A plain quilt or cover for the baby can be made very attractive, by working herring-boning around the edge. If the cover is woollen, use worsted or heavy silk for the stitchery, but if it is cotton material, a heavy lustre is recommended. The needle to use depends on the thread. A sewing needle will carry a round cotton thread such as D. M. C., Madonna, Utopia, Royal Society, or Peri lustre. A crewel needle, which is a needle with a long eye, will be required for silk or worsted. An easy way to thread a No. 2 or No. 4 crewel needle with worsted is to hold the needle in the left hand and double the thread at one end and run the needle through it. Hold the thread between the thumb and first finger of the right hand so that the thread is just visible. Gently pull the needle out with the left hand and run the doubled thread through the eye. It sounds a great deal harder than it actually is, but it will require very little practice.
Fig. 99. The first step in cross-stitching
When you went to kindergarten did you have little pierced cards on which you made designs in coloured silks or cottons? Well they had these at my school and we made book-marks, needle-books and all sorts of funny little things. If you remember the cross-stitching of the kindergarten days, regular cross-stitching will be a simple matter. The nicest material for this work is Java canvas, which is very coarse and stiff. It is ideal for book covers or napkin rings. The holes in the canvas are so large that working on it is almost like play. As Java canvas is rather expensive you will find a coarse scrim a good substitute. A lot of boys that I once knew took up this work very enthusiastically, so simple is it.
Fig. 100. The second step in cross-stitch
Do you know that you can make a gingham apron for mother and decorate it with cross-stitching that will last ever so long? Get a piece of gingham with squares about an eighth of an inch. Cross-stitch it in a shade darker than the gingham or in white or red. The stitches are taken on the diagonal as shown in the diagram (Figures [99] and [100]). If there is a great deal of cross-stitching to be done, the quickest way is to make all the stitches that run in one direction first, and then come back and cross them. Perhaps mother has a small piece of cross-stitching that you can use as a model. Simple triangles are easy to make. Begin the lower row with an uneven number, such as seven, nine, eleven, or thirteen. The next row make two stitches less, dropping one from each end, and so on till you have one at the top.