Small square or round doilies are used a great deal under finger bowls, Roman punch, and sherbet glasses. These dainty bits of napery can be purchased in all the stores where embroidery and materials for needlework are sold; also in the linen stores. These doilies are either hemstitched or fringed. The embroidery is usually in washable silks, fine flowers or Dresden patterns being the favorites. Doilies also come in Irish point, Mexican work, and various kinds of lace. Larger doilies for bread, cake, cheese, etc., are embroidered in white or colored silks, with appropriate mottoes. Ladies who wish to do this kind of work for themselves, or their friends, can send to a stamping and embroidery store for a sample doily, and the materials for a dozen or more. One should aim to get as much variety as possible in color and design in the dozen. A very fine linen is the material generally used.
At the Oriental stores there can be found a small doily, of a crêpe-like material, thickly embroidered with silk, or silver and gold thread. They come with and without a fringe, the fringed ones costing more than twice as much as those without. I prefer those without the fringe for table use. These doilies can be washed, but it must be with great care. If the housekeeper will be careful to wash and iron her doilies herself, they will always look fresh and dainty. Make a strong suds with hot water and white castile soap; wash the doilies in this, and rinse them in several warm waters. Squeeze them very dry, and spread them on a clean towel, and cover another towel over them. Roll up tight and iron immediately.
Tea, Carving, and Tray Cloths.
For the small tables that are set for five o’clock teas and card parties, etc., there are many pretty and inexpensive cloths. Plain linen, with a plain or double row of hemstitching, makes a satisfactory cloth. The cost is about one dollar for a cloth measuring a yard square; plain damask, with hemstitching, costs from one dollar and a half to two dollars a square yard, and one dollar more for a cloth measuring two square yards. Some long damask cloths, with open-work borders and a fringe, cost four or five dollars. Small hemstitched cloths of linen and damask come for carving cloths, tray cloths, and centre pieces. They cost all the way from twenty-five cents upward. These are useful in protecting the table, and they may be made decorative by embroidery.
Sheets and Pillow Cases.
Sheets should always be of generous length and width; never less than two yards and three quarters long, with the breadth, of course, depending upon the width of the bed. While linen sheets are desirable, they are not within the means of all housekeepers of even fair incomes. Cotton cloth makes a most satisfactory all-the-year-round sheet, and a good quality can be purchased at from twenty-five cents to seventy-five cents per yard, the cloth being from two yards to two and a half wide. Indeed, one can buy good sheets already made, two yards and a half wide, for one dollar and a quarter or one dollar and a half apiece. It is always more economical to buy the cloth and make them at home, for two hems do not mean much work. Unbleached sheeting may be made up, and bleached on the grass. Buy unbleached cotton for servants’ sheets and pillow cases, but do not make them too small. If the bed linen be made of generous proportions it will protect the bedding, and be more comfortable for the sleepers. Linen sheets three yards long can be bought for from five to fourteen dollars per pair. Pillow cases to match sell from two to three dollars and a half per pair. The finest are hemstitched.
Bed Spreads and Blankets.
For many years the honeycomb and Marseilles spreads have been almost universally used. They are still sold in large quantities, and will always be popular, for they need only to be hemmed in order to be made ready for use. They do not rumple readily, they keep clean a long time, and are, indeed, a most serviceable article. The Marseilles quilts cost from two to fifteen dollars. Some come in colors; but let no housekeeper be tempted by their beauty, for she will find it a difficult matter to make them harmonize with the other furnishings of her rooms. Dimity is being used again. It costs from two dollars and a half to four dollars and a half a spread. If one wish to make a bolster scarf to go with the dimity, it will be necessary to purchase a small spread and cut it in two. These spreads, being dainty and easily washed, are in great favor.
Materials for spreads come in all sorts of fabrics. Gobelin cloth and what is called basket cloth, both soft, pretty goods, are found two yards wide, and cost about one dollar and a half a yard. These materials are made into spreads and bolster scarfs; or, instead of the scarfs, a round bolster may be covered with the material. These spreads and scarfs are often embroidered in washable silks.
Next to bed linen and towels in plenty, one of the essentials for the health and comfort of the household is the stock of blankets. Cotton batting comforters are cheap and warm, but extremely debilitating to the sleeper; and since they cannot be washed, they are uncleanly, as compared with the woollen coverings. Use plenty of blankets instead, and have them washed frequently. For people of limited means, blankets that cost from five to six dollars a pair are serviceable. People are buying more blankets that are made of part wool and part cotton than of the all-wool patterns. This is because they can be washed frequently without shrinking. Select a smooth, soft blanket with white cotton binding. The simpler the border the longer it will please you. If possible, have a pair of summer blankets for each bed. These cost from three to ten dollars a pair. They can be washed as easily as a sheet, and are a source of the greatest comfort in hot weather. As they will last the greater part of a lifetime, get good ones. When blankets are not in use they should be folded smoothly, pinned in sheets, and placed on shelves in the linen closet.