HOUSE AND GARDEN 
October, 
i 
912 
hogany one and makes a most useful serv¬ 
ing table. The drawer is convenient for 
napkins and underneath is a shelf, making 
a splendid place for table linen. There is 
always a nook or corner where such a 
table would fit and more space in the attic 
would then he available for other things. 
The Crocheted Rag Rug 
F OR making the finger crocheted rag 
rug the rags should be selected in 
the color arrangement desired, some strips 
or “chains” being of one tone, others of 
the oldtime “hit-and-miss.” The start of 
each chain is exactly like the start of a 
chain in wool or cotton yarn, only in place 
of the crochet hook, held in the right hand 
and drawing the strand through, the first 
finger of the right hand is itself used. 
Each loop should be well drawn down to 
make the work fine and strong and give 
durability to the finished article as a floor 
covering. It is therefore necessary, after 
nothing could be better for use in this 
room. The spray of blossoms is in white, 
and the little bird and the rushes spring¬ 
ing up from the bottom of the vase are 
soft greens, again repeating some of the 
■colors of the wall paper. The vase stands 
.about fifteen inches high and is twelve 
inches in diameter. It costs $9.50. 
For a dining-room in which the fruit 
and flower paper is used the draperies can 
be made of one of the unfadeable fabrics. 
A most excellent match is to be obtained 
in a piece that is “changeable” or like the 
'“shot silk” so much in vogue for dresses 
at the present time. It is of old blue and 
old gold and is a perfect match in colors 
of the paper. Here again, because of the 
designed wall coloring, the hanging and 
the rug used in the room must be of plain 
colors. Either mahogany or old English 
furniture may be used in this room, for 
the fruit in the wall paper is a red brown, 
or mahogany color, while other tones of 
brown in the paper harmonize with the 
browns of English oak. 
Converting the Old-Fashioned 
Washstand 
I N the present age with all its modern 
conveniences we have no use for the 
old-time washstand, but in almost any 
attic there is one to be found. If not, 
they can be purchased at a reasonable 
price at some antique store or by keeping 
watch for auction sales and making fre¬ 
quent visits to second-hand stores. 
A great many people have a horror of 
going to a second-hand store, but I can 
scarcely pass one by for fear there may be 
something to interest me. Often desir¬ 
able articles can be bought there for ridicu¬ 
lously low prices. 
The picture shows an old mahogany 
washstand converted into a useful tea 
table. There is a large hole in the top, 
so a large copper tray was bought to fit 
over it. The drawer is useful for napkins 
and other things used when serving tea. 
The washstand at the right originally had 
a marble top, which was replaced by a rna- 
Two papering schemes made by first covering the wall with Japanese gold paper and then plac¬ 
ing over it suitably patterned wall paper fro m which the background spaces have been cut 
These two tables were originally old-fashioned washstands, and in their renovated form are both 
useful and appropriate. The one on the right makes a particularly good serving table 
each one is made, to work the previous 
one, through which it was drawn, down 
into a compact, snug knot. A verv little 
practice will determine just the right de¬ 
gree of tightening needed for any kind of 
rag, however—they need not be tighter 
than the loops in knitting—and will sur¬ 
prise the worker with the ease and rapid¬ 
ity with which the “crocheting” can be 
done. 
The chains are sewed together, wound 
either in a round form, which starts ex¬ 
actly at the center and builds out like a 
spiral, or in an oval form, which starts at 
the center with a loop sewed together, and 
then goes on around this by the addition 
of successive rows until the requisite size 
is reached — or the rags are all used up. 
The sewing should be done on the wrong 
side, with a strong cotton or linen thread 
of a color to show as little as may be 
against the cloth. It must be carefully 
done in order to “fit” each chain against 
its neighbor, but it is coarse work and easy 
enough to be quite within the possibilities 
for the maker of the chains, if she can 
handle a needle at all. 
It is well to begin sewing when the first 
chain has progressed far enough to make 
it possible to start, for this will show 
whether the work is tight enough or not. 
It also develops any peculiarity in the 
“pull” of the rags, if they have any. Dif¬ 
ferent kinds work up differently and one 
has to learn just what to expect and what 
to allow for in every instance. Lay the 
work down flat on a table often, to see 
that it is keeping flat and neither growing 
too full nor too tight at the outer edges. 
The effect of a rug made in this way is 
not quite like any other method of work¬ 
ing up rags. Done carefully, the finished 
article is even and firm, with an “all-over" 
surface differing from the definite cross 
lines of woven rags quite as much as it 
does from the little arrow-like pattern 
which braided rags show. 
