The household (of the Detroit free press)

It is best to begin with a small piece of work, as a butterfly or leaf, containing six or eight of the principal stitches. Get a pattern and tack the braid neatly on the outline, then fill in with the stitch designed on the pattern. One of the most desirable stitches is the spider web. This is worked with a fine thread and sharp needle. Fasten a number of threads across — say six or eight, twist each strand back — when you come to the last twist back to the center only — run the thread three or four times under, and over, the alternate strands, then twist down the last strand and fasten off. Point de Bruxelles is simply the ordinary button-hole stitch, which is worked on the edge of the braid. The stitches should be taken about fourteen to the inch and worked from left to right. A handsome lace for evening dresses can be made in this wise : Take white paper the width the lace is to be, draw a lace pattern on it, baste Brussels net (either black or white) on the pattern and follow the marks, which, of course, show through the net, working in with colored silks. There is no necessity of drawing a long pattern, as a few. scallops can be finished and the pattern unfastened from that and used again. Collars and cuffs can be made the same way, or done on satin instead of the net, and finished with lace on the edge. NETTING STITCHES. The beauty of netting consists in its firmness and regularity. All joints in the thread must be made in a very strong knot, and, if possible at an edge, so that it may not be perceived. The implements used in netting are a netting needle and a mesh. In filling a netting needle with the material, be careful not to make it so full that there will be a difficulty in passing it through the stitches. The size of the needle must depend on the material employed, and the fineness of the work. Steel needles are employed for every kind of netting except the very coarsest. The fine meshes are usually also of steel ; but as this material is heavy, it is better to employ bone or wooden meshes when large ones are required. Many meshes are flat, and in using them the width is given. The first stitch in this work is termed Diamond Netting, the holes being in the form of diamonds. To do the first row, a stout thread* knotted to form a round, is fastened to the knee with a pin, or passed over the foot or on a hook, sometimes attached to a work cushion for the purpose. The end of the thread on the needle is knotted to this, the mesh being held in the left hand on a line with it. Take the needle in the right hand, let the thread cover the mesh and the third finger, bring it back under the mesh, and hold it between the thumb and first finger. Slip the needle through the loop over the third finger, under the mesh and foundation thread. In doing this a loop will be formed, which must be passed over the fourth finger ; withdraw the third finger from the loop, and draw up the loop over the fourth gradually until it is quite tight on the mesh. The thumb should be kept firmly over the mesh while the stitch is being completed. When the necessary number of stitches is made on this foundation, the future rows are to be worked backward and forward. To Form a Round the first stitch is to be worked immediately after the last, which closes the netting into a circle.