EIDERDOWN RE-COVERING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 150, 27 June 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

EIDERDOWN RE-COVERING

BEDSPREADS TO MATCH Re covering an eiderdown at home is a much simpler business than is sometimes imagined, and is especially satisfactory now that the covers and bedspreads arc so often made of the same material. Where a complete new set is needed, it is simplest to buy a pair of artificial silk bedspreads exactly alike, to set one aside for its lawful use, and to keep the second for the top side of the eiderdown. In this way joins which are inevitable if ordinary material is used are avoided, writes P.G. in an English paper. For the actual work of re-covering, any holes in the original cover should first be patched and the feathers thoroughly teased. Beating it with, a light cane will do this. The bedspread is then laid flat upon the middle. This is tacked round the inmost row of eiderdown stitching and immediately sewn over the original machining; the second row of machining is then felt and stitched over in the same way, then the third, and so on. I found the best medium was strong embroidery silk, but mercerised cotton would do just as well, fairly large stitches, with an occasional back-stitch being used. The centre ridges have to be sown by hand, as the eiderdown will be too bulky to go into most machines, but by the time the long straight ridges at the sides are reached, the machine can be brought into action. It is essential always to keep working from the centre outward, and not to try and get the whole of one side done first, otherwise rucks will appear, and the whole concern will look amateurish. When the edges of the eiderdown are reached the bedspread is cut to fit these, and if a new underside be needed as well, these strips from the sides and ends will form an excellent border to the casement cloth or whatever material is considered suitable. Some people make the whole underside of silk, but an eiderdown so covered is inclined to slip off the bed, so that a harsher ipaterial of the same tone is better. It is naturally wise, if both sides are to be re-covered, simply to tack down all the seams of the first side so that one lot of stitching will serve for both. Where ordinary material is preferred for the cover, the joins should be made before the cover is started, and so fixed that they come at the two sides of the eiderdown. One seam straight down the centre should always bo avoided.