Part 24

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.

In this towel-case there maybe separate compartments for tooth-brushes, soap, and a sponge.

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.

CORDING DRESSES.--A dress that is to be washed, should be corded with the same material. A merino or mousseline de laine, if corded with silk, will be disfigured, after washing, by the silk _always_ fading and making the dress look old. But a balzorine or barege had best be corded with silk, as they rarely bear washing, and the material is so slight that, if used for cording, it will fray and wear off almost directly. The silk should be of the darkest colour in the dress. Satin should always be corded with silk, (and silk of the best quality,) as satin cording ravels and frays immediately. Velvet also should have silk cording.

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.