Fashion and Things Feminine.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7920, 18 August 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

Fashion and Things Feminine.

By IDA MELLER

A COSY DRESSING GOWN. Women who are trying to dress well on a small amount of money should learn to make their own clothe!. If this advice is followed, they will find that they can afford about twice as) things as before and that the cost of a really smart wardrobe is not prohibitive, provided the mJual dressmaker’s bills are deducted.

Very often dress materials can be bought lor a mere trifle, and odd lengths on the bargain-counter or bought oil remnant days can sometimes be put tG excellent use. Even though she has had little experience with the needle, the amateur seamstresis need not be afraid l of attempting to deal with some part at least of her wardrlobe. Of course, the simpler things should be chosen first—those articles that need little fit, and in which line i 6 not the important point. Afterwards the more difficult things can be attempted. One of the easiest models for an amateur dressmaker to cope with is a dress-ing-gown, for tills form of garment 's always loose-htting. Every woman should include a comfortable dressing-

gown in her season’s outfit, for it is) one of the indispeusables oi a wardrobe, and cannot be ignored. A plain dressing-gown is illustrated here, and it is extremely easy to copy. It is like a long, loose-fitting coat with cuffs and a cape-collar, and is provided with a woollen girdle at the waist. It could, of course, be made of any soft, woollen material, the quantify of 50-in. stuff required being 4£- yards. There are six pieces of the paper pattern. These, as indicated by the diagram, include one front, half the back, one sleeve, half the collar, the pocket, and one cuff. They should be disposed on the material folded in half lengthwise, the straight edges of back and collar being laid to the fold. The other pieces are cut out in duplicate. Corner pieces must be added on to the front and back, and they must be joined on tho straight. Spaces are marked out on the diagram for the added pieces. Tlie gown must be provided with button and buttonhole fastenings under tho front hem, the cuffs must be lined and stiehed in place, and the bodice should be lined to the waist, the loose lower edgo of lining being snipped. The collar must be hemmed'—not necessarily lined—and neatly stitcihed to,the neck. This, the cuffs and the pocket or pockets (for there can be one or two) are finally edged with woollen cord. A CHILD’S COAT AND SKIRT. Children’s coats are very attractive this winter, and many new models have appeared with the advance of) the season. The simplicity and childlike qualities that are essential to success in garments for small folk, impose limitations, of course, but do not prevent a show of

originality. The eccentric and fantastic are always out of place in children’s clothe;', as are the over-elaborate and

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the fussy, but there is such a thing as simple elegance, and this comes within tlie coniines of good taste in children’s dress, though some mother*] seem to prefer the simplicity without the elegance when it comes to a matter of designing their children’s outfits. It is a pity when a child’s wardrobe is lacking in taste, and nowadays there is really no excuse for a child to wear ugly or tasteless frocks.

?iio latest coats for little girls are made with the new-shaped pockets n.na are very smart, the pockets also proving very useful. Among other styles, Norfolk coats made with slung pockets are particularly becoming to girls, and usually the coats are made of tweed.

Quite a new coat for a little girl is illustrated, and is n simple and practical model’ that would copy well in any rough or smooth cloth material, the skirt, of course, corresponding. The latter is made with a lap-seam, back and front, and the coat is abo lapseamed and is fastened with three large button*. The pockets, it will be seen, are seT?-formed, as it were, through each front being made in two parts. Tho collar should be faced with contrasting material. Worn with the costume is a pretty hat, suitable for beaver-felt, trimmed with a band of fancy braid or galon, tied in a smart little bow.

Frocks for quite young people have no waists, but, as a rule, a loose belt is posed many inches below the normal waistline. Such frocks are made of velveteen, serge, washing silk and various soft flannel mixtures), and! some T times a horizontal band in white trims the front, with buttons for fastenings, and the belt is perhaps white also. Some frocks have collars of the same white fabric, and are finished in front with large black &atin bow, without ends. Again, some of the little frocks of plain material, made on the same plan, show a striped petticoat below, the frock in such cases suggesting a tunic.

Girls from twelve to seventeen years of age wear mostly plain skirts and ' bTouses, or bodices with narrow, allround basques. These are new and very pretty. STEAMING THE COMPLEXION. A treatment that will banish blackheads is steaming the face; but this can very easily be over-done, and for that reason this particular method of cleansing the complexion liau many opponents. If steaming is employed discreetly, however, and not too often, it is a tremendous help in freshening the skin and"piirifying it; but used too often, it is apt to enlarge the pores permanently and to render the skin coarse. Once every two or three weeks, a steamer can be used with very good effects, and will do more than anything eisle to banish blackheads. It is not necessary to buy a steamer; a bowl f boiling water will serve the purpose oi the professional thing. First, rub a good complexion cream all over the face, then remove the grejnste ■wiCTi a cloth, and repeat the process so as to remove as much of the surface dirt as possible. Then the face is ready for the steamer and should he held over a bowl of boiling water, a towel being thrown over the head to form a curtain and iiiiut in the steam. Keep the eyes shut.

When the skin has been perspiring freely for some moments, come out from under the towel and) wipe off the moisture with a clean clot7i; then rub in some good skin food with upward, rotary movements, wash the face in gradually cooling water, and finally rub it with a soft towel .and a face-leather. A home-made cleansing cream, to be used after the steaming process, is composed of one ounce of lanoline, half an ounce of sweet almondl oil, and ton drops of simple tincture of benzoin. Work all well together and put into a pot. ABOUT HANGING PICTURES. Pictures add a great deal to the beauty of a home if thqv are selected with taste and care. They do not need to be expensive to be beautiful, many delightful reproductions of tlie works of old masters being on sale nowadays at prices within the range of the most moderate purse. In hanging pictures, the mistake should be avoided of placing them above tlie line of sight and causing a strain to the eyes in looking at them. Pictures should not, as a rule, be hung more than 54 or 52 feet from the floor. Of course, every picture in the room can not be hung just so many inches from tlie floor. That would be monotonous; and to escape this, the line must be broken by hanging some of the pictures a little higher, and others a trifle lower. When possible, a picture should h* l located with reference to windows and other openings, so tlliat it will be lighted as the artist intended —that Is, the shadows in the picture should appear to be ca,st by the light that falls upon it. Il is unwise to hang a. picture in a direct light—exactly opposite u sunny window, for instance. TO REMOVE SCRATCHES FROM GLASS. To remove sight scratches' from plate glass, clean, first, the injured surface by rubbing it.with a pad of cotton wool. Then cover the pad with a layer of velveteen, well charged with fine rouge. This, when rub tied over the surface of the glas!s, should not only remove the scratches, but add a new lustre to the glasL itself. A housekeeper’s bint worth noting is to Uhe effect that if salt is added l to the water in which tumblers and wine glasses are washed, the glas.s'e9 will be very much brighter when polished l . ORANGE FRITTERS. Take the peel and white skin from three large oranges, then ci\i t-h&n across into slices, pick out the pips, and dip the slices of orange into a thick batter. Fry them nicely and serve them with fl'igar sifted over each. The peel might he saved for flavouring. Tt should be chopped up and put away in a small pot for future use. This liinb a'so applies to lemon peel. CARROT PUDDING. An old-fashioned pudding that is very nourishing i.s made with throequarters of a pound of carrots, half a pound' of breadcrumbs, a quarter of a pound of raisins, four ounces of suet,

a quarter of a pound of currants, three ounces of sugar, three eggs, dome nutmeg, and milk.

Boil and pulp the carrots, add to them the breadcrumbs, the raisins stoned, the suet chopped very fine, a little nutmeg, and the sugar. Well beat tho eggs, and add them to a Sufficient quantitjv of milk to make the ingredients into u thick hatter, then put litis into a buttered pie-dish and bake it. When done, turn it out and sift sugar over it.

FOR THE HOUSEKEEPER S TABLETS.

To keep curtains from blowing against the windows too freely, cover tailor’s weights with material the colour of the curtails), and sew them to tho bottom of the latter, which will then hang steadier. * * * If lemons are warmed before being squeezed, more juice will be obtained from them. * * * Put a tablespoonful of vinegar in the water before, poaching eggs, and they will remain whole. * * * When beating eggs, add ;i pinch of cream of tartar to them, and they will not “ fall” after they are whipped. A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK. It iy a fine tilling to have just the right tool for one’s task. But if you have not the perfect tool, use the tool that you have. Better to he carving with love and a jack-knife than waiting disconsolately for a sculptor’s chisel.