October, 190Q 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
is made from a material called Arras cloth, in 
color a light golden-brown. Jute and linen are 
used in the composition of this fabric, resulting 
in a weave that has an unusually pleasing 
variety of texture and color. It is an imported 
material and costs eighty-five cents a yard. 
To break the monotony and to give the hang¬ 
ing a distinctive character, the conventional 
tulip design in applique has been used. The 
flower itself is in applique and made from linen 
of a burnt-orange color. Inexpensive linens 
may be used for this purpose with good effect, 
but in some of the more costly kinds there are 
to be found changeable tones that are really 
worth the difference in price. The conventional 
leaves at the bottom are of pale gray-green 
linen, and the stem joining the two pieces of 
applique is indicated by lines of couching. 
The second illustration at the bottom of 
page 132 shows a portiere of heavy linen, Pom¬ 
peian-red in color, and costing $1.80 a yard. 
The design in this case, which is not so startling 
perhaps in its character, is embroidered in gray 
silk. It will be noticed that there is a feather¬ 
stitch edging along the inside edge and across 
the bottom at the top of the hem. 
Russian crash is the material that has been 
used in making the third hanging illustrated at 
the bottom of the opposite page. Since crash 
comes in rather narrow widths, two were re¬ 
quired for the example shown in the illustra¬ 
tion. It must be borne in mind that it is 
always essential to plan so as to get a whole 
set of portieres from one piece of crash. The 
reason for this is that the pieces, containing 
several yards each, vary considerably in color 
and texture. The fabric is not at all expensive, 
probably for the reason that it is woven by 
Russian peasants at hand looms in their huts. 
It shows a far greater variety of weave and 
color, for this reason, than any machine-made 
product possibly could. A conventionalized 
pattern, worked out in a series of squares and 
lines, is used for the applique. Pieces of linen 
in rose and green are used, and the embroidery 
is done in pale green worsted. 
Of the two examples illustrated on this 
page, the upper one has the conventionalized 
A detail pattern for the disc patterns on the adjoin¬ 
ing hanging. These measure 6J by 8 inches 
The trees are of apple-green 
velvet with couching of 
embroidery cotton 
Cream-yellow rep, couched in a pas¬ 
tel blue; the discs are of brown 
linen and blue worsted 
Sketch your own patterns for the applique 
decoration 
trees worked in the so-called “peasant em¬ 
broidery.” They are in applique of apple- 
green velvet or velvetine, with couching of 
embroidery cotton, pale gray-green in color. 
The fabric of the portiere shows a similar 
color in a deeper tone. 
The illustration at the bottom of this page 
is made of plain rep, costing fifty-five cents a 
yard. It is instructive to see how much more 
interesting it has been made merely by the 
addition of the five spots of decoration. The 
material is a cream yellow and the deep hem 
is couched on the top with worsted in a soft 
pastel shade of blue, the line of couching 
extending around the inner edge of the por¬ 
tiere. For the decoration, discs of applique 
are used, stiffened with buckram, and em¬ 
broidered in blue worsted. These are tacked 
to the hanging after the work on them is com¬ 
pleted. In this example the discs measure 6f 
inches by 8 inches. The buckram is cut out 
in the desired shape and covered with a coarse 
brown linen, after which it is buttonholed 
around the edge with the heavy worsted. In 
the center of the discs, the pattern is also in 
blue worsted. It may readily be imagined 
that the cream yellow contrasts pleasingly 
with the blue spots of decoration, a combina¬ 
tion which is further improved by the glimpses 
one gets of the brown linen. It should be re¬ 
membered of course that much of the success 
of portieres of this kind depends upon the 
proper placing of these bits of applique. The 
best way to determine how they should be put 
on is to lay the portiere out upon the floor and, 
with markers, try various combinations. 
All of these designs, however, will serve 
their best purpose if they are accepted as sug¬ 
gestions rather than as arbitrary patterns, to 
be taken as a whole or rejected. One must 
always keep in mind the color scheme of the 
room in which the hanging is to be used; it 
may be one that would be absolutely spoiled 
by the introduction of any of these designs. 
The point is, however, that there is a splendid 
chance for distinctive originality somewhat 
along these lines; the details must be altered 
10 fit individual cases. 
