Artistic Curtains for the Home 
By MIRA BURR EDSON 
A lthough so much is written about sten¬ 
ciling, and women all over the land are 
using this means of making the home indi¬ 
vidual and beautiful, it is a fact, even those who are 
more or less familiar with the process have not by 
any means exhausted, nor even fully grasped its 
possibilities. 
For giving the “ individual touch,” in bordering 
sash curtains and the like, it is extremely valuable 
and the means simple, and this so iar has been its 
chief usefulness. 
But more serious designs carried out in stenciling 
can well reward any thought or time spent upon 
them. Curtains or wall-hangings, stenciled, are 
extremely effective in furnishing, serving as portieres, 
or they may be hung upon a bare space ot wall. 
It is needless to say 
that the various parts of 
the design should be in 
keeping with one domi¬ 
nating motif throughout 
and the color while va¬ 
ried, harmonious. Suc¬ 
cessfully carried out it 
can do, as we know, 
much toward giving a 
room the necessary 
sense of completeness 
and comfort. 
The illustrations here 
shown were made by a 
class in design during the 
second year of instruc¬ 
tion. The material was 
chosen, the stencil cut and 
applied, in every case by 
the designer of the cur¬ 
tain. 
These curtains have 
each a “ field,” a broad 
lower border, one of me¬ 
dium width above and a 
small border enclosing 
the whole. Each one of 
these is planned with ref¬ 
erence to the complete 
design. Material is an 
important factor affecting 
greatly the finished de¬ 
sign. A fine quality will 
generally give a richer 
appearance than a 
coarser and cheaper 
fabric, but success is not by any means a matter of 
expensive stuffs. It is, however, a matter of getting 
exactly the right material and color for the place and 
use and to put upon this the design which can become 
a part of the material, suiting itself to texture and 
tone. Thus the finished piece may lend itself to the 
color scheme of the room, and become an integral 
part of it. 
Designing for a stencil requires practice. Simple 
patterns are comparatively easy, and this lures one 
on. Most of that we see is of a flat spotting of 
units, relying for variety largely upon the color. 
But great skill is possible with the stencil, balancing 
part with part. Involved and intricate patterns may 
be made or patterns in two planes, using more than 
one stencil. Delightful are the effects gained by 
the Japanese in which 
tone is secured, as in illus¬ 
tration by different treat¬ 
ments of line and space. 
The ground is sometimes 
given the force of color, 
or the figure produced 
here by full color, there, 
by dots or lines, ground 
and color playing one 
against the other, and 
giving an impression of 
many colors by means 
of one. 
In the stencils shown 
in Fig. I, a and b are 
intended to be used 
together as a border de¬ 
sign. The small hexagon 
all -over shown, makes 
a center, its quietness 
giving emphasis to the 
ornamental border. 
A pleasing geometric 
design is carried out in a 
soft blue, not very dark, 
upon a creamy, light- 
textured canvas. Its 
careful correspondence of 
parts, evenly covering 
the surface, makes it a 
satisfactory accessory. 
Another pattern shows 
abstract curves which 
mass themselves strongly 
with distance and run 
into a pleasing intricacy 
I. SIMPLE CURTAINS FOR BLUE AND WHITE ROOMS 
123 
