. Yet you may not have enough of these tall decorations to fill a heavy pottery jug, as these are nearly always squat and very wide-mouthed.

Nothing gives people—especially men —such a feeling of insecurity as topheavy flower arrangements which the merest touch will crash in ruins. But please don’t follow the usual plan and cut down stalks till the graceful, spreading height is reduced to a crowded-up mass.

Try, instead, weighting your slender vase b3 r dropping a few small stones from the garden into it. Even if the vase is transparent, we all know how pleasent wet stones look. Flat dwellers, minus a garden, can bu3 r a few pennyworth of marble chips from a florist and use them instead. A DAY IN BED. There is no better rest cure for a tired, harassed man or woman than a day in bed. The bus3* housewife will probably smile at the possibility of spending a whole day in bed. The care of husband and children, the cooking, shopping, cleaning and hundred and one things which filkher daily life make it exceedingly difficult for her to rest even half an hour a day, and a whole day—well, to her it seems impossible! Sometimes, however, it is not so impossible as it appears. If a woman is over-tired and “nerv3 r ” a da> r of absolute rest and quietness will often restore her, whereas if she goes on with her usual routine she may have a serious breakdown, which would cause far more trouble and iipset to the household than a mere day in bed. With a little contriving it may be possible to arrange for'a relative to take the children off her hands for a day or two, and for her husband to have all his meals out or stay at a friend’s house, or for someone to come 'in and take

charge of the household affairs. Cleaning, shopping, etc., must be left for a da3* or so, and the housewife must retire to bed determined not to worry whatever happens! It is difficult, but it can be done. She must be perfectly warm and comfortable in bed, and the windows must be shaded to induce sleep. She should sleep as much as she possibly can, and never mend, write letters, or do am* other tiresome task. Only the lightest of reading—and very little of it—is permissible. Her food should be very light and attractive. A cup of milk, or milk>* tea, a few biscuits, jell3 r , perhaps very* little broth or fish, will be all she will need.