HELPFUL HINTS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 357, 11 February 1937, Page 3

HELPFUL HINTS.

Topics Of Interest To The GIVE COLLARS AND CLIFFS. To Wear with simple day frocks no ' woman can have too many sets of pretty collars and cuffs, so if you happen to have any gift for dainty stitchery you may find these a solution to a number of present problems. Collars and cuffs are fashioned of a great many unlikely materials, as well as the traditional conventional ones. Gold and silver lames make glamorous sets, which possess the additional charm of lasting indefinitely and requiring no laundering. The Peter Pan collar, or variations on it. has pride of place here, as. in the majority of sets. It is completed by a bow or jabot, the latter frequently box pleated. If the collar and cuffs are made of double material, trimming will be required for the edges. Otherwise a slender gold lace edging can be introduced. PARIS FLANNELS. To the suit of navy or grey flannel | which has been worn for the last I few seasons must now be added the I latest Paris whim of flannel accessories. A friend just back from Paris tells me of that, shoes, and gloves of flannel, writes Marianne Mayfayre in the “Daily Telegraph.” The latest glove Idea is a forearm gauntlet-length in fabrics to go with frocks. They are also in coloured jersey cloth, such as red matching a couple J of roses made from the cloth and | posed at one side front waist-line of ! a simple black woollen afternoon frock. CORSETS. An amazing number of women be- ! lieve that washing a corset is not only extremely difficult, but practically fatal to it. This is wrong. Washing is now easy, .and actually prolongs the life of the corset. It is prespiration and dirt that destroy I the fibres. I

When corsets were worn with a | vest beneath to keep them clean, | washing meant removing the bones and ageing the fabric. But to-day, to meet the passion for smoothness, corsets are worn next the skin, and are therefore made washable. The modern corset takes to soap and water just like lingerie. Even those satins and failles with inwoven stretch are completely washable. In fact, washing actually improves l modern corsets —it restores the shape to the fabric and puts new life into the fibres. There is* only one don’t;' Don't iron them with a hot iron or dry them by artificial heat or the rubber will quickly perish. And never take the bones out —all of the bones / in a corset by any goood maker these days are entirely rustles’s. HOME-MADE BIN. Take off the tops of two empty paraffin or petrol tins and n eaten the edges. Replace the tins in their wooden case. Make a plank lid; fix it to the case with leather hinges, and fasten in front with clasp and staple through which you can place a padlock. This makes a mouseproof and pilferproof double bin most convenient for flour, sugar, bread, and so on. HANDKERCHIEFS. Smart accessories can be made from handkerchiefs' of fine lawn or linen, either hemstitched or bordered With narrow lace, states an exchange. One of the fashionable jabots can be contrived from a fairly large one, neatly ironed into narrow folds and slightly gathered across the folds about one-third of the way down. Fold along the line of gathers, to make a double frill. Sew on a safetypin and wear the jabot with a Peter Pan collar, cut from a second handkerchief of the same pattern. A longer jabot can be made by placing the gathers nearer the top and pinning a scarf brooch along them, to give a tiny heading, very dai\ty in effect. A charming finish to a shortsleeved frock can be made by cutting a small handkerchief across aiid using the pieces as cuffs. SHOE NEWS. Dark shoes- worn with light ensembles are effective. Such shades as- ox-blood, navy, bright reds, and Lines, in the Coronation range are being manufactured. Patent w'ith white buck is employed in sufficient proportion to make the gener.il effect dark. Brown is considered smart with beige costumes, and fabric shoes' are trimmed with calf or i patent leather. Pert-hole eyelets are to be found j on the new cruise shoes of American I design. Another trimming for sea | shoes is the shoe string whipping of I leather done in a contrasting colour, | such as broWn on white buck or ] bright Coronation blue or red on I white. I,