Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/139

 always put them, threading the plain glass beads on the wire for the purpose.

The Jessamine.—Is a very simple little flower to make. For the centre thread three little glass beads on to one wire, and twist them together, then cut the longish petals on the cross of the scale and arrange them round the beads. The little common fern with leaves on each side, something the shape of the jessamine petal, is very easily made. Almost any small leaf or flower can be made.

Once you are able to make the flowers you can use them in many ways. And if wanted in colours the scales can he dyed with the diamond dyes very easily. I have made oleander flowers that looked quite natural of dyed scales, also red geraniums.

The double geraniums are easily made, and look very pretty in the white scales.

Useful Women or Useful Dolls.—These are very useful for bazaars, always sell well and are not much trouble to make. Get a small china doll with sawdust body. One of those you give about sixpence or ninepence for, dress her in ordinary peasant costume, viz., a red and white stripe skirt or blue and white print is the material, or if you have scraps of bright coloured merino by you they can be used just as effectively. The skirt can be made short or long, they look best short; there is a way of making the long skirt answer as a pin cushion, but it spoils the appearance of the milk maid I think. However, here are the directions: cut a circle of strong card board and having made the petticoat of strong calico. Sew it securely round the circle of the card and then fill the inside or the bag just formed with bran, cut off the legs of the doll and introduce the body into the bag and gather strongly round the doll's waist. It is best to sew it in case of it breaking if tied. Now proceed with the dressing, the striped skirt goes over the petticoat bag and should be made rather full. For the body make a muslin blouse and a little basket bodice of black, or else a swiss belt, a muslin apron and a little pocket, and a white cap with a small brass or steel thimble for the crown. Across the shoulder place a steel bodkin to represent a milk yolkyoke [sic] and from each side of the bodkin suspend a reel of cotton to represent the cans, in the apron pocket place a packet of needles, and that useful woman is complete. Any one who has taste can make a great many of these and each one different.

Court Costume.—For this get as pretty a doll as you can and with fair hair. The dolls with china head, arms and legs are the best, as those all china are much harder to fit, and all the clothes should fit as well as your own or they do not look nice. For the bodices always cut a paper pattern on the doll and make the same seams and all just as if making a body for a grown person. Another thing make every article of underclothing for the doll. Many ladies when buying will take into consideration the fact that they are getting good value for their money in a well dressed doll. A packet of needles, reel of cotton, thimble and bodkin, so that when they have done with the needles and thread the doll will come in for one of the children. In dressing a doll in court fashion it is well to go by a fashion plate, keeping as near to it as circumstances and material will allow. I give the description of one I did. A pink satin dress, the front quilted, and in each little square of the quilting a dot worked in a deeper pink silk. The skirt only to the feet all round, and a train from the shoulders fixed on the bodkin, or rather the bodkin run through loops to look as if supporting the train. The latter was made of deep violet or purple velveteen lined with pink satin and under it the packet of needles slipped into a casing, the thimble can be put there too, but I fixed a tiny boquetbouquet [sic] of artificial flowers into it as a holder and tied it to one of the hands while the other held a fan-shaped pin cushion made of two pieces of card board covered with