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House Furnishing and Decorating: Curtains

Curtains for French windows should be arranged with cords and pulleys so as to be brought out of the way when the windows are opened, or adjusted on rods long enough so that they can be drawn to one side. - Window Curtains. Some city houses have three or four sets of 0 "Simpler Methods Are Gaining Favor." curtains, but the simpler methods of country houses are gaining in favor.

One set is sufficient, and more than two are undesirable. A thin semitransparent curtain of lace, net, or muslin, in white or écru, may be used next the glass. This may either be crossed at the top and hang straight down or be draped at the middle sash with a band. This is a question of taste and depends upon the proportions of the room and the window. When an inner curtain of heavy material is used the lace or net curtain should usually be draped to soften the outlines. Lace or net curtains are usually, but not always, used downstairs, and less expensive curtains of muslin are used for bedrooms and other upstairs windows.

Materials for Window Curtains.- Lace curtains may be purchased ready made. Or curtains may be made of bobbinet or similar material and edged with ruffles or suitable lace. Or Cluny lace may be used by way of insertion.

Plain scrim, with no other decoration than hemstitched hems, makes handsome curtains. They launder easily and well. If they bleach with time they can be restored to their original color by being dipped in dilute coffee.

The best materials for bedrooms are dotted Swiss or other muslins. Other serviceable materials are India linen, Aberdeen linen, Persian cotton, cretonnes, and linen taffetas. The reps of various fabrics-cotton, wool, and silk-all hang well and are soft and graceful.

Any suitable material may be scalloped along the edge by means of a tumbler. Mark around this with chalk or pencil. Buttonhole the scallops and work in them polka dots or other simple design. - Muslin Curtains. For bedroom curtains it pays to buy various cotton materials like dimity and muslin by the piece, and to make them all the same style. It is wise to keep to the same pattern, as dots or small rings, and to buy new pieces the same as the old, or as nearly so as they can be matched. Then new curtains can be used with the old. As the curtains begin to wear they can be put together as pairs, or changed from room to room as long as any two are left.

Or when curtains from the living rooms wear on the edges, trim them off, hem them neatly, and turn the edged border toward the sash. They will make good curtains for bedrooms or other inconspicuous windows that will last for years.

Dyeing Curtains. -All cotton materials can be readily dyed by dipping them in dye stuff after they have been washed and rinsed in the laundry.

Thus the curtains can be made to conform to any desired color shade.

Cheese cloth when dyed in suitable colors makes pretty and inexpensive curtains. Hemmed bands or borders of striped silkoline or other suitable material add a decorative effect. Dark green trimmed with a stripe in Oriental design and coloring makes a very pretty curtain.

Or take cheese cloth or unbleached sheeting which may be any old material as old sheets, from which pieces of suitable size can be cut for cur- "Decorative Border in Oil Paints." tains, and dye them in any suitable shade. White cotton dipped in a deep brown dye and afterwards in a deep green gives a beautiful gray-green color.

Or unbleached cotton sheeting can be stenciled or hand painted with a decorative border in oil paints thinned slightly with turpentine, and thus given a very artistic effect. Cut the curtain wide enough so that the inner edge of each pair may be turned over eight inches. Fold this strip top and bottom into squares. Mark the squares by means of a stencil and paint any design to form the border.

To Hang Lace Curtains. To hang lace curtains without assistance, first adjust the pole; throw the top of the curtain loosely over the pole; then, by means of a common pin or tack, fasten each scallop to the skirting board just above the carpet or along the floor. The curtain may then be drawn up rather firmly over the pole so that when the pins are removed the curenough to lift it off the floor. This, tain will have been stretched just without jumping down to look, insures the curtain hanging evenly. To Mend Lace Curtains.--To mend delicate lace and net curtains when they first show a tear, take very fine thread and a hook and fill up the space with a single crochet stitch.

When laundered the mend will defy detection.

Or when lace curtains are much worn, take one or two of the worst for patches, and after the others are laundered cut a patch to match the design of the torn part, dip it in thick starch, lay it carefully over the rent, and iron it down. The starch will cause it to adhere until the curtains are laundered again. Strips of net or illusion may also be used in the same way.

Sash Curtains. - Use partly worn muslin or silk curtains for sash curtains. The tops and bottoms of old curtains that have not had the direct rays of the sun will usually be found best for sash curtains. The middle part can be discarded. Make a wide hem top and bottom through which to run the rod. A wide hem is not so likely to tear, and the curtains can be used either end up. Slip a roundheaded hat pin into the hollow of the rod to run them in the hems, and they will pass easily through. Rods may be fixed inside the sash so as to be elevated with the window and not to lean against the screen. Cords tacked across the window will prevent the HOUSE FURNISHING AND DECORATING wush curtain from beating against the screen.

Or instead of rods use quarter-inch iron wire painted over with gold paint or otherwise gilded or silvered. This makes the wire look better and prevents it from rusting. This wire is suitable for shams, mantels, and closet curtains, and many similar purposes in house decoration. It answers the same purpose as brass rods, and is much cheaper. It can be purchased at any hardware store, cut to any desired length.

Flour Sacks. - Large flour sacks may be utilized for sash curtains by carefully washing out the print and finishing with a suitable design in fancy work.

Curtains for Broad Windows. -Divide a broad, low window, or two windows together, by running two shelves across, one at the top of each sash.

Paint or stain these to match the woodwork. Fit sash curtains to both shelves by means of rods or quarterinch iron or copper iron, and hang 40 品 タロ ㅁㅁ "Divide a Broad Low Window." from brass rings. Let the hangings match the woodwork or conform to the color scheme of the room. The upper shelves may be treated as a plate rail, and the lower shelf may hold pots of ferns or other green plants.