1905. 
Christmas Ahead. 
II. 
As Bettie put away her box of Christ¬ 
mas work Helen said: “Speaking of 
things people buy at a woman’s exchange 
reminds me of your pickles. Blow many 
of those neat little jars full did you send 
your brother last year?” 
“Five sorts. I think, and he said he 
6157 Work Apron with Half Sleeve*. 
Small, Medium, Largo. 
liked every one best, so I have added chili 
sauce this year and made an even half- 
dozen. And I have been getting ready 
a collection of jellies for my cousin at 
college. She uses them with wafers when 
she makes afternoon tea. I shall stain 
some small grape baskets to pack the 
glasses in. You know that with a pack¬ 
age of dye you have only to dissolve some 
in hot water and paint the baskets green 
or pumpkin yellow or any color you like.” 
“O, that reminds me of the fern baskets 
I am going to fix right away. Those 
slender green ferns with brown stems 
and scarcely an inch wide grow well in 
Winter; at least they keep green and 
fresh, and one can pack them close to¬ 
gether with some partridge-berry vines 
for a border and pretty green mosses. 
6174 Long or Short Kimono. 34 to 42 bust. 
“But how will you make your baskets, 
or keep them from dripping and being 
untidy?” 
“Don’t you know? My baskets are all 
tin cans, the flat round kinds, such as the 
best salmon and beef tongues come in. I 
melt off the top rims and punch a hole or 
two in the bottoms for drainage. Then 
I set each on a little saucer such as comes 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
831 
with flower pots. The basket part, which 
is all that shows, is a strip of fine mat¬ 
ting. I make it deep enough to hide both 
tin and saucer. If 1 can have the selvage 
edge for the lower finish so much the bet¬ 
ter. But one can finish top and bottom 
the same. Sometimes I sew on a pretty 
braid ripped from an old straw hat and 
dyed green, but last year I found some 
fine hay in the cow barn which looked 
as pretty as sweet grass. I sewed on a 
border of that just as the Canadian people 
use sweet grass, only I used green em¬ 
broidery silk or silkateen to overhand it 
with. If you cut the ends quite slanting 
it is easy to make them meet without 
showing the joining. Of course the mat¬ 
ting has to be lapped and sewed neatly 
first. Some one gave me a roll of pretty 
floor mattings in short lengths, but prob¬ 
ably one could buy remnants at a carpet 
store. I even made some glove boxes 
covered with it and lined with padded 
pink silk.” 
“We must go up in the woods to-mor¬ 
row and get the ferns before the ground 
freezes They grow in rocky places, do 
they not?” 
“Yes, and you often see them growing 
in old wells between the stones. But I 
can never bear to uproot any such pretty 
things where any eyes are likely to see 
them. I never dig ferns by the roadside, 
but go to the woods and swamps for 
them.” 
“And didn’t you make some pretty 
things with raffia last year?” asked Bet- 
tie. 
“Oh, those little jars for cold cream, 
and the match holders? They were pret¬ 
ty, weren’t they! At least every one 
praised them. For the match holders I 
bought little five-cent glasses, whisky 
glasses people call them. Raffia is won¬ 
derful stuff, so strong and yet so pliable. 
For some I used green and for others 
bright yellow. Wring a cloth out of boil¬ 
ing water and roll your raffia up in it. 
It will soon be pliable, but not too damp. 
I split each strand into two or three, so 
as to keep my work fine and dainty. I 
began by making a very simple Teneriffe 
wheel of the raffia. That was for the 
bottom, but the outer loops could be bent 
up to begin the sides and they made an 
even row of stitches to work on. One 
had only to thread the raffia into a coarse 
needle and work two close buttonhole 
stitches in every loop, leaving an even 
length of raffia as one passed from loop 
to loop. These spaces made the next 
row of loops. I worked round and 
round, holding the glass in its place to 
shape my work on, and trying to have 
my stitches very even. Half-way up one 
can make one round of loops a half-inch 
deep and then work fine again and do 
you know you can iron the raffia out into 
pretty ribbons for hanging up your match 
holders? If the raffia is just damp 
enough and the iron not too hot a wide 
strand makes a dainty ribbon.” 
“And did you cover the jars the same 
way?” 
“Yes, nearly the same, but with a ring 
made of fine wire the size of the top I 
finished the cover securely in place, and 
then with another ring the same size made 
a lid. I wound my rings with raffia to 
hide the wire, and worked the lid in 
nearly solid under and over the spokes I 
first stretched across it. Some hinges like 
two little loops held the lid on one side, 
and you can work a loop and button to 
fasten it shut, for there’s almost no limit 
to the neat things you can contrive with 
raffia.” 
“But where did you get the jars?”. 
“Well, there are a good many things 
that come in little white, or clear glass 
jars. Some of my prettiest ones were 
just yellow earthenware, and had held 
some fancy sort of cheese, but the color 
was very pretty showing through the 
open-work of dull green raffia.” 
PRUDENCE PRIMROSE. 
The Rural Patterns. 
A big apron, with separate half sleeves, 
is a very efficient dress protector. As 
shown, the apron is made with fronts 
and side portions and is extended at the 
back to form suspenders, that are crossed 
and brought over, then buttoned into place 
over the front. At each side is a gener¬ 
ous patch pocket. The sleeves are finish¬ 
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with casings at the upper in which elastic 
is inserted to keep them in place. The 
quantity of material required for the 
medium size is 5^. yards 27 or 5% yards 
36 inches wide. The pattern 5157 is cut 
in three sizes, small, medium and large, 
corresponding to 34, 38 and 42-inch bust 
measure; price 10 cents. 
The kimono shown is quite simple, made 
with the yoke and the full portion and 
can be cut off in sacque length if better 
liked. The sleeves are in flowing style, 
gathered at the shoulders, and are fin- 
nished with bands to match those at the 
front and yoke. The quantity of material 
required for the medium size is 7^4 yards 
27 or 32, 5Bt yards 44 inches wide, with 
1 yards of contrasting material or 5% 
yards of ribbon for the bands for full 
length, 4 yards 27, 3^2 yards 32 or 2 
yards 44 inches wide for shorter length. 
The pattern 5174 is cut in sizes for a 34, 
36, 38, 40 and 42-inch bust measure; 
price 10 cents. 
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