Have ready in another pan some glue-stiffening, made as follows: On a bit of glue about the size of a shilling pour two jills, or a half-pint, of boiling water, and let it dissolve. After the glue is entirely melted, add to it a quart of cold water; and then make it very blue by squeezing into it a large portion of indigo from the blue-bag. Stir it well, and then put in the veil, rinsing and squeezing it up and down through the stiffening water. Having done this sufficiently, squeeze out the veil as dry as you can get it; then open it, stretch it, and clap it all over. Next, fold it evenly; roll it up in a thick clean towel; and let it rest for a quarter of an hour or more.

Spread a large clean linen cloth on your clothes-line, and hang the veil (well spread out) upon the cloth. When nearly, but not quite dry, take down the veil, and clap and stretch it again. Have warm irons ready. Lay a clean linen cloth over your blanket, and press the veil smoothly on the wrong side; first trying the irons on an old piece of thin black silk, crape, or gauze; lest they should be too hot for the lace, and scorch or discolour it.

The foregoing process (followed exactly) will restore to any article of good black silk lace that has become brown and soft by wearing, the deep black colour and consistence it had when new.

Be careful not to have too much glue, and to put plenty of indigo-blue into the second suds and into the stiffening water.

Before washing the veil, rip open the casing at the top, and remove the string. Afterwards, make a new case, and draw it with a new ribbon.

TO WASH A WHITE LACE SCARF.—Fold up the scarf, and lay it in a thin cambric handkerchief, folded over so as to enclose the scarf, and secured by basting it slightly with a needle and thread. Dip it in cold water. Make a strong lather with white soap and warm water; put the scarf, &c., into it, and let it rest all day. In the evening, make a fresh lather, and leave the scarf in it all night, (having first squeezed it well.) Next morning, make some thin starch. Shave small a quarter of a cake of white wax, and put it into two quarts of soft water; adding six lumps of loaf-sugar, and a table-spoonful of thin-made starch. Put these articles into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain kettle, and set it over the fire. On no account use, for this purpose, a vessel of any sort of metal, as it will discolour the lace. When the mixture has come to a boil, put in the scarf, (still folded in the handkerchief,) and boil it ten minutes. Then take it out, open the handkerchief, and if you do not find it perfectly white, return it to the pipkin, and boil it longer. Afterwards, take it out of the handkerchief, and throw the scarf into cold water. Squeeze and press it, till it drips no longer. Then open it out; stretch it even; and hang it in the sun. When almost dry, take it in, and iron it carefully on a linen cloth.

A veil, a shawl, or a pelerine of white lace may be washed in this manner.

TO CLEAN GOLD OR SILVER EMBROIDERY.—Warm some spirits of wine, and apply it with a bit of clean sponge. Then dry it, by rubbing it with soft, new canton flannel. Gold or silver lace may be cleaned thus. Also, jewelry.

WASHING AMERICAN CHINTZES.—American chintzes, of good quality, (such as are sold at twelve or fourteen cents per yard,) can be washed so as to retain their colours, and look as bright as when quite new. The water must be quite clean, and merely warm, but by no means hot. Rub the soap into the water, so as to form a strong lather, before you put in the dress. Add to the lather a handful of fine salt. Wash the chintz through two warm waters, making a lather in the second also, and adding salt. The salt will keep the colours from running. Then rinse it through two cold waters; putting a table-spoonful of vinegar into each, before the dress goes in. This will brighten the colours. Immediately, wring out the dress, and hang it up to dry; but not in the sun. When nearly dry, (so as to be just damp enough to iron,) have irons ready heated; bring in the dress; stretch it well, and iron it on the wrong side. If allowed to become quite dry on the line, and then sprinkled and rolled up, and laid aside to be ironed next day, the colours may run from remaining damp all night.

An imported chintz, a gingham, or a mousseline de laine, may be washed in the above manner; which we know to be excellent; substituting, for the salt, a table-spoonful of ox-gall in each water. All sorts of coloured dresses should be washed and ironed as quickly as possible, when once begun. It is well to allot a day purposely to coloured dresses, rather than to do them with all the other things on the regular washing-day. If washed in half-dirty suds, and left soaking in the rinsing-water, the colours will most assuredly run and fade, and the dress look dingy all over.

Of course, nothing that has any colour about it should be either scalded, or boiled, or washed in hot water. Scalding, boiling, and hot-water washing are only for things entirely white.

PRESERVING THE COLOURS OF DRESSES.—Before washing a new dress, try a small piece of the material, and see if the colours are likely to stand of themselves. They are generally fast, if the article is so well printed that the wrong side is difficult to distinguish from the right. If you obtain from the store a small slip for testing the durability of the colours, give it a fair trial, by washing it through two warm waters with soap, and then rinsing it through two cold waters. No colours whatever will stand, if washed in hot water. Some colours, (very bright pinks and light greens particularly,) though they may bear washing perfectly well, will change as soon as a warm iron is applied to them; the pink turning purplish, and the green bluish.

The colours of merinoes, mousselines de laine, ginghams, chintzes, printed lawns, &c., may be preserved in washing by mixing a table-spoonful of ox-gall in the first and second waters, (which should not be more than lukewarm,) and making a lather of the soap and water before you put in the dress, instead of rubbing the soap on it afterwards. At the last, to brighten the colours, stir into the second rinsing-water a small tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol, if the dress is that of a grown person; for a child’s dress, half a tea-spoonful will suffice. If washed at home, one of the ladies of the family should herself put in the vitriol, as, if left to the servants, they may injure the dress by carelessly putting in too much. Vitriol is excellent for preserving light or delicate colours.

The colours of a common calico or mousseline de laine may be set by putting into each of the two warm waters a large handful of salt, and into each rinsing water a tea-spoonful of vinegar.

No coloured articles should be allowed to remain in the water, as soaking will cause the colours to run in streaks. As soon as the dress is washed and rinsed, let it be immediately wrung out, hung in the shade, and, as soon as dry enough, taken in and ironed at once. Each dress should be washed separately. The washing of dresses should only be undertaken in fine weather.

PUTTING AWAY WOOLLENS.—The introduction of furnaces, for the purpose of warming houses, is supposed to be one cause of the great increase of moths, cockroaches, and other insects that now, more than ever, infest our dwellings. For moths, particularly, the usual remedies of camphor, tobacco, pepper, cedar-shavings, &c., seem no longer sufficiently powerful; perhaps because their odour so soon evaporates. Still it is well to try them when nothing better can be done; and they are sometimes successful. Camphor and tobacco-shreds will be found much more efficacious if (after interspersing them among the furs or woollens) each fur or woollen article is carefully and closely pinned up in newspapers; so closely as to leave no aperture or opening, however small. The printing-ink has a tendency to keep off moths and other small insects. The papers used for this purpose should be those that are printed with ink of a good quality, not liable to rub off, and soil the things enclosed. We highly recommend this mode of preserving furs and woollens.

After the carpets have been taken up, and well shaken and beaten, and the grease spots all removed, let them be folded and packed closely down in the cask, which can be reached by means of a step-ladder. Put in, also, the blankets; having first washed all that were not clean; also the woollen table-covers. If you have worsted or cloth curtains and cushion-covers, pack them in likewise, after they have been thoroughly freed from dust. Also, flannels, merinos, cloaks, coats, furs, and, in short, every thing that is liable to be attacked by the moths. It is well to rip the cloaks from the collars, and the skirts of pelisses from the bodies, before packing, as they can be folded more smoothly, and so as to occupy less space. Fold and pack all the articles closely, and arrange them to advantage, so as to fit in well, and fill up all hollows and vacancies evenly. If well-packed, one hogshead will generally hold all the woollen and fur articles belonging to a house of moderate size, and to a moderate-sized family. But if one is not enough, it is easy to get another. When the cask is filled, nail the head on tightly, and let the whole remain undisturbed till the warm weather is over. If the house is shut up, and the family out of town in the summer, you may safely leave your woollens, &c., put away in this manner. Choose a clear, dry day for unpacking them in the autumn; and, when open, expose them all separately to the air, till the odour of the whisky is gone off. If they have been put away clean, and free from dust, it will be found that the whisky-atmosphere has brightened their colours. As soon as the things are all out of the cask, head it up again immediately, and keep it for the same use next summer. If more convenient, you may have the cask sawed in two before you pack it. In this case, you must get an extra head for one of the halves.

In putting away woollens for the season, always keep out a blanket for each bed, and some flannel for each member of the family, in case of occasional cold days, or easterly rains in the summer.

Have no hair trunks about the house; they always produce moths.

TO CLEAN WHITE FUR.—Take a sufficiency of dry starch, very finely powdered, and sift it, through a fine sieve, into a broad, clean, tin pan. Set the pan near enough the fire for the powdered starch to get warm, stirring it frequently. Then roll and tumble about the white fur among the powdered starch, till it is well saturated. Shut it up closely in a bandbox, and let it remain unopened for a fortnight. It will then look clean.

TO KEEP A MUFF. Always when returning a muff to its box, give it several hard twirls round. This will smooth the fur, and make all the hairs lie the same way. To prevent the wadding inside the muff from sinking downwards, and falling into clods, keep the muff-box always lying on the side, instead of standing it upright. When you put it away till next winter, place within it some lumps of camphor wrapped in papers, and sprinkle the outside of the fur with powdered camphor. Then enclose the muff, completely, in one or two large newspapers, sewing or pinning them entirely over it, sides and ends, so that nothing can possibly get in. Do the same with all your furs; and after putting them away with these precautions, open them no more till the return of cold weather. The printing ink on the papers will assist in keeping out moths.

TAKING CARE OF PICTURES.—An excellent way to preserve an oil-picture from the injuries of damp, mould, and mildew, is to take the precaution of covering the back of the canvas (before nailing it on the straining frame) with a coating of common white lead paint; and when that is dry, give it a second coat. If you buy a picture that has been framed without this precaution, do not neglect having the back of it coated as above, before you hang it up.

The simplest way of cleaning an oil-picture, is to mix some whisky and water very weak. If the mixture is too strong of the liquid, it may take off the paint, or otherwise injure it. Dip into the mixture a very soft and very clean sponge, which you must first ascertain to be perfectly free from sand, grit, or any extraneous object. A good way to soften and clean a sponge, is to boil it in several successive waters, till there is no longer any appearance of sand at the bottom of the vessel. Having carefully washed the picture with the sponge and whisky-water, dry it by going over it with a clean soft silk handkerchief. This is all that can be safely attempted by any one who is not a regular picture cleaner. Therefore, if the picture is smoked or much soiled, it is best to send it to a person who makes picture-cleaning his profession. Many a good picture has been destroyed by injudicious cleaning.

Till it has been made perfectly clean, no picture should be re-varnished; otherwise the fresh varnish will work up the dirt, and make it look worse than ever. As long as a picture is the least wet (either with paint or varnish) it should be carefully guarded from dust; the smallest particles of which by drying into the surface will injure it irreparably. No sweeping or dusting should be permitted where there is a picture not perfectly and thoroughly dry. If there is a fire in the room it should not be stirred, replenished, or touched in any way till the picture has been previously carried out, lest some of the flying ashes might stick to it.

When a picture is finished, it would always be well for the artist to inscribe on the back of the canvas the subject of the painting, the date of its completion, his own name and that of the person for whom it was painted. In short, a concise history of the picture, arranged somewhat like the title-page of a book. Had this excellent practice always prevailed, there would be no occasion for any doubts and controversies concerning the works of the old masters.

A PORTRAIT PAINTER’S TRAVELLING BOX.—The large wooden box for the easel and other things indispensable to a portrait painter, when travelling professionally, should be made broad, low, and square, so that it may be used as a platform on which to place the chair of the sitter. When unpacked of its contents, and appropriated to this purpose, the box must be turned bottom upwards, and concealed under a cover of carpeting or drugget brought along with it. The cover should fit smoothly and closely, and be so made that it can be lifted off, and folded up, whenever the platform is again to be used as a box.

TRAVELLING BOXES.—As bandboxes are no longer visible among the baggage-articles of ladies, the usual way of carrying bonnets, caps, muslins, &c., is in tall square wooden boxes, covered with black canvas or leather, edged with strips of iron and brass nails, and furnished with a tray for small things. They are usually lined with paper or calico pasted all over the inside. This lining, however, is apt to peel off in places where most rubbed; and is then very troublesome; catching the corners of the tray so as to prevent its being lifted out. To obviate this inconvenience, when you bespeak the box, direct that the inside, instead of being lined with pasted paper or calico, shall be planed smooth, and either stained of some colour, or left the natural tint of the wood. It is best that the tray should have a close bottom of strong linen. When there are only strips nailed across, (like open lattice-work,) the small articles laid upon them are always falling through.

A small bandbox can be easily carried inside of a trunk or box, keeping it steady by filling in heavy articles closely round it. The best way of securing a bandbox-lid, is to have a hole made in the rim or top of the lid, and a corresponding hole in the side of the bandbox, near its cover. Through each of these holes pass a string of ribbon or ferret; securing one end by a large knot inside, and leaving the other end outside; so that you can tie them together in a bow-knot. It is best to have two pair of these strings, one pair on each side of the bandbox.

Let your whole name (not merely the initials) be painted in white or yellow letters on each of your travelling trunks or boxes; and also the name of the town in which you live. Have also your name and residence painted in black on the leather part of your carpet-bag.

If you are clever at lettering, you can mark your trunks yourself with a small brush and a saucer of ready-mixed paint, which you may buy at a paint-shop for a few cents. The more conspicuously your baggage is lettered, the less liable you are to lose it. To make it still more easily distinguished, tie on the handles of each article a bit of ribbon; the same colour on every one—for instance, all blue or all red.

On returning home, let all the travelling cases, bags, straps, keys, &c., be kept together in one trunk; so that when preparing for your next journey you may know exactly where to find them.

A RIBBON SACK.—These bags are quite pretty, and very convenient for a short journey, or a visit of a day or two in the country. While on the journey, they are to be carried in the hand, and may contain whatever is necessary for a short absence from home; for instance, clean night-clothes, tightly rolled up; stockings; handkerchiefs; sewing materials; books, &c. To make a ribbon sack, take five or six pieces of very broad, very thick, strong ribbon; each piece at least three-quarters of a yard in length. Sew all these stripes closely together, with very strong sewing-silk. Then fold or double this piece of joined ribbons, leaving one end half a finger longer than the other. Sew up the two sides as you would a pillow-case, so as to form a square sack with a flap to turn over at the top. Round off, with your scissors, both corners of this flap, so as to make its edge semicircular. Then bind the top or mouth all round (flap and straight-sides) with thick velvet ribbon of a dark colour. Cover, with the same velvet ribbon, a very thick strong cotton cord about three quarters of a yard in length; and sew its two ends to the tops of the side-seams; so as to form an arched handle like that of a basket. Work an upright button-hole near the edge of the flap, and sew on a handsome button to meet it, a little below the straight edge of the bag’s mouth. If the ribbon is very thick and strong (broad belt-ribbon for instance) no lining will be necessary. Also, no lining is required if the sack is of stout old-fashioned brocade. No other sort of silk will be strong enough without a lining.

A LADY’S SHOE-BAG.—Take a piece of strong linen or ticking. Fold or double it so as to leave a flap to turn over at the top. Then, with very strong thread, stitch the bag into compartments—each division large enough to contain, easily, a pair of shoes. Next sew up the sides, and bind the flap with broad tape. Put strings or buttons to the flap so as to tie it down. The shoes, when put in, must be laid together with the heel of one to the toe of the other; and if they are slippers with strings, tie the strings closely round both. These shoe-bags are very convenient when you are travelling.

A BOOT-BAG.—Take a piece of very strong brown linen or Russia sheeting; about a yard in length, and three-quarters wide. Fold it in the form of a pillow-case, and sew up the sides; leaving it at the open or top-end about a finger’s length (or four inches) longer at the back than at the front, so as to turn over like a flap. Hem this flap. Take two pieces of strong twilled tape, each about a yard or more in length. Double each tape in the middle, so as to make a double string. Sew these strings on one edge of the turn-over or flap, about half a quarter of a yard apart. Having rolled up each boot, put them, side by side, into the bag. Pull down the flap over the opening or mouth; bring round the strings; and tie them tightly. The boots can thus be carried in a trunk or carpet-bag, without injuring other articles.

A TOWEL-CASE.—Travellers often complain much of the difficulty of procuring nice towels, in steamboats, at country inns, and at taverns in remote places. This inconvenience may easily be obviated by putting a few of your own towels into your trunk. In case of being obliged to proceed on your journey before your towels are dry, take with you, on leaving home, a square oil-cloth or oiled silk case or bag, made like a large pocket-book with a flap to fold over, and to fasten down with two or more buttons and loops. Having squeezed your wet towels as dry as you can, fold or roll them into as small a compass as possible; and put them into the case. Before you go to bed, take them out, and hang them about your room to dry.

CONVENIENT HAIR-BRUSHES.—We highly recommend to travellers those hair-brushes that have a looking-glass at the back, with a comb fixed on a pivot, and concealed beneath the mirror, so as to be drawn out when wanted. Those of black buffalo horn are the strongest. With one of these you may always have a comb and a small mirror at hand, all three occupying no more space than a simple hair-brush.

A TRAVELLING-CASE FOR COMBS AND BRUSHES.—Get about three-quarters of a yard of strong oiled silk of the best quality—double it—leaving one side, at the top, about half a quarter longer than the other, so as to fold over like a flap. Sew it strongly up, at the bottom and sides, with a felled seam. Then stitch it lengthways into compartments, like an old-fashioned thread-case—except that the divisions must differ in size; taking care to make each division rather large, that the articles may go in easily, and not rub against each other. Make one compartment large enough to contain a hair-brush; allot another to a comb; others to tooth-brushes; one to a nail-brush; one to a clasp-knife; one to a pair of scissors; one to a vial of lavender or camphor; one to a sponge; and another to a cake of soap; and a large one to hold a towel. In short, make the divisions according to the size and number of useful articles you require in travelling. Sew two pair of strings to the flap, and tie them fast when the articles are all in. Let your name be marked on the outside of the flap.

This bag may be made of strong linen, or ticking. But oiled silk is better, as you can then put into it tooth-brushes and sponges when quite wet. If of oiled silk, let there be one compartment large enough to hold a wet towel. It is well in travelling always to take with you some towels of your own; and if after using them there is no time for drying, you can roll them up and carry them away wet, if you have furnished yourself with an oiled silk bag.

TO CARRY INK WHEN TRAVELLING.—Have ready a small square bag of oiled silk, or thick buckskin, with a narrow tape string sewed on near the top. Buy a small six-cent vial of good ink. The vial must be broad and short with a flat bottom; so that it will stand alone, and answer the purpose of an ink-stand. If the seal on the cork has been cut away, get a longer and better cork, and wedge it in as tightly as possible. Cut off a finger-end from an old kid glove; put it over the cork, and draw it down closely till it covers both the top and the neck of the bottle, tying it on tightly with narrow tape. Then wrap the bottle in double blotting-paper, and put it into the little oil-cloth bag, securing the top well. To prevent all possibility of accidents, from ink stains, do not pack the ink-bottle in a trunk with your clothing, but keep it in your travelling-basket or reticule. We know that ink thus secured has been carried many hundred miles, with the convenience of being always at hand to write with, whenever wanted, in a steamboat or at a stopping-place. The best way of carrying quill-pens is in a pasteboard pen-case, to be had at the stationers for a trifle. Steel-pens may be wrapped in soft paper twisted at each end.

We highly recommend a neat and convenient article called a travelling escritoir. It occupies no more space than a cake of scented soap, and is so ingeniously contrived as to contain a small ink-bottle with a lid so close-fitting as to be perfectly safe; a pen-holder; a piece of sealing-wax; a wax taper; and some lucifer matches with sand-paper to ignite them on the bottom of the box. The whole apparatus can be safely carried in the pocket, or in a ladies reticule, or it may be put into a travelling-desk. It is to be purchased in Philadelphia, at Maurice Bywater’s stationery store, No. 151 Walnut street, near Fifth. We know nothing better for the purpose; and the cost is trifling.

BONNETS.—Before you send a straw bonnet to be whitened, it will be well to remove whatever stains or grease marks may be upon it. Do this yourself, as many professed bonnet-cleaners are either unacquainted with the best methods, or careless of taking the trouble; and will tell you, afterwards, that these blemishes would not come out. You can easily remove grease marks from a straw, leghorn, or Florence braid bonnet, by rubbing the place with a sponge dipped in fresh camphine oil; or by wetting it with warm water, and then plastering on some scraped Wilmington clay, or grease-ball; letting it rest half an hour, and then repeating the application till the grease has disappeared. Magnesia rubbed on dry will frequently remove grease spots, if not very bad. To take out stains, discoloured marks, or mildew, moisten slightly with warm water some stain powder composed of equal portions of salt of sorrel and cream of tartar, well mixed together. Rub on this mixture with your finger. Let it rest awhile; then brush it off, and rub on more of the powder. When the stain has disappeared, wash off the powder, immediately, and thoroughly, with warm water. By previously using these applications, no trace of grease or stain will remain on the bonnet, after it has undergone the process of whitening and pressing in the usual manner.

In cleaning straw bonnets it is best to give them as much gloss and stiffening as possible. The gloss will prevent dust from sticking to the surface, and the stiffness will render them less liable to get out of shape when worn in damp weather. For a similar reason, the wire round the inside of the edge should in all bonnets be very thick and stout. If the wire is too thin, even the wind will blow the brim out of shape.

An excellent way of cleaning and whitening straw or leghorn bonnets may be found in the House Book, page 67.

In lining bonnets, always fit the lining on the outside of the brim. It is not only the least troublesome way, but the most certain of success. Nothing is more disfiguring to a bonnet than an uneven puckered lining—left too loose in some places, and stretched too tight in others. If the lining is drawn more to one side than the other, the brim will always set crookedly round the face. The best way, is first to fit upon the outside of the bonnet-front, a piece of thin, soft, white paper, pinning it on smoothly and evenly, with numerous pins. Then cut it the proper shape; allowing it rather more than an inch all round larger than the brim. From this paper cut out the silk lining; allowing still more for turning in at the edges, on account of the silk ravelling. Then (having notched the edge of the lining all round) baste it on the inside of the brim, and try it on before the glass, previous to sewing it in permanently. See that it is perfectly smooth and even throughout. A white silk bonnet-lining should be of the most decided white, (a dead white, as it is called,) for if it has the least tinge of pearl, rose, blue or yellowish-white, it will be unbecoming to any face or complexion. Straw bonnets are frequently lined with white crape or tarletane.

The lining of a silk or velvet bonnet should always be put in before the brim is sewed to the crown.

In trimming a bonnet, after the bows, bands, &c., have all been arranged with pins, sew them on with a needle and thread; and afterwards withdraw the pins. If pins are allowed to remain in, they leave a greenish speck wherever they have been; besides denting the straw, and probably tearing it. Also, sew on the flowers, after you have arranged them to your satisfaction.

Bonnet strings when somewhat soiled may be cleaned by rubbing them with scraped Wilmington clay, or grease-ball, or else magnesia. Roll them on a ribbon-block with the clay upon them; let them rest a few hours; then brush off that clay, and put on some fresh. Roll the ribbon again on the block, and leave it till next day. You will find it look much cleaner. It is well always to buy an extra yard, or yard and a half of ribbon, to replace with new ones the bonnet strings when soiled.

To keep the bows of a bonnet in shape when put away in the bandbox, fill out each bow by placing rolls of wadding inside of all the loops.

A piece of thin oiled silk introduced between the lining and the outside, partly beneath the upper part of the brim, and partly at the lower part of the crown, will prevent any injury to the bonnet from perspiration of the head, or oiliness of the hair.

In bespeaking a bonnet of a milliner, always request her to send you the frame to try on, before she covers it; that you may see if it fits.

When a bonnet is to be sent to a distant place in wooden box, (bandboxes should never visibly travel,) to keep the bonnet steady, and prevent its tumbling or knocking about, sew very securely to the brim and back, some bits of strong tape, and fasten the other end of each bit of tape to the floor of the box, with very small tack nails. Fill all the loops and bows with wadding as above mentioned. A bonnet thus secured may travel uninjured from Maine to Texas.

TO KEEP A BONNET WHITE.—If you have a white velvet or silk bonnet that looks well enough to wear a second season, lay beside it in the bandbox a cake of white wax, (such as you get at an apothecary’s for sixpence or a shilling,) cover the bandbox closely, and do not on any account open it till you are about to take the bonnet again into wear. You will then find the cake of wax much discoloured, but the bonnet as white as ever. Shawls of white silk or canton crape, or indeed any white articles, may be kept in the same manner by putting a cake of white wax in the box with them, and not opening it so as to admit the external air, till the season for wearing them has returned.

In bespeaking bandboxes, desire that they shall not be lined with white paper. A lining of the coarsest brown paper is far preferable for preserving either the colours or the whiteness of any articles that are kept in them. The chloride of lime used in manufacturing white paper is very injurious to the colours of silks, and frequently causes in them spots and stains. The very coarse thick brown paper made of old ropes is far better; as the tar remaining about it partakes somewhat of the qualities of turpentine, and is therefore a preservative to colours.

White ribbons, blonds, &c., should be kept wound on ribbon-blocks, and wrapped in the coarse brown iron-monger’s paper.

WHALEBONES AND HOOKS.—The whalebones for dresses should always be perfectly straight, for if crooked they draw the body crooked wherever they are, and give it a warped or puckered look. Let them be stout also; for if thin, they curve and break. In cutting them of the desired length, round off and smooth the edge of both ends; for if left rough, square, or sharp they will very soon pierce through the dress. If you case them in linen or twilled tape, make the covering double, for about an inch at each end; and sew them on to the body-lining with very strong thread or silk. Secure them firmly and steadily at both ends, so that they may not slip up and down, and rub through to the outside of the body. For fastening dresses never use those hooks that have a sort of bulb, or that spread out near the point. They catch very badly, and are troublesome both to fasten and unfasten. Do not put black hooks on dresses that are to be washed, as they cause iron-mould. When a dress comes home from the wash with any of the hooks flattened in ironing, raise or open them by inserting beneath the hook the points of your scissors.

See that not a particle of coloured lining is introduced anywhere about a dress that is to be washed. No coloured lining-muslin will wash at all; but its colour or dye will run and streak the outside of the dress so as to spoil it. However dark a washable dress may be, the lining should be entirely of white linen or brown holland; the smallest bit of coloured muslin will spoil it when washed.

On no consideration let even a dark or black chintz dress have any black cotton cord about it; as when it comes from the wash it will be ruined with black streaks, from the dye of the cord.

CUTTING OUT PATTERNS.—In taking the pattern or cutting out the shape of a cape, pelerine, mantilla, or any other article of dress, instead of using a newspaper for that purpose, (according to the general custom,) cut the pattern in coarse, low-priced muslin or calico. Then with a needle and thread sew or run all the different parts together, so that you can try it on and see if it fits, or if any alteration will be necessary in suiting it to your own figure. Cut out the whole of the pattern, and not merely the half; otherwise you will not be able to try it on conveniently. The stiffness of paper and its liability to tear, render it far less suitable for pattern-cutting than coarse muslin; which, if not already in the house, can be bought for a mere trifle.

TO HEM BOBBINET.—In making a collar, pelerine, cape, scarf, or any article of bobbinet, you may hem it so as to prevent the usual inconvenience and disfigurement of the edges stretching out of shape after being washed, starched, and ironed. After turning down the hem, lay a very small cotton cord into the upper or extreme edge of the hem, and with a fine needle and thread secure the cord by running it closely along with short stitches. Having done this, lay a second small cord into the other edge, or the edge that is to be hemmed down. It is well worth the trouble of thus going twice round with a cord at each edge of the hem; which in consequence will remain ever firm and straight after the article has been washed.

When any part of a bobbinet article is cut bias, or rounded in a semicircle, it will be best, instead of hemming, to face the edge with a bias slip of the same material, having a covered cording sewed in; as in binding or facing the edge of a cape or pelerine. Without this precaution, the bias or rounded edge will lose all shape in being ironed. If new bobbinet is very stiff and full of creases, let it be damped and ironed before it is cut out. As bobbinet shrinks much in washing, every thing made of it should be allowed full large. It may be shrunk before cutting out, by dipping it into a pan or tub of cold water. As soon as it is wet all through, take it out and squeeze it with your hands till it ceases entirely to drip. Then open, stretch, and pull it, till you get it all straight and even. Next, fold it up smoothly, and wrap it in a clean towel. It will be ready for ironing by the time an iron can be heated; first trying the iron on something very thin.

A bobbinet, or any clear muslin dress should have the hems and tucks drawn out before washing; renewing them after the dress is done up. The dress will never look well, if washed and clear-starched with the hem, &c., remaining in.

TO STRENGTHEN THE HEM OF A SILK DRESS.—In silk dresses the edge of the hem at the bottom of the skirt is apt to wear out (or cut as it is called) very soon, and look faggled or ravelled. To prevent this, get some broad strong silk braid of the same colour as the dress, or a little darker, (but on no account lighter,) and run it on to the edge, on both sides, like a binding; with strong silk, and short close stitches.

TO MAKE A COAT-DRESS OR GOWN SIT IN CLOSELY TO THE WAIST.—On finishing the dress, take about a yard and a half (more or less) of rather broad twilled tape. Sew the tape strongly in three places to the lower extremity of the inside of the back, exactly where the body joins the skirt; using sewing-silk the colour of the dress. The tape must be fastened precisely in the middle, and at each of the side seams of the back. When you put on the dress, bring the tape round (pulling it downwards as you do so) and tie it in front under the skirt, and just below the termination of the fore-body. By drawing the dress closely into the waist, it makes the back look hollow, and is a great improvement to the figure.

DIRECTIONS FOR WORKING SLIPPERS.—Half a yard of canvas is a full pattern for a large pair of slippers. If the canvas is of extra width, three quarters of a yard will make two pair. It is well to get your shoemaker to cut out for you the size and form, in a piece of paper. They will look immensely large before they are made up, but will not be found so afterwards.

Coloured engravings of slipper patterns are for sale in all the worsted and trimming stores. In making your selections, it is best to avoid those patterns that have white in them; as the white crewel will look soiled very soon, and give a dirty appearance to the whole slipper. You may, however, contrive to substitute for the white stitches the palest possible tints of pink, blue, or yellow.

To work one pair of slippers, you will require from fifteen to twenty skeins of crewel. In selecting the crewel, place beside you the pattern, that you may match the tints with it; choosing them so as to correspond precisely with those in the coloured engraving. It is best to go exactly by the pattern. If varied according to your own fancy, they will rarely look as well as when done in precise conformity to the taste and judgment of the practised artist, who has designed the plate and its colouring. Generally speaking, you should have at least from four to six shades of each colour; the darkest to be nearly black, the lightest nearly white; otherwise the effect will be dull and indistinct. Strong lights and shades are always of importance to brightness and beauty; even in worked slippers.

Wind the crewels, separately, in balls; and have a sufficient number of needles, so as to appropriate a needle to every shade. The needles must be large and blunt-pointed. Keep beside you, while working, something in which to stick the needles you are not using at the moment. A very simple and convenient thing for this purpose, is an empty gallicup, with a blank piece of canvas stretched flat, and tied tightly over the top. Stick the needles into this canvas; it is better than a pin-cushion.

Slippers (like all other worsted work) should be done in a frame, the canvas stretched tightly; and tacked firmly in, with strong thread. Keep the pattern beside you all the time you are working; and follow every stitch precisely. Do the central part first; next the heel part; and then fill up with groundwork all the vacant space within the outline. The usual way is to work them in common cross-stitch; but if done in tent-stitch or queen-stitch, the slippers will be more elastic, much softer, and will take a smaller quantity of crewel. When you have finished working them, have the slippers made up by a very good shoemaker. They will last a long time.

Instead of canvas, you may work slippers on fine broad-cloth, such as is used for gentlemen’s coats. Cloth slippers require no filling up with groundwork; having only a cluster of flowers in the centre, and a small running-pattern round the heel. You must baste upon the cloth a bit of canvas, a little larger than the space to be occupied by the flowers. Work the flowers upon this; taking every stitch quite through both the canvas and the cloth beneath it. When done, pull out the threads of the canvas from under the stitches, (they can be drawn out very easily,) and the flowers will remain in their proper form upon the cloth. This method of working slippers saves time, trouble, and crewel; yet they will be found less durable than if worked entirely on canvas, and with the whole ground filled up by crewel-stitches; cloth wearing out much sooner than worked canvas.

When preparing to work slippers, do not have them previously cut out, as it will cause the canvas or cloth to stretch all round, and will spoil their shape; besides being very troublesome to keep straight and even while working. Having obtained from your shoemaker a paper or shape, (allowed extremely large,) lay it down on the canvas, and mark out the form and size by a pen or pencil outline.

Cloth slippers braided in a handsome pattern with coloured braid, look much better and are done far more expeditiously than when worked in crewel.

Bands or rims for velvet caps look very well when braided. The braid may be gold or silver.

TO WORK MERINO IN CROSS-STITCH.—If you determine to work merino in cross-stitch, in the common manner of worsted work, have ready a pattern accurately drawn and coloured, so as to represent the place and tint of every stitch; and keep it before you to look at. Having marked out, with a dot, the place for every sprig, baste over each place a bit of very fine canvas, leaving the raw edge. On this canvas work the sprigs; carefully taking up with every stitch the merino beneath, as well as the canvas above it. Avoid drawing your hand too tight. When done, pull out, thread by thread, the canvas from under the needle-work; so as to leave the sprig resting on the merino only. This you will find a much more easy process than it appears on description. Have a number of needles, one for every different shade, and thread them all in advance. A tumbler or gallicup with a piece of canvas stretched tightly, and tied down over the top, is a very convenient thing to have beside you to stick your threaded needles in, when working worsted.

TO BRAID MERINO DRESSES OR CLOAKS FOR CHILDREN.—Patterns for braiding should be as continuous as possible, so as to avoid frequent cutting off and fastening on of the braid. These patterns should have nothing in them that stops short; all the parts following and entwining, so as to connect with each other.

For braiding, the dress must be cut out first, and the breadths sewed together, so that the border may run smoothly and regularly along, without any breaks or ill-joined places. Wind your braid upon cards or corks, and reserve a sufficiency for raveling to sew on the rest with; which is far better than to sew it on with silk thread, as, of course, the raveling matches the colour so exactly as to render the stitches imperceptible. The braid reserved for raveling should be cut into the usual length of needle-fulls; then ravelled, and put into long thread-papers.

Having drawn the pattern on a strip of stiff white paper, prick it all along, according to its form or outline, with large, close pin-holes. Then lay or baste it on the merino. Take some pounce, (gum-sandarac finely powdered and sifted,) and with your finger rub it along the pricked outline of the paper-pattern. On removing the paper, you will find that the pounce-powder, going through the pin-holes, will have traced the pattern in small dots on the merino. This will be a guide in sewing on the braid, which should be run on, with short, close stitches. A double row of braid, the inner or right-hand row a much darker shade than the first, has a raised or relieved look, which is very pretty; particularly when the second row is of the same colour as the merino or ground, but of an infinitely darker shade.

If you cannot match the merino with a braid exactly similar, select, always, one of a darker rather than a lighter shade. A light-coloured merino looks very well with a braiding of the same colour, but of a shade considerably darker. Gray, fawn-colour, or scarlet merino appears to advantage braided with black; so, also, does light blue or pale lilac. Salmon-colour looks well with purple braiding; and dark brown braided with light blue or pink. The lining of a child’s cloak should be of the same colour as the braiding.

Braiding can be done with great ease and expedition. A child’s dress or cloak may be braided in two days, or less.

Cloth slippers look very well braided in shaded patterns, with the rows of braid so close as to touch each other.

Cloth covers for tabourets or stools can be braided so as to look infinitely handsomer and richer than those worked in worsted on canvas. They should have a border all round, with corner-pieces, and a central pattern in the middle; all which can be done beautifully in close braiding. The pattern must be defined on the cloth by first drawing it with a pen and ink on white paper; then pricking the outline with a large pin, and laying pounce-powder along the pricked outline, so that the powder may fall through the holes, and thus trace it on the cloth, in the manner before mentioned.

DIRECTIONS FOR EMBROIDERING MERINO.—Merino dresses are usually worked in small sprigs, representing a little flower or bud, with two or three green leaves. Blue, lilac, or purple flowers have generally a more tasteful effect for this purpose than red or yellow ones. They will be sufficiently brightened by a shaded yellow spot in the centre. A beautiful sprig may be formed entirely of leaves, some of them comprising different tints of green, and others of brown. Three green leaves, with two brown ones at the bottom of the sprig, look exceedingly well on a gray merino; also, on a scarlet, crimson, or cherry-coloured ground. Mourning-gray should have black sprigs only. Gold-coloured flowers, if properly shaded, look well on purple, dark brown, or dark slate-coloured merino; but blue or lilac will look better still. Blue and brown harmonize well; also very light blue and very dark purple. Pink flowers look best on a dark olive ground. Blue and red should never come together in a dress. The effect of all sprigs, spots, or stars will be greatly improved by working, on the right hand of each, a shadow of a colour similar to the merino, but of a much darker shade. This dark shade along the right-hand side will give the sprig a relieved or raised appearance; and, if well done, will make it look almost as if you could take it up with your fingers. Executed by a skilful embroidress, or by one who is a proficient in drawing, this mode of producing a shadow, that seems to come from behind the sprig, will be found extremely beautiful. We are surprised that is not more generally known and practised.

Previous to working a dress, it is well to have the breadths of the skirts measured, and cut apart. The remainder, of course, is to be reserved for the body, sleeves, and pelerine; but do not have these parts fitted and cut out before embroidering. Though by that means you may save the trouble of doing a few unnecessary sprigs, you will lose more than you will gain; for the pieces, if cut out, will stretch out of shape, and ravel at the edges, so that it will be very difficult to put them well together when wanted. Also, if previously cut out into their respective shapes, the pieces cannot well be worked in a frame, which is always the best way of doing embroidery.

You may work the dress with either soft-twisted silk, (not too fine,) or with Berlin wool or crewel. If worked with silk, it cannot possibly be washed to look well. Floss silk should never be used for this or any other embroidery, as, though it fills up well, and looks beautifully at first, it almost immediately wears rough and fuzzy. Embroidery-stitch is far more elegant than cross-stitch, having none of its stiffness, hardness, and ungracefulness; and being, besides, more easy, expeditious, and manageable; and capable of a far greater diversity of forms.

Prepare on a pasteboard drawing-card, an exact pattern of the sprig, drawn and coloured precisely as it is to be worked; and you may put a dark back-ground behind one side of the sprig, of exactly the same tint as the merino. Mark the distances of the sprigs by measuring their places on the merino with a pair of compasses, (often called dividers,) or by means of a piece of card. Designate the place of each sprig by a dot with a red or white chalk pencil; the dot being the centre of the sprig. Rub, on a saucer, some water-colour paint of any colour that will show plainly on the merino, (which should first be stretched in a frame.) If you cannot get a frame, or prefer working on your hand, baste, under the place occupied by each sprig, a small circular bit of stiff writing-paper; and be careful, while working, not to catch up the paper with the stitches of your needle. When done, remove the paper, and the sprigs will look smooth and even. If you attempt to work it merely on your hand, with no paper beneath, it is impossible to prevent its puckering and drawing up.

Fine embroidery must be worked with extremely close stitches in rows or ridges. Every other stitch should be short, and every other one long. In every row, the alternate long and short stitches should fit in, by extending a little beyond those of the neighbouring row, so as to blend well. If you have no knowledge of drawing, get your pattern-sprig done by some person that draws well, and that is familiar with the effect of lights and shades.

If your dress is to have a belt of the same, you may work a long strip of merino for that purpose; the pattern being so arranged that the flowers will form a close row or straight wreath. Allow this strip of merino full wide, so that there may be an ample sufficiency for turning in at the edges. Sleeve-bands, also, may be worked in this way.

A two-yard-square of merino, embroidered in coloured flowers, and trimmed with a deep fringe, makes a beautiful shawl. On a dark brown or purple merino, flowers entirely of shaded blue, with light brown leaves and stalks interspersed among the green ones, will have a beautiful effect; very superior to the common tasteless and gaudy calico-style of introducing flowers of all colours—red, blue, and yellow. An olive merino shawl may have pink flowers entirely; a slate, or dark gray, or a purple will look well with rich gold-coloured flowers. In all flower-borders, the introduction of brown leaves among the green will be a decided improvement. If the merino is light brown, or light gray, or pale olive, the flowers may be scarlet, cherry-colour, or crimson. For a black merino, the embroidery should be of shaded gray.

Keep beside you, while working, a number of needles threaded with all the different shades of silk, and stuck in a flat pin-cushion, or something similar, so as to be always ready for use.

EMBROIDERY ON BOTH SIDES.—For this purpose, the embroidery-frame must be placed in a perpendicular or upright position, and two persons employed together; both equally skilled in needle-work. Get a carpenter to make an upright stand, somewhat in the form of a towel-rail, and about the usual height of a work-table; having broad feet, that it may stand steadily, and a broad cross-bar just above them, and a shelf at the top, on which to lay the needle-cushions, silk balls, &c., with a raised ledge on each side of the shelf, to prevent their rolling off. At each end of this shelf there must be slits down, into which put the upright ends of the embroidery-frame, secured with wooden pegs.

We will suppose that the article to be embroidered the same on both sides, is a plain canton-crape shawl, or a square of merino intended for a shawl. Stretch the shawl tightly in the embroidery-frame, sewing it strongly to the linen; the pattern having been drawn on both sides with a camel’s-hair pencil dipped in water-colour paint, of a tint a little darker than the shawl. The two ladies who are to work it, must sit one on each side; and as one sticks in the needle, the other must draw it through, and stick it in for the next stitch; to be drawn through by her companion. The fastenings on and off must be neatly concealed under the stitches. By thus working together, (each alternately sticking in and drawing out the same needle,) both sides will, of course, be embroidered exactly alike, so that not the slightest difference can be perceptible. It is in this manner that canton-crape shawls are embroidered in China. The sewing-silk must be of the best quality, not too fine or slack-twisted. Floss-silk will not do at all.

EMBROIDERING STANDARDS.—Military standards have been successfully embroidered in the above manner. They should be made of very thick, strong India silk, satin not being the same on both sides. Instead of sewing-silk, standards had best be worked with chenille, such as comes on purpose for embroidering. Have a needle for every shade. An embroidered standard should always be copied from a painted model, executed by an artist; the model to stand in such a position that each of the two embroiderers may see it all the time. An outline of the model must be drawn on the silk. The most durable colour for a standard is deep blue. Part of the embroidery (stars, for instance) may be done in gold or silver thread.

FINE COLOURING FOR ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS.—For light blue and pink, buy, at a drug or paint store, what are called blue saucers and pink saucers. They contain the most beautiful tints of these colours. To use them, take a large clean camel’s-hair pencil, and dipping it into some water, liquefy a portion of the paint that is on the saucer, till you get the exact tint you desire. When you have enough, pour off the liquid into a teacup, and add a small drop of lemon-juice to each tea-spoonful of the colour. The lemon-juice (if used properly) will brighten and set the colour; and is indeed superior to any thing else for this purpose. But too much of this, or any other acid, will destroy the colour entirely. Therefore be very careful in employing it; though no colouring for artificial flowers will be bright and clear without the addition of some little acid. Put the book-muslin, jaconet, white silk, or whatever materials the flowers are to be made of, into the cup of liquid dye; and when the muslin has thoroughly imbibed the colour, take it out, stretch it evenly, and dry it in the shade. Then press it with an iron entirely cold. A mixture of colour from both the blue and pink saucers will make lilac.

For green.—Buy, at a druggist’s, one ounce of French berries. Put a tea-spoonful of them into a common-sized tea-cup of boiling water. Cover it, and let it infuse half an hour or more. Then (having poured it off) add to the liquid (according to its quantity) about five or six drops of lemon-juice. This infusion of French berries makes a bright grass-green. To render it lighter, add some saffron yellow. To make it darker, put to it some blue from the blue saucer.

For a brown dye.—Infuse, in cold water, some pieces of bark from the white or black walnut tree; exposing it for several days to the sun and air, while it is soaking.

Crimson.—You may make a beautiful crimson for shading artificial flowers with a camel’s-hair pencil, by taking some of the fresh petals of the piony, when the flower is in full bloom. Lay them on a plate, and mash and press them with the back of a silver spoon, till you have extracted as much of their red juice as you want. To about twelve drops of the piony-juice, add one small drop of lemon-juice; and use the colour for shading the flowers, not for dyeing them.

For a bright red shading.—Press out, in the above manner, the juice of full-blown bergamot flowers; adding, also, (as above,) a drop of lemon-juice to brighten and set the colour.

Blue shading.—A beautiful blue shading can be obtained by pressing and mashing on a plate, the flower-leaves of the common blue flag or iris; adding, always, a very little lemon-juice. With this, and a camel’s-hair pencil, you can put the shades and streaks into blue flowers, whose first tint has been dyed from the blue saucer.

A mixture of crimson piony-juice, and blue flag-juice, will make a fine purple for shading.

When a little touch of dark brown or black is required for flowers, dip into water the end of a cake of umber, bistre, or indian ink, from a colour-box; rub the paint on a plate, and apply it with a camel’s-hair pencil.

All these dyes and shading colours for artificial flowers will (as we know) be found beautiful on trial. An exact knowledge of the precise proportions of the colouring materials cannot, however, be correctly obtained without a little practice.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A TABOURET.—A tabouret is a square stool, tall enough for a grown person to sit on, and about the usual height of a chair. Get a carpenter to make a strong square box of well-seasoned wood, planed smooth both inside and out. Instead of having the lid or cover-piece exactly at the top, it should be placed below it, four or five inches down the inside, so as to leave a vacant space between itself and the upper edges of the box; to the sides of which it must be well secured, either with glue, or with small headless tack-nails. The wooden bottom of the box must be placed two or three inches up, so as to leave a space at each end of the lower corners for concealed castors, that will cause the tabouret to be moved easily on the carpet.

Get about seven or eight yards of strong, broad, very stout webbing, such as is used by saddlers or trunk-makers. You may either procure it of them, or at one of the large fringe stores. Nail the webbing to the upper edges of the box, across the vacant top, so as to interlace in small open squares. This is to give elasticity to the seat when finished. Make a square cushion of thick, strong brown linen; allowing it, each way, three or four inches larger than the top of the box; as the linen will take up that much, at least, in sewing and stuffing. Sew the linen strongly round three sides, and leave the fourth open, for putting in the stuffing. Then stuff it, hard and evenly, with curled horse-hair, which you may obtain at a cabinet-maker’s or an upholsterer’s. Afterwards, cover this cushion with damask, cloth, velvet, or some other handsome and durable article, and bind the edges all round. Next cover the four sides of the exterior of the box with the same material as the outside covering of the cushion; stretching it on very tightly and smoothly, and securing it to the wood with small tack-nails. While one person is driving in the nails, another must hold the box fast, and stretch and smooth the covering. When this has been neatly accomplished, nail on the cushion to the top edge of the box, above the webbing; hammering the tacks into the binding. Finish by tacking a handsome fringe all round the cushion, so as to conceal the binding. If you cannot get a fringe exactly the colour of the outside cover, choose one that is a good contrast,—either much darker or much lighter. A light blue tabouret may have purple, brown, black, or deep orange-coloured fringe. One of crimson or scarlet may have a fringe of black, dark green, or gold-colour. For a green tabouret, the fringe may be black, purple, or lilac. A brown or purple tabouret may have a light blue or gold-coloured fringe. A gray one may be fringed with dark brown, dark green, or purple. Light blue may be fringed with a very dark blue; light green with a very dark green; pink with crimson; light brown with a very dark brown; and bright scarlet with very deep crimson. You may suspend, all round, deep festoons of thick, rich cord, corresponding with the fringe; one festoon to hang at each of the four sides. The corners may be finished with long tassels.

In a similar manner, you can make an excellent and handsome footstool, employing a carpenter to construct the frame or box.

The footstool may be covered with rich carpeting, trimmed with worsted fringe.

THE SUMMER HEARTH.—Summer blowers, of handsomely ornamented iron, are now much used to conceal the empty coal-grates, during the season of warm weather. Like chimney-boards, they render the room very close, by entirely excluding the fresh air that may enter from the chimney. Certainly, in a bed-chamber, it is best that the fire-place should always be left entirely open. A frame made to fit in exactly, and having open slats, like a Venetian door, is a good screen for a summer-hearth. These screens are best when divided down the middle, like a pair of Venetian shutters; one or both of which may be left open at night, if in a sleeping room. To sleep in a room from whence all external air is entirely excluded, cannot be otherwise than prejudicial to health; and rarely fails, sooner or later, to undermine the constitution. Many people accustom themselves to sleep with the window-sash farthest from the bed a little open all the year round, (except when the rain or snow comes in that direction;) and in consequence of having acquired this salutary habit, these persons rarely take cold from any exposure to a draught of air. On this subject, the author can adduce the evidence of her personal experience.

Another good chimney-screen is a maple or walnut-wood frame, filled up with open wire-work, painted green like a wire fender, and fitting exactly into the fire-place. These frames should have two brass knobs near the top, for lifting them in and out. Chimney-boards, of course, can only be put into open fire-places, where wood is burnt in cold weather. On the hearth of a vacant Franklin stove it is usual to keep a large jar of flowers, which should be renewed every day or two.

Where there is no summer-blower, it is usual to decorate the empty grate with cut paper. This may be done in a very pretty manner by obtaining a sufficient quantity of coloured, glossy writing-paper, of such tints as will harmonize best with each other. For instance, green and lilac; green and light pink; light blue and dark brown; blue and buff, or cream-colour; purple and yellow; two shades of green—one very dark, the other very light; or two shades of blue—one much lighter than the other. Cut this paper, lengthways, into long, straight strips; in breadth, about three or four inches. Fold these slips lengthways, and evenly; and, while doubled, cut their edges with sharp scissors into a fringe. Then wreathe these double fringes thickly and closely round the bars of the grate, securing them with pins. On each bar there should be two wreaths, each of a different colour or shade. Twist or wrap these two wreaths together, so as to conceal the iron entirely; beginning the first twist or fringe from the left hand, and crossing or entwining it with one of another shade or colour commencing from the right. If well arranged, this mode of decorating an empty grate has an excellent effect. The bars should previously be well cleaned, and the back and whole interior of the grate completely blacked. Tissue-paper is too soft and thin for wreathing the bars of grates. Coloured writing-paper will be found much better; or, indeed, any nice paper that is thick and smooth, and of the same colour on both sides.

TISSUE-PAPER HEARTH CURTAINS.—There is an infinite variety of patterns for tissue-paper drapery to conceal empty coal-grates. The most simple is to take a sufficient number of long sheets of this paper; fold each sheet, lengthways, in four or six; and with scissors cut through the edges of the folds, so as to form scollops or points when opened out; leaving at the bottom of each sheet a space to be cut into a deep fringe. Having opened out the sheets, have ready part of the handle or stick of an old broom, cut to fit the length of the aperture or slit left open at the back of the grate for the draught. This stick must be covered with baize or cloth sewed on tightly. Sew to this covering the long streamers of cut tissue-paper, gathering them at the top so that they may hang down full and double. Then lay the stick nicely in the aperture at the top of the grate-back; fasten it securely, and let the drapery fall over the outside of the bars, so as to conceal them.

The following is a very handsome way of arranging hearth curtains. Have ready a sufficient number of long sheets of tissue-paper. Some of them may be white, others of a delicate pink. They are to be cut out in a handsome open-work pattern. You may take your pattern from muslin-work, flowered ribbon, furniture chintz, wall-paper, or table-covers. The more open it is the better. To render it accurate, first draw the outline on stiff paper, and then cut out that paper accordingly. Lay this cut out model upon a sheet of the pink tissue-paper spread out on a smooth common table, and kept down by weights at each corner. With a pencil, go round the model, and trace its outline upon the tissue-paper. Then with a sharp penknife or scissors, cut it out with great care and nicety. If you use a penknife, keep the tissue-paper stretched out smoothly upon the table, all the time you are doing it.

Next, take two more sheets of the pink paper, and cut the upper part of each sheet into the form of curtain-falls; festooned at the top, and descending long and low at the side. Ornament them with a handsome cut pattern, and scollop the edges.

The white tissue-paper is not to be cut or decorated with an open pattern or flowering. It is to form a lining for the pink, through the open work of which the white is to appear. The form or arrangement of this white paper is to fit or correspond with that of the pink, only that the white must be allowed two or three inches deeper at the edge, that it may project out beyond the pink. These projecting white edges are to be cut into a fringe. Additional fringe must be made of white tissue-paper, and twisted together so as to represent cords; the cords to be finished with tassels made of rolls of white paper fringe, fastened to the cords very neatly by sewing them on with a needle and thread. Observe that none of the white paper is to be cut out in flower patterns, or any sort of open work. It is only to furnish lining, fringe, cords, and tassels for the pink. Observe, also, that the fringed edge of this white lining is to appear beyond the scolloped edge of the pink outside.