Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/405

 383 DRB8S making up of the skins into garments. This needs infinite care, because the skins must be matched in the most accurate manner. The hair of sealskin vaiies in length not only in each skin, but in different parts of the same skin, and if there is but a fraction of an inch of difference in the length of the hairs, a ridge is at cnce made which detracts much from the beauty of the garment. In a well- made coat, no seam must be perceptible. In fact, much skilled labour is required, and when to this is added the price of the skins, no one need wonder that the cost of sealskin soars steadily upwards. A sealskin coat is a precious possession, and a woman who buys such an expensive article should inspect the skins, and make her own selection. Fine, close pile, and soft, pliable felt are of first importance ; and it is also needful that all the skins should be uniform in size, colour, and quality. Seal- skin is more easily imitated than sable, and a buyer should be well on her guard against dishonest practices. An expert has kindly given some useful information. He says that sealskin is less flat and much thicker and closer than either musquash or the so-called coney seal and electric seal. Here is one absolutely certain method of detecting frauds in sealskin : The leather of sealskin is never dyed at all, only the fur, while musquash and its cheaper fellows are wholly dyed — the leather as well as the fur. Now. a would-be purchaser who has doubts should, if buying a made-up garment, undo a bit of the lining, by which means the fact of fraud can at once be ascertained. All of us, however, cannot afford the cost of fine sealskin, and a useful substitute can now be procured. Musquash is a real skin, and by the removal of long hairs and other treatment, may be made to resemble seal so closely that a skilled furrier would at a short distance be unable to detect the difference. But there are not many shops where the " seal-finished," or " plucked," musquash can be found in such perfection that there is not a bluish sheen, instead of the true brown tint, in the undergrowth. Besides this, the leather is stiff and the edges weaker and poorer than those of sealskin ; and musquash is a very small skin as compared with seal — 12 or 14 inches in length, as against 38 to 40 or 50 inches — and in looking even at the surface of a musquash coat, it is possible to perceive seams 8 or 10 inches apart, which, in a way, spoil its appearance. Musquash, however, is cheap as compared with sealskin. A coat of the best fur would cost from £40 to ;^6o, and it would look well, and wec.r fairly well, and must be reckoned as a f>ound investment. The musquash is a sort of rat, a native of North America. In shape it resembles the common rat, and its body is covered with a short, downy, dark-brown fur, intermixed with lighter and coarser hairs. It feeds chiefly on vegetables, and is an aquatic creature that seldom goes far from lakes and rivers. Coney seal and electric seal are cheap but useful substitutes. The former is made from the skins of Belgian rabbits, and the latter from those of French rabbits. Coney seal is best, and a coat of good quality can be secured for £15. After all, imitation has been described as the sincerest form of flattery. A NEEDLE^WO^M BOARD A LITTLE work-board provides one ^*- of the most compact and con- venient methods of carrying the Implements and materials required for sewing when travelling. In order to make this, ask a carpenter to cut a small board 8 inches square and I of an inch thick. Cover this with a pretty shade of Nattier blue cloth, securing it in place with small tacks along the under edge. Cut a piece of cloth medium shade 9 by r i^ inches for the cover, and either have it pinked around the edge or buttonhole it with silk. This should be fixed with a few tacks on the under part of the board at the upper edge. Now make a small pincushion measuring 3 inches by 2 inches. Cover it with cloth and put a fancy buttonhole stitch around the edge. Fix this in the centre of the board at the top, with a little brass- headed nail at each corner. Cut a needle book-cover of the cloth 3 inches long by 2 1 inches wide. "Buttonhole it with silk around the edge. Make two little leaves of white delaine with snipped edges. Put these level An attractive and ■ board which can be made easily at home or OS. with the cover and turn the edge of the cover over them at the top, and nail it to the board in the left- hand corner with three brass- headed nails. Get four reels of cotton, a 30 and a 60. in black and white. Put long brass-headed screws through them, and attach them to the board, two on each side of the little pincushion. Then get a little fancy metal box, make a hole in the middle, and screw it down in the centre of the board. This is for holding a yard measure. Below this is an elastic for the thimble, and in the right-hand lower corner another clastic for the bodkin axid scissors. When this is done, cover the underneath of the board with a piece of dark-coloured sateen, and oversew it around the edges. It looks best to have the buttonholing done in a colour which contrasts with the cloth. Cost : 4d. for the board, 4d. for the cottons, 6d. for the little box, and another 6d. for the scissors, and id. for the thimble. Total; 2S. yd. Value of board: 5s. 6d.