‘May, I9II 
dispensing with portiéres and curtains during the summer 
months. The dreary, bare look of vacant doorways has 
a most depressing and inhospitable appearance that should 
not be tolerated. Chairs and sofas covered with loose 
covers of the same material as the hangings serve to give 
a feeling of unity. Many of the cretonnes and chintzes 
for sitting-rooms have strong patterns with birds of gay 
plumage scattered over the surface. Some of these de- 
signs are copied from old English prints over a hundred 
years old, and such a chintz makes a perfect drapery for 
a Colonial room, whether it is a living- or a sleeping-room. 
They seem to blend with old mahogany and striped wall 
papers. Some of the patterns are small, but others again 
are very large. Of course the latter can only be used in 
a large room. The parrot and cockatoo are superb cre- 
tonnes that have made most decorative dining-rooms. The 
cretonne may be repeated on a threefold screen, or as loose 
covers for the chairs, if not used as portieres, but the cre- 
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A cross-bar scrim is now the most popular curtain of 
the day. They can be purchased for $6.75 a pair, forty- 
two inches wide and two and a half yards long, in écru 
shade; scrim has somewhat taken the place of the Filet 
; x Glantzberg. 
net curtains that have been.so long the fashion. 
tonnes are so strong that they seem to need to be used for 
more than curtains in order to give balance to the room. 
They should be lined and interlined. It is not necessary to 
line and interline all cretonne curtains, as so much depends 
upon the room, and whether they will be used in winter as 
well as summer, for cretonne is extremely popular for all 
the year round draperies. They can be lined with cheese- 
cloth when there is not much room for over-curtains. The 
cheesecloth may be cream, or some dominant color in the 
pattern may be chosen for the lining. 
At one time ready-made curtains used to be very care- 
lessly done, especially the inexpensive ones, but the growing 
demand for neat workmanship has resulted in even quite 
cheap curtains being well made. Open hems on curtains, 
as low as two dollars a pair, seem remarkable. Examine 
the stock of a first-class store that takes pride in only car- 
rying the goods of houses that have gained a reputation for 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Most beautiful curtains can be woven in the 
hand loom that will last a life time. 
tains are designed and woven by Miss Elizabeth 
185 
good honest work, and the difference in the quality will be 
apparent. Well made curtains can be purchased at prac- 
tically any price. 
A résumé of a few of the new curtains, with prices, may 
be of interest to our readers. An attractive little curtain, 
suitable for a girl’s bedroom, or a simple drawing-room, is 
of muslin, hemstitched. It has a woven border of bunches 
of flowers. A pair of curtains 36 inches wide and two 
and a half yards long cost $2.50. [he flowers come in 
three colors, blue, pink and yellow, so that the color best 
suited to a special room may be selected. 
An artistic looking curtain costing two dollars in muslin, 
with a broad open hem, is 42 inches wide and two and a 
half yards long, with a striped effect in a leaf motif with 
polka dots between. 
The present fashion for cross-barred scrim curtains is 
responsible for some very artistic sash curtains that com- 
bine well with plain over-curtains. Some of these scrims 
There is something very neat about a well-made scrim 
curtain; there always seems good value for the low cost. 
A pair of curtains two and a half yards long and _forty- 
two inches wide can be found for $5.50 in écru color. 
‘These cur- 
have strongly defined designs that have enough pattern 
to make the combination with a plain fabric an ideal one. 
Scrim curtains are much in favor now, partly because they 
have the appearance of a high-priced curtain, and yet are 
comparatively inexpensive. They are delightfully soft in 
texture, and are finely woven. In ecru they keep clean 
a long time, and for some reason look richer in this shade. 
Some of them are neatly hemstitched and edged with a 
neat little Picot edge. Others again are plain, with a 
broad hem, then an insertion, a broader hem and a deep 
edging. Others again are much like Filet curtains. The 
main part is plain with a broad hem, and sewn onto the edge 
of the hem of the Filet looking lace insertion with a Picot 
edge. ‘These curtains per pair, in the sizes already given, 
begin at $2.50 a pair, and run up to $5.00, and for $9.00 
something entirely out of the ordinary may be obtained, 
and they are decorative in every detail. 
