WORK COLUMN.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue IX, 21 August 1897, Page 286

WORK COLUMN.

ST has often occurred to me that we are not nearly as clever in the arrangement of rooms as onr neighbours the French, who are accustomed to live in * flats,’ and make the most of the space. We make little or no use of our diningrooms ; for instance, there is no * reason why there should not be an infinity of ornamental cupboards round the walls, and in the corners, where ordinary, every--I^7FSi day china might be well ar- \ wva | ranged so as to add to the deWs'j EmS. coration of the room. The cupboard shown in the accompanying sketch is really pretty, yet here is everyday breakfast china, a marmalade jar, milk jug, and everything of the kind put safely away instead of standing about on the dresser of a kitchen. It is supplied with a couple of bright little curtains which can be drawn at need, but left partially open have a better

effect. The cupboard itself is nothing in the world but a series ot corner wooden brackets fixed on the wall one above the other, and these can be stained to match the furniture, or, if a contrast be liked, stained green or painted white.

Housewives, as a rule, do not commend themselves to me ; for the most part they seem to contain a variety of articles one never uses, they are too cumbersome to carry about, and are seldom at hand when they are wanted, but I must confess that I fell a victim to the charms of a little French ‘Housewife,’ which not only gives you needle and cotton, but also the former threaded and ready for use, for as you take out one of the needles and pull the thread through the others, breaking it off, yon have only got to make a knot and set to work at whatever you are doing ; but I will proceed to explain it in a more technical fashion. This peculiar ‘ housewife ’ consists of three rows of needles, which are supposed to remain always threaded. For instance, one row of a dozen needles is threaded with the same single bit of black silk, and the two others have white or any other cotton of two different sizes. The reels themselves are enclosed in the bolster case, which is divided into three compartments. Our model is made in antique garnet silk, brocaded with flowers and with ribbed stripes ; it is lined with flannel. Both the inside and the outside measure

13 inches in length, and 6% inches in width. A 7 inch square of coarse linen is cut for the inside of the roll, and is placed between the silk and the flannel, to give more strength ; the partitions are also made of flannel, and the whole is bound with a fancy galloon. The two gathered ends are in old-gold satin, to correspond with the feather stitching which divides the three lines of threaded needles. Evidently only the first needle of the row must be taken at a time, and the continuous thread drawn carefully, so that, in breaking the required length, the remaining needles are still left all threaded with an end projecting at the edge, as clearly shown in the illustration. Three fancy buttons, sewn outside the cotton case, correspond with three loops, by means of

which the roll is securely fastened. The top flat is also provided with a loop, to be rolled and buttoned up when not wanted.