Let’s Go Gossiping

Waipa Post, Volume 48, Issue 3471, 26 May 1934, Page 10

Let’s Go Gossiping

WOMEN’S INTERESTS: THE HOME.

FASHIONS

M WOOL FOB THE WINTER

Tunigs, another fashion note, are going to be more and more seen, .and if you ’make one of wool, or silk and ■wool,, :'youi will be very smart indeed. i - .

Tunics oT silver and gold lame are becoming just a wee bit ordinary. You ca|i buy them, now, comparatively cheaply. couldn’t easily buy one of the new knee-length silk and wool tunics,--* which are absolutely unadorned except for a large brooch in front, r

They are .terribly smart to wear over that ankle-length afternoon or semi-evening dress that has long, tight sleeves. The tunic itself is sleeveless and slit' down the front. The slit is fastened at the neckline with a’„huge bumpy brooch. A young society'" “lovely ” "came into a restaurant the other evening wearing a White woollen tunic over an ankle-length black vehvet frock. The "tunic was. fastened in front bjy a huge jet brooch like our great-great-grandmothers would have Avorn. Jet rs—gaing to be very fashionable. If you are young and fair—as she was—there can be no question of looking “ old.” In fact, it’s the very young who should wear it, for it's sombre rich gleam shows up ' their sparkling youth. , Think even of shining materials such as satin in connection Avith avool for the newest satins are going to be the wool-backed sort.

The really chic nightie of the moment is made of Ithick Avool-badked satin trimmed with itself—the dull “woolly” side being as smart as the shiny one. Later on you will, substitute your woollen shirt for a Wool-backed satip one made up on the, .woolly side except for the collars and cuffs. There is something terribly luxurious about shining next to the skin, yet presenting a demure dull surface to the'.world. You’ll-find that next season Ave’re going to. be paler in colour and duller in texture, y •

THE HOME.

The deep cire satins that made so many of ■ last year’s smart blouses are as dead as nrritton now.

"BEAUTY;

DARE WE SHOW OUR BACKS ?

What a lot of ' publicity we give our backs these days ! But I wonder if we can all feel absolutely contented with our backs ? Have a look at yours. Is the skin absolutely unblemished ? Are' the shoulderblades nicely rounded off with flesh, or are they sticking out in rather an ugly manner ? If these little shortcomings are visible, that’s the thing to improve conditions.

•First, here is a treatment which will brighten up the skin, if it is just sallow and dull, and will get rid of tiny blemishes. ■lnvest in a; . stiff, bristled bathbruish and give your back a good scrub every morning Avith a soapy lather and warm, Avater. If there’s a spot or two about, use an antiseptic soap. Leave the lather on your back whilst you wash the rest of yourself, then rinse in warm water, and finish off Avith a cold rinse.. If .ever the thought of a cold rinse makes you shiver, try having it gradually. Run the cold water into your hot bath until the water is tepid and you’ve become a little acclimatised. Then soak a big sponge in cold Avater, hold on to your courage, and- squeeze it down your back several times. Jump out of the bath, and rub yourself dry with a rough Turkish toAvel.- Concentrate on your back; hold the towel in a strip in tAVo hands; then pull it up and down across one shoulderblade, now the other, briskly up anfi down, till you feel warm and tingly. It’s a lovely feeling. In a Aveek your skin will have taken on a rosy gIoAV, and will only need ordinary make-up for it to show off any backless goAvn to the best advantage.

But perhaps matters aren’t as nice as you would wish after a week. No actual blemishes -to report, but the skin still; looks' yellow. Well, continue the scrubbing, and every other night you a salt rub..’-.Begin by washing in the usualvwvay^Vi’Ordinary house-salt —dampened4-should be rubbed into

(By Miss Mary Tallis.—Special Service to The Waipa Post.)

HOUSEKEEPING.

the skin until it tingles. If there is any soreness at all, a little skin-'food massaged in will immediately relieve that.

If the sallowness is a bit of last years’ sunburn that has over-stayed its Avelcome, use a good bleaching cream in place of skin food. This is apt to be a trifle hard on nightdresses, so remember to wear a cotton camisole, or vest, to keep out the grease.

SOME TIPS WORTH KNOWING. Before you attempt to lay new linoleum season it in a warm room, for 24 hours .at least; otherwise it will crack Avhen unrolled. W : ash and scrub the floor, and before it is quite dry slowly unroll the linoleumi 'and place it in position. The slight dampness renders it more pliable. Tack doAvn smoothly after a few days, and no wrinkles will result. Use a vacuum-cleaner regularly on any upholstered covers Avliich cannot be removed for washing, and they will keep clean a long Avhile. Failing a vac., brush them hard Avith one of the modern brushes made specially for furniture; they go easily into nooks and. corners. For specjal cleaning, cover furniture, after brushing, with a damped dust-cloth and beat with a light cane. Any remaining dust Avill rise into the sheet and stay “put” there. Upholstery Avhich looks rather grubby all over can be freshened by a hot bran shampoo. Heat the‘ bran in a tin in the oven. Put your furniture out of doors if possible'; or, if indoors, on a dust sheet. Shampoo liberally with the bran, rubbing it in with pads of old soft

rags. pads as they become soiled, arid continue “shampooing” till the bran comes aAvay clean. Then give a final brushing.

WHATEVER YOUR FLOORS

When Ave consider the tremendous variety of methods by Avhich Ave can deal Avith floor surfaces of our homes one important question arises: How can Ave maintain any one of these methods so as to ensure the greatest possible satisfaction ? NeAv carpets generally give a certain amount of trouble for a time uintil the fluff has been removed and the pile has settled. It is generally found that the process can best be if the carpet is swept for a time with a carpet brush in addition to using a vacuum cleaner. The bristles of the brush should not be too stiff in order not to damlage the pile, and the sweeping should be done the “ way of the pile.” This, of course, applies to the sweeping of all carpets by Avhatever method. If a carpet is SAvept across the pile, or in the directly opposite way, the dust is driven into the pile and the life of the carpet is considerably shortened in consequence. Polished floor boards are a very usual means of dealing with, uncar--peted space. In old houses the boards are often wide and ha\'e shrunk, showing large gaps. These should be filled Avith plastic Avood before the A\ r ood is stained, if this is to be done. Old stain can be removed with turpentine, if it as a A'arnish stain. If the turpentine does not remove the stain, methylated spirits should be used. The stain should' be removed completely if the best results are desired for the new attempt. Sometimes it is necessary to have the boards planed to effect this, and it is certainly worth Avhile. Three types of stain are in general Use. The Avater dye is that Avhich dries very slowly and AAnthout polish. It is also the most permanent. The polishing of the Avood after staining can be carried out to some extent AVitli floor polish, but a much better surface is obtained if the oldfashioned beeswax and turpentine polish is first used.

The old varnish stains are also very reliable. These dry much more quickly than the water stains, but do not penetrate quite so deeply; they dry with a good polish, which should afterwards be treated with floor polish regularly to give it depth,, and also, of course, for cleaning purposes in the .ordinary way. The third type of stain is the spirit stain, a rapid drying variety which often clings to the surface and is

COOKING

easily rubbed off. It should, therefore, never be used for much-Avalked-on places. The use of a good floor polish on polished boards and also on parquet once Aveekly, with daily dusting, should be quite sufficient to dean the Avood in addition to maintaining a good surface. It is quite unnecessary, and indeed often foolish, to apply fresh polish daily as this simply means that a thick coating of polish adhere to the Avood and collects all possible dust and dirt. Too much polish has quite as disastrous results as too little.

AUTUMN VEGETABLES

M;any vegetables are on the market all the year round. Out-of-sea-son vegetables are not only expensive, but they never have the same flavour as Avhen they are in season.

In autumn there are many kinds to choose from, some of them sent to us from other countries, of which Ave should do well to make the most use. Tomatoes and Sweet Corn. SAveet corn, for instance, which comes to us already cooked in tins, is excellent Avith ripe tomatoes, baked in this way:— Put the tomatoes into a well-but-tered pie-dish; over them put a thick layer of the corn and some pieces of butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with breadcrumbs and a few more bits of butter, and bake in a moderate oven. Fry Parsnips When Young. Hoav seldom do aa 7 g see parsnips fried ? Yet they are infinitely better cooked in this way than Avhen plainly boiled. Take 12 young, tender parsnips; scrape and boil them uintil tender; drain them, and Avhen cold cut them into slices about half an inch thick. Season them with salt and pepper. Dip these slices in 'flour or fine bread-crumbs, and fry them in hot fat, bi’OAvning them on both sides. Drain and serve very hot.

DRESSMAKING

USING YOUR PATTERN

Have you ever vealised how vitally that subtle thing called “ hang ” is influenced by the angle at Avhich the material is cut ? The very first thing, in starting to cut out your neAV dress, is to look out for the little drawing accompanying the pattern showing you how to place the pieces of paper that make ulp the pattern on your material. You may think that one special piece would fit in much better somewhere else, or you may not bother to look at the diagram at all, so long as the pieces of pattern fit the material, so you blithely cut out and hope for the best. Actually you should always make a point of following this diagram exactly. That piece that looks as if it would fit in better higher up would probably be all wrong there, because of the “nap” on the material, or the straight of the stuff, or some other small point you know nothing about. But the people whose job it is to design patterns knoAv all about it, and they have devised the best and most economical Avay of laying out every strip and curve. Then, again, the notches that slioav *where each piece should meet the next when they are seAvn together are more important than perhaps you realise. As you la<y your pattern on the material use the dining-room table for this: a surface large enough to take the whole material at once is most essential —mark all round the outside of the paper with a piece of tailor’s chalk, because the pieces of paper may slip ever so slightly when you are cutting out the material, and your dress would not be absolutely accurate. Then carefully mark every notch and rface-line with the chalk. I am speaking of dark materials, of course, but if it is an evening dress, or undie, you are making, you must mark the notches with coloured tacking cotton because the notches Avouldn’t slioav up. The reason for marking the notches is this: You may think that it is quite obvious that the two straight strips of the skirt, for example, are seamed together, and so it is, and you seam them together, one a e,ross-way piece and one a straight, and the crossway piece stretches all the time you are seAring and ends up a good inch longer than the other piece, so, in--1 stead of unpicking them, mai-king the notches and then re-seaming the edges so that notch meets notch, coaxing and easing them until they do, take your scissors and cheerfully cult off the extra length. Result: A skirt that hangs badly and is puckered all down the seam.