Leather, leatherette, and celluloid strips should be long enough to extend the entire width and length of the frame without splicing. The ends can be cut, as is done in paper weaving, or turned in some pretty way like that in the splint work.

Chapter Eight

WOOL AND SILKOLINE RUGS OR MATS

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Silkoline rug with three white stripes_]

[Sidenote: _Plain rug with end stripes_]

[Sidenote: _Finishing the ends_]

Silkoline rugs or mats are by far the prettiest for doll-house use. The method of preparing the strips is explained under Materials (page 51).

Make the warp with twine of the same color as the silkoline. It should be a three-eighths-inch warp. Choose a plain color for the body of the rug, and a short distance from each end weave several stripes of a contrasting color. The rug in the ill.u.s.tration is of deep cardinal. The stripes can be of olive green, black, or any preferred color. Mottled stripes are also attractive and effective. When the stripes at the foot are woven, ascertain the distance from the foot piece to the last one.

To know where to commence the first stripe at the head, measure the distance just found from the head piece down, and mark on both rods by tying or sewing a colored string to the warp. This helps the child to understand where the stripe should begin, which he soon learns to measure for himself; and this training in accuracy and independence is most excellent. There is nothing better than learning self-reliance, and the child who has been taught it, is not apt to ask others to do his examples for him. To learn the manner of making the stripes and s.p.a.ces each of the same width, count the loops on the rods (one has to weave twice across the loom to have one loop on a rod), and have the same number on each side. Care should be taken not to _twist_ the strips in weaving. The method of splicing the strips and fastening the warp strings is explained in Chapter V. The rug may be finished with a wool or silk fringe of the predominating color, or a fringe of the combined colors. If desired, it may be left plain, catching the woof strips together at each end to conceal the warp strings. When a mistake has been made, run the needle back under the same strings instead of pulling out what is wrong. It prevents stretching and a destruction of the material.

[Sidenote: _Mottled rugs made of figured silkoline_]

Mottled rugs are made of figured silkoline. Choose oriental colors, no matter how gaudy the silkoline may look in the piece. It will have a beautiful effect when woven. Portieres are pretty made in this way.

These rugs should always be plain--that is, without stripes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A mottled rug of figured silkoline, in which the colors brown, blue, and old gold predominate_]

[Sidenote: _Plain rugs with mottled borders, or mottled rugs with plain borders_]

Plain rugs with mottled borders, or mottled rugs with plain borders, are the delight of the children. Adjust the frame for the size required, and decide how wide the border is to be. It is necessary to have an extra pair of rods, if one desires a smooth and well-finished rug. The border of the rug represented in the ill.u.s.tration is two inches. This should be woven with a tape needle. Weave the border at the foot of the loom. This extends the entire width. Place the extra rods two inches toward the center from the side rods on the outside of the rug, keeping them _back_ of the border already woven at the foot. This will outline the sides of the plain oblong in the center. Weave the left and right hand borders up to a point two inches from the head piece, taking care to go around the rods just placed. Then begin the plain center. As you come to the border on each side, run your tape needle _through_ the loops of mottled silkoline which are around the rod, but do not go around the rod itself with the plain silkoline, since doing so would make a ridge in the rug.

Draw the woof strips tightly and firmly, so that the work will lie flat and smooth when removed from the loom. Be sure to weave the center far enough, remembering that the upper woof strips in the border will crowd it down. When the center is finished, remove the extra rods and finish weaving the border to the head piece. In selecting a color for the center, match one of the colors in the figured silkoline. The color for the center in the rug of the ill.u.s.tration on page 90 is green, and the same color appears also in the mottled border, with yellow and brown.

The ends should be left plain, the warp strings being concealed as directed. These rugs are very beautiful, and can be made in an infinite variety through the use of different colors, and by reversing the center and border. They can be made of carpet or Germantown wool, in two colors or in two tones of one color. In weaving rugs with centers and borders, weave a little farther than the exact measure, because the next woof threads will push down the woof already made, and you may find that you have not woven the correct measure. These rugs are useful as "heel rugs"; they are placed under the piano near the pedal to protect the carpet from the pressure of the heel. (See also page 82.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A plain silkoline rug, with a mottled border_]

[Sidenote: _Holder or mat_]

[Sidenote: _Many squares joined together_]

[Sidenote: _Small rug with fringe_]

[Sidenote: _Stair and hall carpets_]

Adjust the loom for the size required. The plaid effect in the holder ill.u.s.trated on page 92 is obtained by stringing a close warp with green and white carpet wool, alternating two of white with four of green. In weaving, use two woof threads of white and _four_ of green to make the square correct. The kindergarten designs make pretty holders. If you have woven a holder, it will be finished when it is removed from the loom and the warp strings have been fastened. If you wish your holder to be very thick, weave two of these pieces, lay a square of felt or flannel between and sew or crochet the edges together. If the work is to be a mat, knot a pretty fringe all around it. Many of these squares can be joined to make sofa pillows, afghans, slumber robes, and other dainty articles. With a continuous warp, one can weave long strips for the same articles. If a small rug for Miss Dolly's bedroom is desired, string the warp so that the two ends will have a fringe. Stair and hall carpets for the doll house can be woven in these pretty designs by adjusting the loom for a narrow strip, and, if necessary, a continuous warp.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Holder of green and white carpet wool_]

Chapter Nine

HAMMOCKS

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Back of loom, showing method of stringing warp through rings for a hammock_]

[Sidenote: _Method of adjustment_]

[Sidenote: _Use of stripes for various colors_]

[Sidenote: _Lengthwise stripes_]

To weave a hammock, one must first adjust the loom to its full size. Tie two rings together and fasten them at the back of the loom, to head, foot, and sides, as in the ill.u.s.tration. One must then decide how close the warp is to be strung. Measure the string, which should be continuous, allowing enough to go to the rings at the back and make a b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch each time. Then wind on a long thin stick or dress steel, in such a way that it will pa.s.s easily through the rings. In stringing the hammock in the ill.u.s.tration, a penholder was used. The rings are tied, with white cord, to the four sides of the loom. By doing this, all tangling of the warp string is avoided, and it is far preferable to splicing. Tie the first warp string to the top ring. Draw it tightly through the first groove, over the face of the loom to the opposite groove, then to the back of the loom through the bottom ring.

Make a b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch and return in the same manner over the face of the loom, around to the top ring, where you make a b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch and return, until the whole warp is strung. Care should be taken to make it firm and tight. Hold the string and ring firmly in the left hand while making the b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch with the right. Cut the woof cords long enough to allow a fringe on each side of the hammock. Weave each cord separately, tying in pairs around the rods. Stripes of one or more colors can be woven at each end or at intervals through the hammock. By weaving two colors alternately, the stripes will be lengthwise instead of crosswise. Knot the fringe at each side. To fasten the top and bottom woof cords so that they will not pull out of place, thread a tape needle with cord and tie each warp string close to the woof. Another way to secure the top and bottom woof cords is to weave two cords at one time, twisting one over the other between the warp strings. The bottom one should be woven before the hammock is commenced. The top one can be woven before the hammock is finished, and pushed up close to the head piece. Then fill up the s.p.a.ce.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A hammock made from strings of different colors in lengthwise stripes_]

[Sidenote: _Making the fringe_]

[Sidenote: _The stretcher_]

[Sidenote: _The head-rest_]

[Sidenote: _Hammock with lengthwise colored stripes_]

[Sidenote: _Knotted hammocks_]

Instead of knotting the fringe as suggested, two cords can be twisted at each side of the hammock in the same way that the woof cords are secured at the top and bottom. This forms a heading for the fringe. Take up _two_ cords of the fringe at a time. If desired, the strings which extend from the rings to the hammock may be woven for the s.p.a.ce of an inch or so close to the rings instead of making a b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch.

Make a stretcher for the head by covering a piece of rattan with b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch. Fasten this to the hammock. A head-rest can also be woven and adjusted. To remove the hammock from the loom, cut the two rings apart, and then lift the warp strings from the grooves. A very pretty hammock can be made by stringing the warp of different colors, in order to make _lengthwise_ stripes. Weave a neutral color through them.

In this case, have a close warp. Pretty hammocks can be made by knotting instead of weaving.

[Sidenote: _To string warp for hammock in order to have the sides shorter than the center_]

Cut two semi-circular pieces from light wood or pasteboard. These should suit the width of the hammock to be made. If this is the width of the loom, then 9-1/2 inches long and two inches at the widest part. Cut the curved edge in notches to correspond with the number taken in the head piece. These pieces will be firmer and more satisfactory if made of wood and finished at the lower edges like the metal head piece. This can be easily done by glueing them to a narrow piece of wood so that they will stand. If furnished with perforations, they can be laced to the head and foot pieces or the rods can be run through them. By stringing the warp in this way, the sides of the hammock will be shorter than the center, and there will be no danger of Miss Dolly falling out.

The warp can be strung more quickly and easily if hammock hooks similar to those in the two ill.u.s.trations below are used. Measure the right length--22 warp strings 31 inches long for the metal loom, or 29 the same length for the wooden loom--and wind as before.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Hook No. 1_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Hook No. 2_]

[Sidenote: _Hammock hooks_]

[Sidenote: _Weaving_]

In using hammock hook No. 1, knot half the number of warp strings in the left-hand ring and half in the right-hand ring. If hook No. 2 be used, unpin the part at the right, knot the warp strings along the straight edge at the bottom, and then pin the right-hand part again. Weaving each cord separately across the loom makes a heavy fringe at the sides. If a lighter fringe be desired, cut the woof cords twice the width of the loom plus twice the length of the fringe. Weave across the loom, leaving enough for the fringe at the side, then _around_ the rod and back again, drawing the cord through to the same length as the part left at first.

Weave in the same way with the second color, having the loop on the _same_ rod and the fringe at the _same_ side as the other. Weave the next two cords with loops on the _opposite_ rod and fringe on the _opposite_ side. Continue in this way until the hammock is finished.

Make a heading at the sides as described, only carry the two cords _through_ the loops, crossing them between on top of the rods. The warp strings can be pa.s.sed through the rings without b.u.t.tonholing. A firm pretty finish can be made at the sides by cutting two cords--one of each color two yards long and b.u.t.tonholing around the rods on _top_ of the woof cords which extend at each side. Fasten these long cords at the bottom of the loom. After two pairs of woof cords have been tied, b.u.t.tonhole the edge over them and around the rods and continue this until the hammock is finished.