WORK NOVELTIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XI, Issue 35, 2 September 1893, Page 165

WORK NOVELTIES.

CANDLE SHADES. There are many new departures in these, and one of the latest ideas is a ballet dancer, placed at the side of the candle, with tulle skiits covered with specks of tinsel. For others, which are to cover the candle, nothing is much prettier than light green silk made up on a wire with frill ings at the edge, or pretty crepe paper in delicate colours, decorated with artificial flowers. Many are being made in the form of flowers, the flower itself forming the shade, such as lilies, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, etc. But they require to be adjusted with some skill. I have lately seen a set brought from Paris, which had a different playing card for each, some Court cards, and some pips only. Four different cards were used for each shade. USES FOR CARDBOARD. Considerable ingenuity is being shown just now in mould ing cardboard and wire into tazzas, bowls, and vases of quaint and elegant shapes, with graceful draperies and flutings of pongee silk. Some of these are intended to hold shallow dishes of fruit or low bowls of flowers ; but they are mounted on deep stands, so that the whole thing is often as much as a foot high. Others make capital receptacles for waste paper, and as flowerpot covers these firm shapes are invaluable, though they do not serve so well for pots of different sizes as do those that are made up softly upon elastic.

Leaves of various forms play some considerable part in the decoration of fancy articles this season. A pretty border for a teacloth represents chestnut leaves arranged so that they slightly overlap. The leaves are worked so t hat every alternate one is an excellent imitation of a skeleton leaf, and, as the linen is cut away beyond the edges of the pattern, the segments of the leaves make a pretty finish of scallops all round the cloth. Ivy leaves cut out of dark green plush, apparently lined with silk of a paler shade and mounted over cardboard, are being made up into table mats and letter or photograph holders.