157* 
"Uhe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Home  Dressmaker 
'Little  Girls’  Coats. — The  group  of 
children- illustrated  shows  two  very  pretty 
coats  for  small  girls.  The  coat  at  the  left 
was  tan  broadcloth ;  it  was  perfectly 
plain,  without  a  yoke,  but  very  flaring, 
like  a  man’s  short  topcoat.  It  had  two 
special  features,  a  triple  cape  collar  and 
fancy  pockets.  The  pockets  were  in  the 
under-arm  seams,  bordered  with  a  fancy 
flap  finished  with  two  buttons.  The 
pockets  themselves,  shaped  like  those  in 
a  man's  trousers,  are  between  the  outer 
material  and  the  lining ;  they  should  be 
quite  roomy,  as  the  small  wearer  will  en¬ 
joy  being  able  to  put  her  hands  in  her 
pockets.  The  pocket  flap,  seamed  into  the 
opening,  is  not  stitched  flat  all  around,  but 
held  in  place  by  the  buttons;  it  should  be 
neatly  lined  with  silk  like  the  lining  of 
the  capes  and  gauntlet  cuffs.  The  model 
seen  of  tan-colored  bi’oadclotb  had  rose- 
colored  lining.  The  three-tiered  Direc- 
toire  collar  was  formed  of  three  little  cir¬ 
cular  capes,  graduated  in  size.  The  coat 
had  tan-colored  horn  buttons.  The  little 
hat,  with  soft  quartered  crown,  was  made 
of  tan-colored  broadcloth;  a  band  of  nar¬ 
row  old  blue  ribbon  was  tied  around  the 
crown  with  a  tiny  bunch  of  pink  satin 
rosebuds  at  each  side.  The  long  buttoned 
leggings  matched  the  coat,  and  with  the 
small  fitch  muff,  completed  a  stylish  little 
outfit. 
Smocking  and  Fur. — The  child’s  .coat 
in  the  center  is  the  shape  SO  often  seen 
with  full  skirls  gathered  on  a  plain  bod¬ 
ice  portion,  but.  iu  this  case  smocking 
brought  up  to  form  V-shaped  gussets  gave 
a  novel  touch.  As  shown  in  the  picture, 
the  bodice  part  was  cut  up  in  a  V  on  the 
lower  edge,  on  each  side  of  the  front,  the 
fullness  of  the  skirt  being  smocked  in  a 
point,  aud  brought  up  to  fill  the  slash. 
There  is  a  similar  V  of  smocking  in  the 
center  of  the  back.  Two  fur  buttons  trim 
the  front,  hut  the  real  closing  is  done  by 
snap  fasteners  underneath.  There  is  a 
small  collar  of  fur,  and  the  little  wearer 
carries  a  melon  muff  to  match.  The  bon¬ 
net,  made  of  the  same  material  as  the 
coat,  is  an  old-fashioned  round  hood,  the 
front  portion  being  shirred  into”  a  round 
back,  and  the  edge  bordered  with  fur. 
The  original  model  seen  in  a  very  smart 
shop  was  pea eh-colorod  velvet  trimmed 
with  white  fox,  but  broadcloth  or  auy 
other  material  suitable  for  smocking  may 
be  used.  When  made  at  home,  it  is  often 
possible  to  utilize  au  old  set  of  furs  to  ad¬ 
vantage  for  trimming,  and  to  make  the 
small  muff. 
Dressing  The  Small  Boy. — The 
small  boy  pictured  displays  a  suit  shown 
by  a  very  fashionable  shop;  the  plain  lit¬ 
tle  trousers  were  of  black  velvet,  the 
blouse  of  white  wash  silk,  collar,  cuffs  and 
pleat  down  the  front  being  edged  with  a 
narrow  pleating.  We  were  interested  to 
find  that  the  trousers  are  not  buttoned  to 
a  waist,  but  are  attached  to  real  sus¬ 
penders.  These  suspenders,  as  now  made 
for  young  boys,  have  a  comfortable  ladder 
back,  and  really  form  a  desirable  brace 
for  a  child  inclined  to  be  round-shoul¬ 
dered  Boys  like  them,  too,  because  they 
are  more  grown-up  than  the  waist  with 
its  numerous  buttons.  The  little  blouse 
has  a  stout  elastic  run  in  a  casing  at  the 
bottom,  this  being  the  customary  finish 
for  the  blouse  when  worn  over  suspen¬ 
ders. 
Fur  and  Velveteen. — The  woman’s 
dress  shown  in  the  second  picture  was 
velveteen  trimmed  with  karakul  fur,  hut 
it  is  desirable  for  any  Winter  material, 
and  plush  banding  may  be  used  in  place 
of  the  fur.  The  bodice  is  as  plain  as  :i 
shirt  waist,  the  rovers  opening  from  a  V 
having  the  collar  seamed  on.  This  is  a 
square  sailor  collar,  rather  deep,  with  a 
band  of  fur  across  the  bottom,  but  not 
extending  up  the  sides.  Fur  banding 
forms  the  cuffs,  ami  there  is  a  plain 
vestee  with  high  stock  collar.  The  wide 
girdle  is  folded,  and  at  each  side  there  is 
a  row  of  ball  buttons  extending  across  the 
girdle  and  down  onto  the  skirt.  These 
rows  of  buttons  are  becoming  to  a  woman 
whose  figure  is  rather  thick  sideways,  as 
they  break  the  width.  The  skirt  fullness 
is  laid  in  little  pleats  at  the  top,  that  fall 
free  below,  the  front  forming  a  plain 
panel.  This  style  of  dress  would  be  be¬ 
coming  to  a  rather  angular,  large-boned 
woman  of  middle  ago,  especially  iu  dark 
velveteen,  which  softens  the  coloring  of 
hair  and  complexion.  The  little  toque 
worn  is  of  feathers  with  a  velvet  brim, 
with  two  wings  at  one  side  of  the  back. 
Blouse  and  Skirt. — The  figure  at  the 
right  shows  a  coat  blouse  worn  over  a 
plain  skirt,  the  blouse  being  velveteen, 
the  skirt  cloth  of  (he  same  color.  This  is 
a  good  idea  for  making  over,  where  a  new 
waist  is  needed  to  utilize  an  existing  skirt. 
Iu  this  case  the  skirt  is  lightweight  mate¬ 
rial,  aud  instead  of  having  a  hem  turned 
up,  it  has  a  lining  of  thin  material  to 
which  (lie  edge  of  the  skirt  is  attached 
and  turned  up  without  pressing,  thus  giv¬ 
ing  a  rounded  effect  to  the  edge,  almost  as 
if  it  was  drawn  up  with  an  elastic.  In 
making  over  an  old  taffeta  skirt  this  sort 
of  lining  would  be  found  a  great  advan¬ 
tage;  lawn  of  the  same  color  could  be 
used,  and  it  would  relieve  strain  and  pre¬ 
vent  splitting,  which  often  occurs  wheu 
taffeta  is  pressed  and  made  up  afresh. 
The  velveteen  blouse  is  a  Russian  model, 
varied  by  a  square  apron  tab  in  both  back 
and  front.  These  tabs  are  bordered  by 
bands  of  wool  embroidery  done  on  broad¬ 
cloth,  of  a  lighter  or  contrasting  color; 
there  are  cuffs,  pocket  border  and  four 
slides  or  buckles  through  which  the  belt 
passes  made  in  the  same  way  of  the 
broadcloth  with  crewel  embroidery.  The 
slides  and  cuffs  should  be  lined  with  can¬ 
vas  to  prevent  wrinkling.  The  double 
round  collar  is  of  white  or  cream  broad¬ 
cloth,  finished  at  the  edge  with  blanket 
stitch  in  crewel  or  heavy  silk,  either  black 
or  a  dark  color  used  in  the  embroidery. 
The  edge  of  the  blouse  is  also  finished  in 
wool  blanket  stitch.  The  narrow  folded 
girdle  is  of  silk,  the  same  color  as  the 
blouse.  This  blouse  might  he  made  of 
velours  or  other  soft  woolen  goods,  in¬ 
stead  of  the  velveteen.  The  model  pic¬ 
tured  was  taupe,  the  blanket  stitch  being 
black ;  the  broadcloth  banding  was  mode 
Color,  with  several  bright  tints  in  the  em¬ 
broidery.  The  hat  is  a  plain  broad  shape 
in  black  velvet. 
Decorative  Mending  and  Dyeing. — 
It  is  not  uncommon  for  a  made-over  dress 
to  be  prettier  than  it  was  in  its  first  es¬ 
tate,  largely  because  more  care  is  given 
in  planning  to  avoid  defects  in  material. 
The  present  fashion  of  applied  pockets  is 
a  very  helpful  one,  for  a  stain  or  tear  in  a 
skirt  breadth  may  be  disguised  by  putting 
a  pocket  over  it,  which  may  take  any 
shape  desired,  square,  rounded,  triangular, 
flat  or  kangaroo  pouched.  It  is  not  even 
necessary  for  -the  pocket  to  be  of  the  same 
material ;  a  harmonizing  color  of  different 
fabric  may  be  braided,  beaded  or  em¬ 
broidered.  with  excellent  effect.  A  pocket 
may  be  used  in  the  same  way  on  a  blouse. 
Sometimes  a  defect  may  be  concealed  by 
working  some  decoration  in  the  easily 
made  crewel  embroidery  across  it.  A  silk 
blouse  that  is  worn  iu  the  sleeves  aud  un- 
der  the  arm  may  be  made  over  with 
Georgette  crepe  or  some  similar  material 
in  place  of  the  worn  or  discolored  parts. 
Some  pretty  combination  blouses  are 
made  with  a  deep  yoke  of  the  crepe  com¬ 
ing  down  in  points  to  a  depth  just  below 
the  arms,  the  lower  part  being  of  satin, 
and  this  style  may  be  adapted  to  a  one- 
piece  dress,  where  the  original  material  is 
scant.  A  skirt  that  is  too  short  may  be 
lengthened  by  au  applied  band  or  false 
hem,  finished  at  the  top  by  a  cord  or  pip¬ 
ing.  A  soiled  or  worn  front  breadth  may 
be  discarded  in  favor  of  a  panel  of  dif¬ 
ferent  goods ;  where  there  are  small  pieces 
of  the  original  material,  a  pretty  front 
panel  may  he  made  of  them,  joining  to¬ 
gether,  and  covering  the  joins  with  cross 
hands  of  silk.  Shabby  sleeves  that  are 
out  of  date  take  on  renewed  youth  when 
cut  off  either  above  or  below  the  elbow, 
and  finished  with  net  or  crepe  umler- 
sleeves.  An  out-of-date  black  silk  dress, 
too  long  for  present  style,  but  with  full 
pleated  skirt,  was  carefully  pressed,  and 
enough  cut  off  the  bottom  to  make  two 
narrow  frills.  The  top  of  the  skirt  was 
shirred,  and  the  two  narrow  frills  spaced 
at  the  bottom,  the  lower  one  being  six 
inches  above  the  liem.  The  old  sleeves 
were  made  three-quarter  length,  and  then 
finished  with  a  puffed  undersleeve  of 
December  23,  1916. 
white  Brussels  net.  The  waist  was  en¬ 
tirely  plain,  hut  was  finished  by  a  white 
net  fichu.  A  shirred  girdle  of  black  satin 
was  fastened  by  a  silver  buckle,  aud  the 
plain  dress  was  so  graceful  and  becoming 
that  no  one  would  suspect  its  age.  If  a 
little  color  is  desired,  the  girdle  may  be 
lined  with  some  attractive  silk,  and  drawn 
around  so  as  to  show  a  little  color  at  the 
edges,  being  fastened  in  a  bow-knot  so 
twisted  that  the  colored  lining  shows. 
We  have  seen  wonders  worked  in  hoaie 
dyeing,  to  provide  material  for  such  uses. 
One  of  our  friends  tells  liow  she  got  a 
package  of  orange  dye  to  color  a  shabby 
old  crepe  de  chine  scarf.  She  used  the 
whole  package  of  dye,  according  to  direc¬ 
tions,  adding  to  the  scarf  various  odd  rib¬ 
bons,  remnants  of  light-colored  silk,  and 
one  shabby  old  white  China  silk  waist. 
All  came  out  well,  and  as  the  dye  seemed 
strong  she  added  some  odd  pieces  of  un¬ 
bleached  sheeting,  which  took  the  silk  dye 
perfectly.  As  a  result  there  were  a 
number  of  pieces  of  orange  silk  aud  ribbon 
that  could  be  used  together,  and  an 
orange  silk  waist  that,  covered  with 
brown  veiling,  made  a  handsome  blouse. 
The  dyed  sheeting,  stencilled  in  black, 
made  very  striking  cushion  covers  for  the 
hammock. 
Winter  Millinery. — High  narrow 
toques  of  the  hussar  and  grenadier  type 
are  seen  in  velvet,  batter’s  plush  and  even 
felt,  though  felt  hats  are  chiefly  confined 
to  the  outing  type  Such  hats  are  often 
made  still  higher  in  line  by  feathery 
trimming.  Close-fitting  draped  velvet 
turbans  have  their  drapery  carried  up 
high  at  oue  point,  then  brought  down  low 
at  another.  The  narrow  line  of  these  tall 
toques  and  turbans  is  not  usually  becom¬ 
ing  to  a  full  face ;  some  of  the  tricorne 
shapes  will  be  found  preferable.  How¬ 
ever.  there  are  some  low-crowned  trimmed 
models  that  are  very  becoming  to  a 
plump  wearer,  both  straight  and  rolled 
brims.  One  pretty  lint  with  a  straight  brim 
of  moderate  width  bad  a  draped  crown 
with  a  row  of  small  velvet  fruit  around 
the  top  and  no  other  trimming.  The 
most  stylish  hats  have  very  little  trim¬ 
ming,  depending  more  on  arrangement 
than  quantity.  Ribbons  are  more  often 
used  in  narrow  than  iu  wide  widths. 
Often  a  narrow  hand  of  metallic  ribbon, 
or  plain  color  with  flowered  or  metallic 
border,  tied  in  a  prim  little  how,  is  the 
only  trimming.  The  gay  flowers  used  iu 
trimming  are  usually  fiat,  applied  upon 
the  liat,  and  there  are  many  metallic  orna¬ 
ments  used  in  the  same  way.  Large 
ostrich  plumes  are  not  very  much  used, 
though  they  are  too  handsome  to  be  given 
up  entirely  at  any  time.  There  are  many 
fancy  feathers,  however,  made  of  uncurled 
ostrich,  and  flat  bands  of  ostrich  tips  laid 
upon  silk.  These  are  attractive  for  trim¬ 
ming  a  small  toque.  Very  tiny  ostrich  tips 
are  used  around  the  edge  of  large  hats, 
being  laid  flat  on  the  brim.  Hatter’s 
plush  makes  some  very  handsome  hats, 
and  there  are  large  models  having  brims 
of  black  lace,  as  well  as  the  metallic 
laces. 
Faurics  and  Findings. — Brocade  lin¬ 
ing  satin,  with  cotton  back,  was  seen  re¬ 
cently  in  many  attractive  colors  for  05 
and  OS  cents  a  yard,  30  inches  wide.  It 
is  very  strong  and  durable;  is  brocaded  in 
self  color.  Sateens,  with  a  brilliant  per¬ 
manent  finish,  are  seen  in  a  wide  range  of 
art  colors  for  draperies,  lace  spreads  and 
coat  linings,  30  inches  wide,  32  cents  a 
yard.  Cotton  gabardine  suitings  in  white 
or  white  with  black  stripes,  30  inches 
wide,  are  55  cents  a  yard,  30  inches  wide. 
We  expect  to  see  these  heavy  cotton  ma¬ 
terials  very  largely  used  for  costs  and 
skirts  next  year,  as  present  indications 
are  that  linen  will  continue  scarce  and 
high-priced.  The  heavy  fancy  cottons  for 
children’s  dresses  and  rompers,  in  a  va¬ 
riety  of  fast  colors,  are  11)  to  25  cents  a 
yard.  Many  dress  silks  are  extremely 
high-priced,  but  this  applies  especially  to 
those  brocaded  in  colors  and  metallic  ef¬ 
fects.  Most  of  the  dress  silks  are  now  30 
inches  wide,  instead  of  the  narrower 
widths  of  old-fashioned  silks  so  that  a  silk 
at  .$1.24  to  $1.95  a  yard  cuts  to  good  ad¬ 
vantage.  The  popular  messaline  remains 
a  favorite,  but  satin  duchess  is  richer 
looking  and  is  especially  desirable  for  the 
matron  who  likes  a  black  satiu  dress. 
Both  for  afternoon  wear  and  in  evening 
colors  taffeta  retains  its  popularity. 
A  Velvet  Dress,  and  Modified  Russian  Blouse 
