TO MEET THE SUN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 131, 24 August 1927, Page 5

TO MEET THE SUN

Our good friend Sol makes us feel That we must have things bright. Early spring sunshine has a trick of showing up at once the effect of last year’s sun. Frocks and hats that looked as good as new when we put them away last year come out again with a distinctly past-their-first-freshness air. Then there’s a rush for packets of dye, and tinting and dipping is the order of the day. But checks, and stripes, and patterns aren’t so easily dealt with. Here is a tip for such things. Try the effect of a new belt in a really dark shade of one of the colours, and you’ll be astonished to find how it deepens the colour of the material. If it’s a frock that won’t take a belt, try narrow bindings or pipings of the dark colour, or white collar and cuffs bound with it. When possible, have a hat band to match the new colour, too. Last year’s curtains freshly put up are apt to look paler than they should If you have casement curtains which you don’t want to dye they can be turned into new ones by scattering over them a few applique flowers cut from a length of new cretonne; no need for fine stitching here, because it is the general effect you want. An ingenious housewife who wanted to be still more economical cut large “dots’* of varying sizes, and appliqued them haphazard to form a deep border to her old casement curtains, choosing a bright contrasting-coloured cotton material. Vivid-toned woollen flowers answer the same purpose, and these “help out” the cushion-cover problem, too. White cotton or linen fabrics that look yellow in the first sunshine of the year need more of it. Soak them in cold water, and lay them out on the grass in the sun, without wringing. Be sparing with the blue bag. The things that you decide to dye. should be well washed and rinsed before dyeing, even if they were pmt away clean; dust or marks prevent (lyre taking its proper effect.