[Ill.u.s.tration: _A square of silk canvas_]

Chapter Ten

FACE AND DISH CLOTHS AND BATH RUGS

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A face cloth made from cheese cloth_]

[Sidenote: _Materials_]

The materials for making face and dish cloths are: cheese cloth cut bias, darning or knitting cotton, or candle-wicking. Those made from cheese cloth resemble the Turkish rags. Cut and splice the cheese cloth according to directions on page 83. The face cloth in the ill.u.s.tration is made from white cheese cloth, cut bias. String the warp 3/16 inch with white twine. It being desirable to have face and dish cloths as soft as possible, do not push the woof threads too closely together.

When the cloth is removed from the loom, conceal the ends of the warp strings as previously directed. Fine white thread should be used. If preferred, the edges can be bound with tape. Cloths of candle-wicking are very quickly woven, but they are not so soft.

Face cloths of cheese cloth with borders of knitting cotton would be durable and satisfactory. Make them according to directions given for rugs with centers and borders.

Cross-barred face cloths made of knitting cotton No. 4, in two colors, are very pretty.

[Sidenote: _Bath rug made with continuous warp_]

Serviceable bath rugs can be made by making three strips as long as desired, and then fastening together. They are made of cheese cloth cut bias, but the woof threads are packed much tighter than in the face cloths. Finish the edges by st.i.tching a white tape all around. Floor rugs of any kind can be made firmer by finishing in this way with tape of the same color.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A pattern for a floor rug_]

Chapter Eleven

RAFFIA MATS

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Method of weaving a raffia mat on the loom, showing colored stripes_]

[Sidenote: _Method of making raffia mats_]

[Sidenote: _The rods and the warp strings in kindergarten patterns_]

Mats of raffia are made like all the other mats. The warp may be of twine or carpet thread. In this case, the mat should be woven of raffia in the natural color, with stripes of bright color at each end; or, it may be of some dark tone with stripes of a contrasting color. By using a warp of raffia, many of the beautiful kindergarten designs can be produced. Use one color for the warp and another for the woof. The method of stringing a warp of raffia is described in "Methods of Stringing Warp," on page 45. The ill.u.s.tration shows a raffia mat in process of making. The natural color of raffia is used, with stripes of cardinal, and the method of stringing color in the warp to obtain this effect is clearly seen. The children will have no difficulty in carrying out the pattern, if they remember that the _rods_ correspond to the _border_ of the paper mat. Before stringing the warp for a kindergarten pattern, count the strips in the paper mat and begin to count on the loom _from_ the rods. In this kind of work the string on top of the rod does not count. It forms the _border_ of the mat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A woven mat of raffia, from a kindergarten pattern in green and the natural color of the raffia_]

[Sidenote: _Stringing the warp_]

In making mats, or matting, of raffia, the material can be carried over the rods as in wool-weaving, or it can be finished on the edges in the same way as the real matting is done. This will be easily understood by examining a piece of matting. In stringing the warp, have three strings over each bar instead of one. Cut the woof strips several inches longer than the width of the loom. Weave the first strip, leaving a piece at each side. Thread a tape needle with one end and weave it in and out the three warp threads on the rod. Then cut it off close to the edge. Finish off all the ends in this way. When the work is removed from the loom, press the edges flat with a warm iron. It is a little easier to keep the pattern right by weaving in this way, and the work resembles the real matting more nearly. Use a tape needle for weaving raffia.

[Sidenote: _Porch curtains_]

If the doll house which we are fitting is a large one with porches, one could complete the furnishings with a porch curtain, for sunny afternoons.

[Sidenote: _Glove, trinket, and mouchoir boxes_]

Boxes of all kinds can be made of raffia woven in panels. It will make the box stronger and firmer to overhand a piece of rattan around the edges of the panels before joining them in the form of a box. Thread a worsted needle with a narrow strip of raffia and b.u.t.tonhole the edges of the panels together; or, sew them over and over and cover with a braid of raffia. Spiral-weaving is pretty for this finishing. It is described in an article ent.i.tled "Straw-Weaving," in "American Homes" for September, 1900, a magazine published in Knoxville, Tenn. Glove, trinket, and mouchoir boxes are pretty for holiday gifts. By using different patterns and colors a great variety of them can be made.

[Sidenote: _Rugs of carpet wool_]

For rugs made of carpet wool, string a three-eighths-inch warp of twine, or oriental cord, the color of the body of the rug. Use a deep tone of red, olive green, or any preferred color, with a stripe at each end. A study of rugs will soon enable one to get the right proportion of rug and stripe. Beautiful rugs are made with a succession of Roman stripes separated by a narrow one of deep red, green, or blue, the ends of the rug being woven of the same color. Center and corner patterns can be woven by placing the pattern under the warp. By stringing a close warp of the same material all the designs for paper-weaving can be easily reproduced. Lengthwise stripes are also pretty. String the warp with different colors and weave a neutral color through them. The rug in the frontispiece is woven of heavy carpet wool, some of which is seen on the table.

[Sidenote: _Patterns for rugs_]

[Sidenote: _Fundamental form No. 1_]

Beautiful patterns for rugs can be made by cutting squares and triangles of paper according to directions given in the "Kindergarten Guides." The "Paradise of Childhood" has some very pretty ones. There are two fundamental forms for this paper-cutting. The first is made from a nine-inch square. Fold one diagonal, place the right acute angle upon the left so as to produce four triangles resting upon each other. The form now lies before you with the right angle at the right and two acute angles (one on top of the other) at the left. Lift one of these acute angles and place on top of the angle at the back, creasing the fold; then fold the remaining acute angle _under_ to the same angle at the back, creasing as before. Now place the form with the right angle at the back and hold all the open edges to the left while cutting.

Ill.u.s.trations in the "Kindergarten Guides" show a network drawn on the triangle at the top as an aid to transferring the pattern.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A rug pattern from an equilateral triangle_]

[Sidenote: _Fundamental form No. 2_]

The second fundamental form is made from a six-fold equilateral triangle. Directions for folding and cutting this from the square are given in the "Paradise of Childhood." It can be cut, also, from a circle whose diameter is equal to the width of the rug desired. In drawing and cutting the pattern, hold the form with the entirely _open sides_ toward you. The whole pattern is cut at once and the unfolding often reveals a charming design for a rug, which can be woven in tones or contrasting colors. If cut from colored paper, it can be mounted on white and placed under the warp. Beautiful original designs in conventional leaf and flower patterns can also be made.

[Sidenote: _Conventional leaf forms_]

To make a conventional leaf form, use fundamental form No. 1. Cut the leaf on the mid-rib and lay this part on the base of the triangle with the point of the leaf on the open edges at the left, and the stem on the closed part at the right. Draw around the edges of the leaf and cut, taking care not to separate the leaf forms at the center, which is at the closed part at your right hand.

Some excellent suggestions for this leaf-cutting in centerpieces and borders can be found in the "Pratt Inst.i.tute Monthly" for April, 1900.

[Sidenote: _Dusters_]

Dusters for hardwood floors are best made of strips of old flannel. They can be made of stocking strips, or cheese cloth. Make two mats the full size of the loom, sew on three sides and run a gathering-string around the top. It will fit better if it has a piece of cheese cloth sewn at the top through which the gathering-string can be run. This makes a fine duster to slip over a broom. If one prefers, a continuous warp can be strung--the length to be twice the length of the broom part--and a long piece woven which will require sewing on two sides only.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A doll towel with fringed ends_]

[Sidenote: _Doll towels_]

[Sidenote: _Patterns for towel borders_]

[Sidenote: _Lunch cloths_]

[Sidenote: _Bedspreads_]

[Sidenote: _Quilts_]

Doll towels are very fascinating things to make. Adjust the loom for the required size. The exact proportion can be ascertained from a large towel. String the close warp with fine darning cotton and have the strings in pairs with fringe at each end. Allow several inches for fringe so that it can be knotted easily. The woof threads, which are also of fine darning cotton, should be pushed very closely and smoothly together. Plain stripes of red or blue, or fancy stripes made with a kindergarten design, can be woven. Observe the same directions for s.p.a.cing the stripes which are given with the silkoline rug. The towel in the ill.u.s.tration is made of white darning cotton, with the stripes and initial of red. The children will be delighted to lay towel borders with their tablets, and after cutting and pasting with colored paper, weave them in towels for Miss Dolly's housekeeping. Cross-st.i.tch the initial as previously directed. Lunch cloths and bedspreads can be made in the same way. These should be fringed all around. A cross-barred cloth or spread can be made by putting the color in the warp at regular intervals and weaving across with color and white to form squares.

Pretty quilts of coa.r.s.e cotton can be made with kindergarten designs. By weaving many squares, a large quilt can be made. See directions on page 50.