Free Vintage Pattern:

All care has been given to present these patterns in the original form. KnitHeaven is not responsible for errors.

Another Table-Cover.

This cover is made of pale-brown Turkish toweling. Cut a piece of the size to suit your table, and baste all round it, first a row of scarlet worsted braid, then of olive, then of yellow, leaving spaces each an inch and a half wide between the rows. Cat-stitch the braids down on both edges with saddlers' silk, and feather-stitch between them in silks, choosing colors which harmonize, and turning the whole into a wide stripe brilliant and soft at the same time. The choice and placing of the colors will be excellent practice for your eye, and after a little while you will be able to tell, as soon as a couple of inches are done, if you are putting the right tint into the right place. It is infinitely more interesting to feel your way thus through a piece of work than to follow any set pattern, however pretty, and it is far more cultivating to the taste.

A Paper Transparency. See here

Take a piece of white, or tinted, or silver paper, exactly ten and a half inches square. Fold it double diagonally. Fold it double again. Fold it double once more.

You will now have a triangular-shaped form of eight thicknesses. Now lay this folded piece on a pine table, or on a smooth piece of pine board. Next, lay evenly over it, so that it will fit exactly, the "pattern of transparency," or an exact tracing from it. When so placed, secure them firmly to the board by pins driven in at each corner. Now, with a very sharp pen-knife follow and cut through to the board the lines of the pattern, so as to cut out all the portions that show black in the design. When this is all done, pull out the pins, open your folded paper, and you will have a square form beautifully figured in open-work. It should be laid between two sheets of white paper and carefully pressed with a hot iron, and then it can be lined with black or fancy tissue paper, and hung against a pane in the window as a "transparency;" or you may use it as a picture-frame, inserting an engraving or photograph in the center.

The original, from which our pattern is taken, was cut during the late war by a young Union soldier while in Libby prison.

Shawl-Bags.

These bags are capital things to save a shawl from the dust of a journey, and, if of good size, can be made to serve a useful purpose by packing into them dressing materials, etc., for which there is not room in your hand-bag. The best material for them is stout brown Holland. Cut two round end-pieces eight inches in diameter and a piece half a yard wide by twenty-four inches long. Stitch these together, leaving the straight seam open nearly all the way across, and bind its edges and the edges of the end-pieces with worsted braid (maroon or dark brown), put on with a machine. Close the opening with five buttons and button-holes. Bind with braid a band of the Holland two inches wide, and fasten it over the button-holed side, leaving a large loop in the middle to carry the bag by.

By way of ornament you may embroider three large letters in single-stitch on the side, using worsted of the color of the braid, or may put a pattern down either side of the opening and round the ends in braiding, or a braided medallion with initials in the center.

JAPANESE HANGING-BASKET OF STRAW AND SILK.

A Japanese Basket for Grandmother.

You will never guess what the top of this droll little basket is made of, unless we tell you. It is one of those Japanese cuffs of brown straw which can be bought nowadays for a small price at any of the Japanese shops. You may embroider a little pattern over it—diagonally, if you wish to make it look very Japanese-y; line it with silk or satin, and fasten a small bag of the same material to the bottom, drawn up with a ribbon bow or a tassel. A band of wide ribbon is sewed to the top. Grandmamma will find this just the thing to hang on her arm for holding her knitting-ball, or the knitting itself if she wishes to lay it aside. This sort of basket also is useful as a "catch-all" when hung at the side of a dressing-bureau.

A CATCH-ALL MADE OF PERFORATED PAPER.

A Catch-All, Made from a Single Square.

This is very pretty, and very easily made. Take a piece of silver (or gold) perforated paper, eight inches square, and ornament it with worsted or silk, as in the diagram, all in one direction. To make the cornucopia, it is only necessary to join any two edges (as A and B) by first binding each with ribbon and then sewing them together. Line with silk, and put box-plaiting at the top. A worsted tassel might be put at the top (in front) as well as at the bottom, and a loop at C.

If silver paper is used, the trimmings would better be all red. All blue would look well with gold paper. But the colors may be varied according to taste. If your friend is a brunette, you will find that he or she will be most pleased with the red, while a blonde will prefer blue.

DIAGRAM OF PATTERN TO BE WORKED ON PERFORATED PAPER FOR A CATCH-ALL.

DIAGRAM OF WALL-POCKET.

WALL-POCKET OF SPLITS.

A Wall-Pocket of Splits.

Splits, or cigar-lighters as they are sometimes called, are to be had at any of the fancy shops. They are an inch wide and about seven inches long, and come in various shades of brown and straw color, and their flexibility makes it easy to weave them in and out like basket-work. For the wall-pocket you must weave two squares, each containing six splits each way, but one made larger than the other, as seen in the picture. A few stitches in cotton of the same color will hold the strips in place. Line the smaller of the squares with silk, and lay it across the face of the other in such a way that the four points shall make a diamond, touching the middle of each side of the square. Fasten it to the wall by two of the splits crossed and united by a bow of ribbons, and fill the pocket with dried autumn leaves and ferns gracefully arranged.

Silhouette Likenesses.

This is rather a Christmas game than a present, but will answer well for either; and young folks can get much fun out of an evening spent in "taking" each other. Each in turn must stand so as to cast a sharp profile shadow on the wall, to which is previously pinned, white side out, a large sheet of paper, known as silhouette paper, black on one side and white on the other. Somebody draws the outline of this shadow exactly with a pencil; it is then cut out and pasted neatly, black side up, on a sheet of white paper. Good and expressive likenesses are often secured, and droll ones very often. Try it, some of you, in the long evenings which are coming.

A LEAF PEN-WIPER.

A Leaf Pen-Wiper.

Your pattern for this must be a beech-leaf again,—a long one this time,—or you may trace the shape from the illustration. Outline the shape as before, and from the model thus secured cut six leaves in flannel—two green, two brown, and two red, or red, white and blue, or any combination you like. Snip the edge of each leaf into very tiny points, and chain-stitch veins upon it with gold-colored floss. Attach these leaves together by the upper ends, arranging under them three triply pointed leaves of black broadcloth or silk to receive the ink, and finish the top with a small bow of ribbon.

A Birds'-Nest Pen-Wiper.

Girls are always trying to find something which they can make to delight their papas, and a gay little pen-wiper with fresh uninked leaves rarely comes amiss to a man who likes an orderly writing-table. Here is a pretty one which is easily made. For the pattern you may borrow a moderately large beech-leaf from the nearest tree (or botanical work); lay it down on paper, pencil the outline and cut it out neatly. Repeat this six or eight times in black cloth or velvet, and sew the leaves round a small oval or circle of black cloth. Knit and ravel out a quantity of yellow worsted or floss silk, and with it construct a nest in the center of the oval, putting a hen into the nest. This hen may be made of canton flannel, stuffed with cotton-wool and painted in water color, with a comb of red flannel, two black beads for eyes, and a tuft of feathers by way of tail. But better still and much easier, buy one of the droll little Japanese chicks which can be had at the shops now for twenty or twenty-five cents, and fasten it in the middle of the nest. Three plain circles of cloth are fastened underneath for wiping the pens.

A Bird's Nest Pen-Wiper.

Japanese Pen-Wiper.

A nice little pen-wiper can be made by cutting three circles of black cloth, snipping the edges or button-holing them with colored silk, and standing in the middle one of the droll little Japanese birds just mentioned. Of course it should be secured firmly at the feet. There are long-legged birds and short-legged ones. A tiny stork is very pretty.

A JAPANESE PEN-WIPER.

Bleached Grasses.

Some of you who have been pressing autumn leaves for winter use may like to hear of a new way of bleaching grasses to mix with them. The process is exceedingly simple. Take a few of the grasses in your hand at a time, dip them into a pan of water, shake gently, dip into a pan of sifted flour, and again shake gently. All the superfluous flour will fall off, but enough will remain to make the grasses snowy-white. When dry it is perfectly firm, and you would never guess what process produced the effect. A bunch of these white grasses in a coral-red basket is a vivid object.

Colored grasses, to our thinking, are not half so pretty as the same grasses when left in their own soft natural browns and yellows. Still, as some people like them, we will just mention that the same process can be used for them as for the white grass, by mixing with small portions of flour, a little dry paint powder, vermilion, green, etc. A bunch of the deep red mixed with the bleached grass has a gay and uncommon effect.

Lamp Shades.

Plain white porcelain lamp-shades, such as are used on the German student-lamps, look well when decorated with wreaths of autumn leaves put on with mucilage. We read lately in the Tribune that leaves treated with extract of chlorophyl became transparent. This would be a fine experiment for some of you to try, and a garland of the transparent leaves would be much more beautiful around a shade than the ordinary dried ones.

There are other styles of lamp-shades that can be made with little difficulty, for instance: A very pretty shade is easily formed by cutting in thin drawing-board fine scalloped sections, which, tied together with narrow ribbon, take the form of a shade. Leaves are glued to the under side of these, and a lining of thin tissue-paper is pasted on to hold them in place. Still another is made in the same way, with doubled sections of card-board, between each pair of which is laid a steel engraving or wood-cut, or an unmounted photograph. The pictures are invisible till the lamp is lighted: then they gleam forth with something of the soft glow of a porcelain transparency.

A Glove-Box.

In any of the fancy shops you can now buy the slender frames of silvered tin on which these boxes are made. Cut out double pieces of pale-tinted silk to fit the top, bottom, sides and ends, and quilt each separately with an interlining of cotton batting, on which sachet-powder has been lightly sprinkled. Slip the pieces between the double rods of the frame, sew over and over, and finish with a plaited satin ribbon all round, adding a neat little loop and bow to lift the lid.

The small tin boxes in which fancy biscuits are sold can be utilized for glove-boxes, covered as you choose on the outside, and lined with wadded silk.

Another Glove-Box.

SILK GLOVE-BOX.

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE MANNER OF TUFTING THE LINING OF SILK GLOVE-BOX.

This box can be made in very stiff card-board, but tin is better if you have the pieces which form its shape cut by the tinman, and punched with holes in rows an inch and a half apart. If you use card-board, you must punch your own holes, measuring the places for them with rule and pencil. In either case, you will need the same number of pieces and of the same size, namely: two strips one foot long and five inches wide, two strips one foot long and three inches wide, and two strips five inches long and three inches wide. Cover each piece with a layer of cotton wadding, sprinkled with sachet powder, and a layer of silk or satin of any color you prefer. Then catch the silk firmly down through the holes in the tin, making long stitches on the wrong side, and small cross-stitches on the right, so as to form neat regular tufts. A very tiny button sewed in each depression has a neat effect. When the inside of the box is thus tufted, baste the pieces together, cover the outside with black or dark silk or satin, embroidered or ornamented in any way your fancy may dictate, overhand the edges daintily, and neatly finish with a small cord. Square boxes made in the same way are pretty for pocket-handkerchiefs.

COAL-SCUTTLE PINCUSHION AND NEEDLE BOOK.

A Coal-Scuttle Pin-Cushion.

This droll little scuttle is made of black enamel cloth, cut according to the diagrams on next page. Fig. 1 is cut double and folded over at G. The two sides marked B and E in Fig. 1 are bound with black galloon; also the two sides marked with the same letters in Fig. 2.

Before binding over, cast a bit of wire around the top and one around the bottom of the scuttle, and bend each into its proper shape. Figs. 3 and 4 are bound all round, and sewed over and over to the places indicated. Wrap two bits of wire, one four inches long and the other an inch and a quarter, with black worsted, and insert them through little holes made for the purpose to serve as the handles of the scuttle; stuff the inside firmly with hair or cotton-wool, cover the top with flannel, cut after Fig. 4, and button-hole the edges down all round with worsted of the color of the flannel. If you like to add a needle-book you can do so by cutting three leaves of differently colored flannels, after the shape of Fig. 4, snipping the edges into points, or button-holing them, and fastening the leaves to the back of the scuttle above the pincushion.

A Bit of Plain Work.

There are notable little sempstresses even in these days of machines ("and I am thankful to know that there are," says Mother Santa Claus) who set their stitches as swiftly and as precisely as ever their grandmothers did before them, and have the same liking for what used to be called "white seam." To such we would suggest, what a nice and useful Christmas present would be a beautifully made under-garment. It need not of necessity be a shirt, though in old days no girl was considered educated who could not finish one all by herself, from cutting out to the last button-hole; but an apron or petticoat or dressing-jacket or night-gown, over which little fingers had labored deftly and lovingly, would, it seems to us, be a most wonderful and delightful novelty for mamma or grandmamma to find on the Christmas-tree this year. A set of handkerchiefs nicely hemmed and marked (girls used to cross-stitch the marks in their own hair!), or a soft flannel petticoat, cat-stitched at the seams, scalloped with coarse working cotton,—which grows whiter with washing, instead of yellowing like silk,—with three pretty initials on the waistband, would be other capital ideas. Try them.

Work Aprons.

The great convenience of these aprons is that the work can be rolled up in them and laid aside for use. They are made of brown Holland trimmed with black or blue or crimson worsted braid. Little loops of doubled braid ornament the edge, and are held in place by a plain row of the braid stitched on above them. The lower and largest pocket should be made full and drawn up with a cord at top, so as to hold rolls of pieces, worsteds and patterns. The little pockets are for spools of silk and thread, tapes, buttons, and so on.

DIAGRAM OF WORK APRON.

A Leaf Needle-Book.

For this needle-book you will need the following materials: One-eighth of a yard of crimson or green velvet, one-eighth of a yard of lining silk to match, one-eighth of a yard of fine white flannel, two skeins of white silk floss, a bit of Bristol-board, and a half yard of narrow ribbon.

Cut in the Bristol-board a couple of leaf-shaped pieces like the illustration. Cover each with the velvet, turning in the edges neatly, line with the silk, and button-hole both together all round with white floss. Stitch the veins in the leaves with the floss, held tightly, so as to depress the lines a little. Cut three leaves of flannel in the same shape, button-hole the edges, lay them between the leaves, and fasten all together at top with a bow of ribbon. A tiny loop and button should be attached to the point to hold the needle-book together.

PAD OF LEAF NEEDLE-BOOK.

PATTERN OF CROSS FOR BOOK MARK.

Book-Mark.

A large lace-like cross hanging from the end of a wide ribbon makes a handsome and appropriate mark for a big bible or prayer-book. The materials cost almost nothing, all that is required being a bit of perforated card-board, a sharp penknife, and—patience. Trace the form of the cross on the card-board, and outline the pattern on one side in pencil. You will observe that the one given as illustration is made up of small forms many times repeated, and this is the case with all patterns used for this purpose. The easiest way to outline it regularly is to do a square of eight holes at a time, marking the places to be cut, and leaving the uncut places white. When all is marked, place on a smooth board and cut, following the markings exactly with your knife. The work cannot be hurried: it must be done slowly and very carefully if you hope to succeed.

VASE (AUTUMN-LEAF WORK).

VASE, PAINTED BLACK AND ORNAMENTED WITH FERNS (AUTUMN-LEAF WORK).

Autumn-Leaf Work.

If you have an old work-box, or desk, or table-top, or screen, which has grown shabby, and which you would like to renew, we can tell you how to do so. First, you must take those generous friends, the woods, into your counsel. Gather and press every bright, perfect leaf and spray which comes in your way this autumn, and every graceful bit of vine, and a quantity of small brown and gold-colored ferns, and those white feathery ones which have blanched in the deep shadows. These ready, paint your box, or whatever it is, with solid black, let it dry, rub it smooth with fine sand-paper, and repeat the process three times. Then glue the leaves and ferns on, irregularly scattered, or in regular bouquets and wreaths, as suits your fancy. Apply a coat of isinglass, dissolved in water, to the whole surface, and when that is dry, three coats of copal varnish, allowing each to dry before the next is put on. The effect is very handsome. And, even without painting the objects black, this same style of leaf and fern-work can be applied to earthen vases, wooden boxes, trays and saucers, for card-receivers. For these, you may get some good hints from the illustrations on subsequent pages. The same illustrations will apply to the "novelties in fern-work" given further on.

CARD-RECEIVER (AUTUMN-LEAF WORK).

WOODEN BOX, ORNAMENTED WITH FERNS (AUTUMN-LEAF WORK).

A Window Transparency.

Another pretty use for autumn leaves is a transparency for a window. Arrange a group of the leaves upon a pane of glass, lay another pane of same size over these, and glue the edges together, first with a strip of stout muslin, and then with narrow red ribbon, leaving a loop at each upper corner to hang it up by. The deep leaf colors seen against the light are delightful.

Side-Light Transparencies.

Any of you who happen to live in a house which has, like many old houses, a narrow side-light on either side of its front-door, and a row of panes across the top, can make a pretty effect by preparing a series of these transparencies to fit the door-glasses, and fastening them on by driving a stout tack into the sashes so as to support the four corners of each pane. The transparencies could be prepared secretly and put into place overnight, or on Christmas morning, before any one is up, so as to give mother a pleasant surprise as she comes downstairs.