WHEN LACE IS NOT IN VOGUE

Ladies' Mirror, Volume I, Issue 4, 2 October 1922, Page 44

WHEN LACE IS NOT IN VOGUE

Lingerie Suggestions

“Y'iH, Molly! You can’t think how glad I am to see you again; it’s just been wretched without you to talk over the hundred and one details of life, including my big problem— pretties; for you know I never can decide for myself. I really think you are my better half.’’ “Well, Jane, it is jolly to be home again, though I’ve had a perfectly lovely time, and seen the most . heavenly things, and I’ve crammed my poor little brain (not to mention a notebook) full of lovely and perfectly e w ideas. I feel like starting right away on a trousseau for us both! “First of all —yes, in that box—there’s a little gift for you, and if it doesn’t make you think of many more ideas —well, you’re not the girl I thought you were. “Yes, it is a lovely shade of blue, and so very simple and dainty; only a wisp of crepe de chine and rows of faggoting: even you can do that; and I guessed the frills on the camisole were just the thing for a willowy person like you; and, then, faggoting is so very easy to dojust tack your material on to fairly stiff paper, with a row of stitches each side of the line intended: then cut between, and turn back like a tiny hem, and connect up with your faggoting, cither twisted or buttonholed. “I saw one lovely set in blue, with narrow hems of pale lavender, faggoted on, and the camisole had a latticing of narrow ribbons in several shades, over each shoulderjust a perfect darling. “You see the same idea in this chemise, only the latticing is made of turned-through bands of self material in lemon and pale blue. “Spots don’t sound exciting, but just look at this camisole, cut in one piece, and trimmed with rows of little even dots would be charming in shades of mauve, and one could make

French knots instead of spots, for a change. “I really couldn’t resist buying this underskirt — a beautiful shade of copper, and the transparent blue georgette spots are so fascinating in each deep scallop, _ bound wi t h deeper blue. “They are quite easy to do, too —just pencil a circle in each scallop, tack a scrap of georgette underneath, then cut the mate r a 1 away (leaving the georgette, of course), and whip a buttonhole round the edges. A hem of contrasting colour, and squares of rather coarse ladder stitching in the same shade as the hem, make a dainty skirt, too, and another I saw had three flat scalloped flounces of crepe de chine, one overlapping the other, and each in a different shade, and each daintily bound in a contrasting colour. “The top flounce, by the way, was hand hem-stitched on, and finished with an occasional tiny posy of crepe de chine roses. Another very charming idea is hemstitch applique—only, instead of placing the material to be appliqued on top, one puts' it underneath. “For instance—l saw one set of “undies”- in pale pink under muslin — ornamented by a necklace of blossoms in many pale shades—deeper pink, blue, lemon, lavender, etc. “The design was first drawn on the nightdress, and pieces of muslin in contrasting colours placed underneath and carefully tacked in outline. “Then, with a very coarse needle, each blossom was outlined in hemstitch, and all spare material cut away from the back. “You cannot imagine how. charming the result is—and if you wish to be really unusual, make an underskirt with these " blossoms—fairly largeforming the hem. and then scattered and graduated for some distance up the skirt— far as your energy will carry you.”