CHAPTER VIII
GIFTS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM
It is wonderful what your head and hands can do when you begin to plan gifts for family and friends at Christmas, birthdays and the in-between times when "un-birthday presents"--as "Alice in Wonderland" called them--are so welcome. But I am sure you know the breathless feeling of having to make or buy a long list of Christmas presents with only two weeks or so in which to accomplish it. Why not keep a gift box or drawer, where you can pack away the pretty things you take such pleasure in making on dull days all the year round? There are ever so many things--games, toys, baskets and beadwork--which you will find in other chapters--that will help to fill this gift box, and I am going to tell you about some others.
There are several things to think of in planning a gift. It should be something that will be within your means, something that is worth giving, however small--not "trash"; but what is most important of all is that it shall really please the one who receives it. If it can be a lasting pleasure so much the better.
Suppose you try keeping a notebook; begin it now, and write down the little things that you hear the family wish for during the year--tiny things, maybe, but just what they want. For instance, Aunt Helen, who writes, never has enough pencils--her nieces and nephews know why. Father is unable to find an express tag when he wants one, because he has no case to hang close beside his desk. Joe says he wishes someone would make him a chamois cover for his new knife--it is getting scratched already; and mamma cannot find that recipe for potted pigeons that she cut from the paper Saturday evening. What a number of entries you will be able to make in your gift book! See how it reads:
Aunt Helen: One dozen pencils.
Father: Leather tag case and tags.
Mother: A blank book with her newspaper recipes pasted in.
Joe: A chamois knife case.
And this is just a beginning. When you visit your friends you will soon see or hear what little things will please them. Then you can begin collecting the materials for your gift box, and when a rainy day comes what pleasant hours you will spend.
Let us begin with the
_Beaded Knife Case_
=Materials Required:= Some scraps of chamois skin in the natural or another colour, 1 skein No. 4-0 beads in a colour that will harmonise with the leather, 1 E bead of the same colour, A spool of letter A sewing silk the colour of the leather, A No. 11 needle.
One of the simplest and prettiest gifts you can make is this beaded knife case. If you have made the Indian costume described in Chapter V. you will have plenty of scraps of chamois left. Otherwise you can buy a small chamois skin in the natural colour, or, if you prefer another colour, skins of beautiful tints may be bought. Red is very effective and not as costly as some others. In buying a skin, choose a colour that you will not tire of, for you will be able to make so many small things of it that it will be well to have a colour you will always like; either red or green or a soft brown that is not too light will be a good choice.
From a piece of cardboard cut the patterns shown in Figs. 70 and 71. If the case is for a penknife, the larger one (Fig. 70) should measure one inch wide by four and one-eighth inches long, and the other should be the same width but two and three-quarters inches long. Cut two pieces of chamois from these patterns, lay the smaller one against the larger, with the rounded ends of both together and the edges of the sides fitted evenly, and baste them so. Now start at the top left-hand edge of the smaller piece, where it comes against the edge of the larger one, and sew the edges together with the stitch shown in Fig. 72. This is how it is done: Thread a No. 11 needle with sewing silk the colour of the chamois. Fasten the end by sewing through and through the edges of the case. String three beads and make one over-and-over stitch through both edges of the case, bringing the needle out at about one-eighth of an inch from where it started. Run the needle up through the third bead, string two more, make another stitch, run the needle up through the last bead strung, and so on. When you have gone all the way around the double edge, continue the stitch across the top of the smaller piece and around the rounded top of the larger. Next a loop must be made to fasten the case. Hold a small pencil at the top of the larger piece of chamois close to the rounded edge, and, starting about an eighth of an inch from the centre of this end, fasten an end of a needleful of sewing silk; take a stitch around the pencil and in at one-eighth of an inch the other side of the centre. Take six or eight stitches back and forth in this way. This will make a loop, which should be covered with buttonhole stitches. Now slip the knife into the case, turn the flap (the rounded edge of the larger piece) down and mark the place to sew the large bead over which the loop is to fit, in order to fasten it. Sew an E bead the colour of the smaller beads at this place, bring the loop over it, and the case is complete.
_Needle Book of Flowered Silk_
=Materials Required:= A piece of flowered silk or ribbon 5 inches long by 3 1/2 inches wide, A piece of plain-coloured ribbon the same size, A piece of white flannel 10 inches long by 7 inches wide, 1/2 yard of narrow ribbon the colour of the silk, A spool of sewing silk the same colour, A piece of bristol board 10 by 7 inches.
The Shakers make needle books of fine straw cloth, that are so dainty and yet simple that they are well worth copying. Fig. 73 shows the shape in which the cover of the book is cut. It may be made of two pieces of bristol board; one covered with flowered silk or ribbon, the other with plain silk that will harmonise with the flowered. The two are then basted together and sewed over and over. Two pieces of flannel are cut the same shape, but about half an inch smaller all the way around. These are laid inside the cover, which is then bent exactly at its centre so that both ends will come evenly together. A hole is punched through both sides of the cover and the flannel at about half an inch in from the edge and quarter of an inch from the doubled middle of the cover. Another hole is made on the other side of it and a narrow ribbon threaded in a bodkin, or ribbon needle, is brought in through one hole, across the back and out through the other. The ends are then tied in a pretty bow (see Fig. 74), which finishes it.
_Sweet Clover Bags_
=Materials Required:= All the white sweet clover that a little child can gather, Some pretty cotton cloth, A needle and thread, Scissors.
Did you know that the white sweet clover that grows in long spike-shaped sprays on low bushes along the wayside is even more fragrant when it is dried? Gather some this summer, and spread it where it will dry in the sun, turning it often. Strip the blossoms from the stems, and when a rainy day comes you can make with them some gifts that will be welcome wherever they go. Keep the flowers in a covered box till you are ready to use them, then make linen, or even pretty white cotton, bags about ten inches long by six wide. Fill them with the dried clover, sew up the ends securely, and they will be ready to send to grandmothers, aunts and cousins, to make their linen closets fragrant. A little pillow of white cotton filled with these flowers, with a pretty outer case of fine linen, makes a delightful gift for an invalid friend.
_Eyeglass Cleaner_
=Materials Required:= Several sheets of soft white tissue paper, A piece of green or brown leather 4 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches long, A strip of leather 15 inches long by 1/4 of an inch wide, 1 skein No. 3-0 beads, 2 large beads of the same colour, An awl or punch.
One of your friends who wears eyeglasses was told by a wise person that the best thing with which to clear her glasses was--what do you think? Not a handkerchief or a piece of chamois, but soft tissue paper. "That is simple enough, I'm sure," said she; but it wasn't, for whenever she wanted a piece of tissue paper it didn't happen to be near, so she used a handkerchief or chamois most of the time. She found the tissue paper was much better, however, and wondered why children who don't know what to give to friends who wear eyeglasses or spectacles, don't give them a pad of tissue paper to hang by the dressing table or some such convenient place. True, its use would have to be explained, for not many people know that tissue paper is such a good cleaner of glasses; but when they have tried it they will be really grateful for the helpful little gift.
Cut soft white tissue paper in sheets four inches wide by six and one-half long, and make a cover of green or brown leather the same size. Punch two holes at the top of the cover, each about half an inch down from the top and one inch in from the side. Lay the cover on the pile of tissue paper sheets and run an awl or punch through the holes in the cover, making holes in the same places through the tissue paper. Cut a strip of leather about one-quarter of an inch wide and fifteen inches long, thread it in a bodkin, run it through the hole on the right of the cover, through the sheets of tissue paper and out of the hole on the left of the cover. Here it is tied in a bow, leaving a long loop at the back to hang it by. A large bead of a colour that will look well with the leather may be strung on each end of the bow and a knot tied to keep it from falling off. If you choose, the edges of the cover may be worked with the bead stitch shown in Fig. 54.
_A German Wonder Ball_
=Materials Required:= 1 hank of single zephyr worsted of some pretty colour, Several tiny gifts.
One of the most delightful of gifts can be planned by a little girl of boy for a friend who is learning to knit. This is the wonder ball. It is one of the many good ideas that come to us from Germany--the land of knitting.
Buy a hank of worsted of some pretty colour and a number of tiny gifts--a thimble, a wee package of chocolate, the smallest of baskets and any other little things you can think of. Start winding the worsted around the very choicest gift--so that it shall be at the centre--then by degrees, as you wind, lay the other gifts on the ball and cover them with the worsted. Your little friend should be told to knit till all the presents are found.
_Pin Case for Travelling_
=Materials Required:= A piece of flowered silk or ribbon 8 inches long by 5 inches wide, A piece of plain-coloured silk 8 inches long by 5 1/2 inches wide, A piece of cotton wadding 7 1/2 inches long by 4 1/2 inches wide, 1/2 yard of ribbon 1/2 inch wide, the colour of the silk, A spool of sewing silk the same colour.
The friend who travels will be glad to have a case in which to keep her pins. It is very simple to make.
Cut from any pretty piece of silk or velvet a strip five inches wide by eight long, or a piece of five-inch flowered ribbon the same length will do even better. Another strip of thin silk--white or some colour that will look well with the first piece--should be cut the same size, if the flowered piece is of silk; if it is of ribbon, cut the lining silk half an inch wider. A piece of the cotton wadding that comes in sheets is cut half an inch smaller in length and width than the others. Half a yard of narrow ribbon to match the silk, and a spool of sewing silk will also be needed, and if you like you can give a still more festive touch to the case by filling it with fancy pins, those with pearl or gun-metal heads.
First baste the strip of cotton wadding on the lining silk through the centre, then turn quarter of an inch of the edge of the silk up over the wadding and baste it securely around all four sides. Now baste the flowered silk cover against the other side of the wadding, turning in all rough edges, and making sure that the edges of the lining and cover are quite even, one above the other. Sew them together over and over, as neatly as possible, with the coloured sewing silk, and stitch the ribbon at its centre to the middle of one end of the case to form strings (see Fig. 75). After it is filled with the pretty pins and rolled up, bring the ribbons around it and tie them in a dainty little bow.
_A Case for Tape_
=Materials Required:= A piece of flowered or figured cotton 8 inches long by 4 1/2 inches wide, A piece of plain-coloured cotton the same size, 3/4 yard of 1/2-inch ribbon the colour of the cotton, A package of India tape, A bodkin, A spool of cotton.
A case that is made in very much the same way as the one for pins is used for holding pieces of tape of various widths. It is something that almost any aunt would be delighted to have for her work basket.
Packages of what is called India tape are sold at many of the dry goods shops for five or ten cents. They contain bunches of tape of different widths, a yard or two in each bunch. Pieces of pretty cotton, one figured or flowered, the other plain, will do quite as well as silk to make the case. Then you will need a simple metal or bone bodkin and three-quarters of a yard of narrow ribbon or silk braid. That is all except a spool of cotton, needle and scissors.
Cut a piece of plain-coloured cotton eight inches long by four and a half wide, and lay the bunches of tape all along it, about an inch apart. Now lay a piece of half-inch wide ribbon or silk braid along above the bunches of tape and exactly at the middle of the strip of cotton, as shown in Fig. 76. Pin the ribbon to the cotton lining at each side of every piece of tape, making a loop that is large enough for each bunch to slip through without pulling the cotton lining. A little loop should also be made just large enough to hold the bodkin. Now take out the bunches of tape and stitch the ribbon to the lining where it is pinned. Cut a piece of flowered cotton the same size as the lining, and, turning in the edges of both pieces for a quarter of an inch all the way round, lay them together with the raw edges in and baste them evenly one above the other. Next sew them together over and over all around. Stitch the middle of a piece of ribbon sixteen inches long to the middle of the right end of the case, slip the bunches of tape and the bodkin through their loops, roll the case and tie the ribbon strings around it. It will then be ready to pop into your gift box.
_A Braided Raffia Lamp Mat_
=Materials Required:= A bunch of raffia, A bunch of coloured raffia, A tapestry needle, No. 19.
A lamp mat will be a welcome gift to mamma or even to your big brother for his room at college. The simplest one to make is of braided raffia. Take six pieces of raffia and tie them together at one end. Fasten this end to a nail or chair back, at a convenient height. If the raffia is dampened a little it will work more smoothly. Now braid it into a three-stranded plait, using two pieces for each strand. When a new piece is needed lay it above the end of the old one and continue. The ends are cut close after the braid is finished. You will need a great deal of this braided raffia--about ten yards of the natural colour and two or three of the coloured--but do a little at a time and you will find it pleasant work. When you have enough prepared, thread a No. 19 tapestry needle with a split strand of raffia and bind the end of it tightly around the end of the natural-coloured braid, taking a stitch or two through it to secure the binding. Now cut off the knot (which tied all six pieces together in starting) close to the binding and coil the braid into a tiny round centre. Run the needle through this centre back and forth, then start coiling the second row, bringing the long end of the braid around with its edge under the outer edge of the centre. The needle is run in slanting from right to left (see Fig. 77), then out from right to left, so that the stitches form a V within the coil. The whole mat is coiled and sewed in this way, except that when the last row of natural-coloured braid is stitched on, the end is bound as it was at the beginning and brought gradually in under the mat, where it is sewed securely. Be sure that you have finished a row before you end it off. This you can tell by counting the rows, from the centre out, on all sides of the mat. An end of the coloured braid (which is to form the border of the mat) is also bound with a split strand of coloured raffia and sewed against the under side of the mat. It is then sewed around like the rest of the mat, except that in the first row you will have to take great care to run the stitches through the natural-coloured braid so that they will not show. Be sure to finish the border at the part of the mat where it was started.
_Sewed Raffia Lamp Mat_
=Materials Required:= 12 or 14 yards of cotton clothesline or window cord, A bunch of raffia, A bunch of coloured raffia, A No. 19 tapestry needle.
A soft, thick lamp mat that is beautiful to look at and very useful is quite simply made as follows:
Buy twelve or fourteen yards of cotton clothesline. It is white and smooth, and twisted like the fibre clothesline. Or there is a soft cotton window cord that is even better, because it is smoother. Thread a No. 19 tapestry needle with a strand of raffia, putting the thick, or root, end through the needle. Lay the other end of the raffia on the rope, with its tip turning toward the long end. Starting at the very end of the rope, wind the long end of raffia around it (and its own short end) for an inch or more. Then coil it into the smallest ring you possibly can, bring the long end of the raffia around, up through the centre of the ring and around again, taking in two coils--the one of which the ring was made and a second one made by bringing the long end of the rope around the ring (see Fig. 78). The first and second coils are covered in this way with a simple over-and-over stitch, which binds them together, passing around both and up through the centre. With the third coil the real stitch begins. It is an Indian one called the Figure Eight Stitch. The needle passes under the third coil (that is, the long end of rope which you are coiling around), around, over it, under the coil below, around, over it and up again, under and around the third coil--drawing the coils close together. The whole mat is sewed in this way. If you choose, you can work a design of coloured rings as a border or a solid border of the coloured raffia. Fig. 79 shows how the new pieces of raffia are added. Cross the old and new ends on the rope, bring the needle threaded with the new strand under the lower coil, out in front, over the lower coil, under and around the upper one, and so on.
_Doll's Hat of Raffia_
=Materials Required:= A bunch of raffia, A tapestry needle, No. 19.
How would you like to make a doll's raffia hat, as a birthday gift for one of your special friends--one that will fit her favourite doll? Of course it is to be a surprise, but you will have plenty of opportunities to measure the dolly's head. The raffia comes in so many colours that you will be able to choose one to match a special gown. When you are ready to begin, make five yards or more of braided raffia as described in the directions for the braided raffia lamp mat, and start the hat in the same way as the mat was begun, except that an oval instead of a round centre is formed. When you have made a large enough top for the crown, bring the coil of braid around, with its upper edge a little above the middle of the row just finished, drawing it quite tight, and in sewing make the stitches run like the twists in the braid--so that they will show as little as possible. The next row is sewed in the same way, and the next, until the crown is the height you wish. In starting the brim flatten the braid and bring it around more loosely. Be sure that each row of braid is sewed half way under the row to which you are stitching it. Make the whole brim in this way, keeping the braid always flat and loose so that it shall not pucker. When it is as large as you wish, you can make the edge roll slightly by drawing the last two rows quite tight as you sew them on. Fasten the end of the braid at the back of the hat by binding it with the raffia in your needle and stitching it firmly on the under side of the brim.
_Leather Tag Case_
=Materials Required:= A piece of heavy leather 3 1/2 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches long, A piece of leather 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches long, Some strips of leather 1/4 inch wide, Several kindergarten beads of a colour to match or harmonise with the leather, A punch to make round holes, 2 dozen baggage tags, Scissors, A bodkin.
One of the best presents a child can give to his father, or a man friend, is a leather case full of tags. Things made of leather are so handsome and durable that you cannot do better, in buying material for your gift box, than to invest in a skin of heavy leather in the natural colour, red or green. Another useful thing for your gift work will be a punch with which to make round holes in leather or cardboard. You will then only need a pair of scissors, a pencil and a few beads in order to be equipped not only to make this tag case but several other charming gifts. Measure and mark with pencil on the leather two pieces, one six inches and one-quarter long by three inches and one-half wide, the other four and one-half inches long by three and one-half inches wide, and cut them out carefully. Also cut a number of strips of leather a quarter of an inch wide and as long as the skin will allow. On each corner of the smaller piece of leather mark a dot three-sixteenths of an inch in from the edge. Then make three more dots the same distance from the edge and about an inch apart on each side, and two near the bottom, the same distance from the edge and each other. Now with your punch make holes through these dots. Lay this piece of leather on the larger one, with the lower edges and sides together, and with a pencil mark through the holes on the piece below. Dots are also made three-sixteenths of an inch in from the edge at each of the upper corners of the larger piece of leather, two about an inch apart at the middle of the top edge, and one more on either side, half way between the dots at the upper corners and the upper ones of those already marked from the smaller piece of leather. All these dots have holes punched through them. Now lay the pieces together, the smaller one on top, with its lower edge and sides fitting exactly with the bottom and sides of the larger piece. Starting at the upper right-hand corner of the smaller piece, bring a bodkin threaded with a long strip of leather up through the holes in both pieces, then up through the next hole below in both pieces, lacing them together all the way around to the other side. Here the bodkin is slipped off and the end is knotted with another strip of leather. On this new strip the bodkin is threaded and brought up through each hole in succession along the left side, the top and down the right side of the large piece of leather. It stops where the lacing began, and the ends are there tied together. A large bead is slipped on each of these ends and one on each of the two ends on the opposite side, and a knot is made at the tip to keep the bead from falling off. To make a loop to hang it by, thread the bodkin with a short strip of leather, run it down through the left of the two middle holes at the top of the case and out again through the right one. Cut it the length you wish the loop to be and thread a bead on each end, making a knot at the tip to keep the bead on.
_Beaded Leather Pen Wiper_
=Materials Required:= Two circular pieces of leather about 3 1/2 inches in diameter, 3 circular pieces of natural-coloured chamois about 3 inches in diameter, A strip of leather 1/4 inch wide and 1/4 yard long, 1 skein of beads, No. 3-0, 1 skein of beads, No. 3-0, of another colour.
A pen wiper is such a usual present that you may think no one would care for it, but look around and you will surely find a big brother or sister, or perhaps a friend, who hasn't one. And this is such an interesting pen wiper to make. It is very simple, just two round pieces of leather and three of chamois. The top piece of leather has the design shown in Fig. 80 worked on it in beads of a colour that will look well with the leather you have chosen. Black and crystal beads will harmonise with red leather or dark-green crystal and opaque white. If the leather is not so bright a colour, the beads may be more gay. Work the design with the stitch described in the directions for making an Indian beaded shirt in Chapter V., bringing the strings of beads farther apart at the outer edge of the circle than on the inside. When the beadwork is done, put the pieces of leather together with the chamois ones between, mark two dots a quarter of an inch apart at the centre of the top, punch holes through the dots and then through the other pieces of chamois and leather. A bodkin threaded with a strip of leather is then run down through one hole, up through the other, and the ends are knotted together and cut quite short.
_Baby's Worsted Ball_
=Materials Required:= A piece of thin cardboard a foot square, Odds and ends of worsted, A worsted needle, A piece of string, Scissors.
We have not made any plans, as yet, for a gift for the baby. Suppose we make him a great, fluffy worsted ball. Among your mother's odds and ends of worsted you will find plenty of gay colours that will be exactly what you want. Then you will need some thin cardboard, or bristol board. On this mark two circles, five inches in diameter, and at the centre of each of these, two smaller circles an inch and a quarter in diameter. Cut out the two large circles and the small holes within them. You will then have two circular pieces of cardboard with a round hole in the centre of each, making it look like a cookie. Take a strong but slender piece of string about a foot long and lay it around the hole in the centre of one of the pieces of cardboard, with the ends coming together below the outer edge (see Fig. 81). Lay the other piece of cardboard directly over the first one and hold them firmly together (see Fig. 82) while with a needle threaded with worsted you sew around and around the cardboard rings, bringing the needle each time through the hole in the centre and around the outer edge of both rings. When a needleful of worsted is finished leave the end hanging and start another. Keep on until the hole in the middle is quite filled up and the whole thing looks like a puffy cushion. Now take a sharp pair of scissors and cut the layers of worsted at the outer edge of the pasteboard rings all the way around. Do this carefully but quickly, and be sure not to cut the two ends of string, for now is the time to use them. They are tied together just as tightly as possible, and as close to the centre. The cardboard rings are then slipped out, leaving a soft, fluffy ball of many colours. Clip off the uneven ends of worsted here and there, and the ball will be complete.
Raffia sewed in the same way over tiny cardboard rings, then tied and cut, makes fascinating little pompons for a doll's hat.
Paper Flowers and Toys