THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
251 
Screens. 
Most convenient articles are screens, whether large or 
small, and they hold a position of importance in the 
household furniture of the present day, as they can be 
used for various purposes, some to shield from view the 
passage-way from one apartment to another, or to act 
as draught screens, while others are used for fire screens, 
and small ones of various shapes are made to set upon 
tire table before a lamp, which, while comfortably shield¬ 
ing tlio light from the eyes of those who do not require 
it, still allow it to be shed upon the books or work of 
those who are more industriously inclined. A large 
folding screen of three panels or leaves is very odd and 
pretty when made of common white matting. The 
frame can be made by any carpenter, from wood of 
whatever description is preferred. White pine answers 
very well, but must be very smoothly finished. It can 
then be oiled, or it is prettier still to stain it either 
black walnut or mahogany and give it two or three 
coats of copal varnish, letting it dry thoroughly between 
each coat. The panels are to be joined by means of 
small brass hinges. The frame is then ready for the 
matting. This must be tacked smoothly to the back of 
the woodwork of each panel, placing the tacks quite 
closely to hold the matting well in place. The design 
is then traced rather lightly on the matting of each 
panel with crayon or charcoal in outline, and afterward 
painted also in outline with oil paint; burnt amber or 
burnt sienna are very pretty shades of brown to use, and 
Wiusor and Newton’s tube oil colors are the best. The 
back should be covered with brown silicia or any shade 
that may bo fancied, leaving a space of the woodwork 
beyond, and the edge of the silicia is finished by tacking 
a braid over it. Fire screens can also be made in this 
shape, but would require a more elaborate frame. The 
ordinary-shaped fire-screen with swinging panel is pret¬ 
tiest however, and the metal frames now so much in 
vogue, though expensive, are very beautiful. Old gold 
or cardinal silk are pretty colors, the design to be 
worked in outline with brown embroidery silks, though 
colored silks suitable for the coloring in the pattern may 
be used with pretty effect. Still another pretty idea for 
a fire screen is a mirror set in an ebony or handsome 
metal frame, and a painting in oil colors of Water-Lilies 
and Lily pads upon the glass, also a bird or butterfly 
hovering just above. The effect is very beautiful; for 
the flowers, being reflected in the mirror, seem as if 
really floating upon water. Table screens should be ex¬ 
ceedingly dainty in every point, and satin, silk, plush or 
velvet, the materials used for the purpose. The setting 
for these small screens should be dainty, to correspond 
with the material which they are to frame. Thus for 
old gold, silk, or satin, a slight frame-work of ebonized 
wood, the smallest lunges of brass or gilt used to join 
the panels, or a light-blue or pale-green satin with frame 
of gilt for the setting. Should blue satin be used, red 
field Lilies may be substituted for Sweet Flag, and will 
form a prettier contrast with the background. Small 
banner screens are also pretty for table use, and are 
easily made, as the frames are all ready prepared and 
may be purchased for $1.25 in almost any store where 
materials for fancy work are sold. A piece of satin is 
cut the width of the cross-bar, and long enough to ex¬ 
tend down three-quarters the length of the rod. The 
satin is then to be fringed quite deeply across the lower 
edge, and a design painted or embroidered upon it. A 
piece of the same, or some contrasting color, is cut to 
correspond exactly with that intended for the face of the 
screen, and fringed in the same manner. The edges of 
the sides and across the top are then neatly blind-stitched 
together. The piece is then suspended from the cross 
rod by sewing it securely to the little rings with which 
it is furnished for this purpose. Bows of satin ribbon 
may be placed at either end of the rod. The design 
given in the illustration may be used on the large or 
small folding screens, whether painted or embroidered. 
For the large screen it should be executed as already 
described, the design painted in outline with the colors 
named. For a small screen, should it be of gold-colored 
satin, first trace the design faintly with lead-pencil, and 
embroider in color, using light and dark shades of violet 
silks for the Sweet Flag, green for the leaves, grasses 
and Lily pads, brown for the birds and Cat-tails. Long 
stitches of green to indicate the water, and white for the 
Water-Lily. Many other ideas may be carried out in the 
manufacture of these decorative and useful articles, and 
the labor bestowed upon them will not seem lost, for 
they will prove themselves a comfort as well as orna¬ 
ment, if properly made. M. E. W. 
Designs for Needlework. 
Designs for outline work may be closer in arrange¬ 
ment; they should be very carefully drawn, as all tbe 
beauty of outline work consists in its grace and truth of 
form. This style, by allowing more grace, allows also 
in some respects more naturalism ; but no attempt at 
roundness of form should be made, beyond what can 
be attained by simple curves without shading. Such 
details as the junction of leaf and stalk and the correct 
veining of the leaves should be insisted on. The care¬ 
ful drawing of leaf-veins imparts life and curvature to 
an outline that otherwise has no meaning. 
In designing a border, it must be taken into consid¬ 
eration whether it be intended for a horizontal or a per¬ 
pendicular position. In some cases, of course, the up¬ 
right arrangement will run no risk of being used hori¬ 
zontally, in others there is less certainty. There are 
borders which may be used either way, and there are 
others, which, at first sight, seem as if they might be 
used indiscriminately, but after a little study are 
found to be more suitable for one position than the 
other. 
Borders designed for a horizontal position, and com¬ 
posed of upright sprigs, single or grouped, require a 
line or two below, serving to keep them together; with¬ 
out this they look disjointed, and each sprig is too 
independent of the rest. It is not necessary for the 
flowers to spring from this line, which has the same 
controlling power whether they touch or not. Should 
the sprigs be large, a single line is not enough; a series 
of lines should be arranged. These will balance the 
composition, giving weight to the lower part, and mak¬ 
ing a pleasing opposition of line. Chain-stitch may be 
used very effectively in the horizontal lines, such as 
we have recommended as a base for single flowers to 1 
spring from, or for enclosing a narrow border. For 
these two last purposes a good effect may be made by 
enclosing an arrangement of short diagonal and per- 
