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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1907 



for the city house, which has dark paint and stone walls. 

 The chief advantage of bobinet is that the mesh is so open 

 it lets in plenty of light. The ready-made bobinet curtains 

 are the best to get, as they can be bought from five to fifty 

 dollars a pair, in every quality of bobinet, trimmed with 

 cheap imitation torchion or hand-made lace. In buying 

 ready-made curtains get them several inches longer than the 

 window requires, and turn in two or three folds at the top. 

 Bobinet shrinks considerably, and as it wears well it will of 

 necessity have to be laundered a good many times. If the 

 top hem is sewn by hand it can be 

 adjusted each time to the window. 

 How often one notices pretty 

 bobinet curtains six or eight 

 inches too short for the window, 

 which could have been so easily 

 obviated by the hem at the top 

 being adjustable. These curtains 

 are usually trimmed with re- 

 naissance, cluny, or torchion lace, 



up very little. They come in white, cream, and ecru, while 

 they may also be found on black, cream, or green grounds 

 with flowers of various colors and make a most artistic 

 drapery. Our illustration shows a Persian design in soft 

 tans and reds, which would be suitable for any sitting-room, 

 especially in connection with Eastern rugs. Curtains of this 

 kind are better sent to a dry cleaner's. If the home-maker 

 has them constantly shaken they will last a couple of years 

 without being cleaned. These are only some of the many 

 nets to be found in the stores to-day. Nainsook, dimity, 



grenadine, point d'esprit, and 

 cheese-cloth can all be utilized as 

 occasion offers. 



We have even more variety for 

 the inner curtains in the chintz, 

 taffetas, Java prints, Japanese cot- 

 tons, India prints, Dutch prints, 

 denims, art tickings, velours, and 

 velvets, which are always avail- 

 able. Individuality can be given 



A Simple Window Treatment with White Swiss, Blue 

 Denim and White Paint 



A Java Print, Often of 

 Gay Colors 



but new varieties are 

 found in applique. 



Our illustration shows 

 three styles of curtains 

 with different designs of 

 white braid, the edge 

 only being outlined with 

 lace. Where long cur- 

 tains instead of sash cur- 

 tains are preferred they 

 will be particularly suitable, as the inner curtain would fall 

 over the plain part, leaving a chased little border coming 

 beyond the heavy drapery. Bobinet curtains can also be 

 stenciled. A very effective touch can be given to the room 

 by the predominating colors being suggested in the curtain. 



Old-fashioned scrim has come back to stay, and is of ser- 

 vice when we need to be protected from the passerby, the 

 mesh being quite close and therefore affording an excellent 

 screen. A year or two ago fishnets seemed to be a thing 

 of the past, but the last two seasons a wonderful variety have 

 been forthcoming. Except for their name they are a new 

 curtain, as instead of just a variety in mesh they come in all 

 kinds of designs. Our illustration shows one of the new fish- 

 nets in cream with a design appropriate for hall or living- 

 room. Some of the designs have geometrical wheels and 

 are very open, and fill a long-felt want, as they can be used 

 where a swiss or bobinet would seem out of place. 



The soft dainty folds of madras give refinement and re- 

 pose to sitting-room or bedroom alike, and are especially 

 suitable when the entire house is curtained with one ma- 

 terial. It is very economical, as they keep clean a long time 

 and when they are laundered need no starching, and wash 



A Plain Border with Applique 

 Finish 



to the home by the right 

 and appropriate use of 

 any of this long list of 

 materials. 



Suppose we have a 

 bedroom papered with a 

 flowered paper and want 

 to have our curtains to 

 match. An inexpensive 

 cretonne, a yard wide, 



can be used for the body of the curtain, while a heavy border 

 five or six inches wide, of green denim or art ticking, would 

 add interest to such a curtain. The join of the plain ma- 

 terial and the figured can either be hidden by a heavy cord 

 or it can be cut out like the curtain in our illustration. The 

 design is defined by a narrow cotton cord sewn on to the 

 edge by machine. 



The prettiest way to curtain a room papered with figured 

 paper is to use a plain curtain with a small applique border 

 repeating the colors of the wall paper. The applique can 

 be cut out of linen or denim and applied to the solid surface, 

 and can be finished off with couching, embroidery, or a nar- 

 row cord. 



A very charming way of making bedroom curtains is to 

 leave them untrimmed, with the finish of a vallence running 

 across the top of the window and beyond the curtains. This 

 vallence softens the light, and when several windows are in 

 the room gives a very artistic appearance. Some of the 

 strongly colored cretonnes are particularly attractive for 

 this purpose and are prettier unlined, as the effect of the 

 light filtering through the curtain is by no means a dis- 

 advantage. 



