WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 118, 5 October 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eil«en") NEW PLYMOUTH. BRIDGE. Lflst week Mrs. A. MacDiarmid l gave a very enjoyable bridge party, the. prizes being won by Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Hirst, while the consolation prize fell to Miss Hempton. Supper was served in the dining-room, the floral decorations being white broom and spring bulbs. Amongst those present were Mrs. A. MacDiarmid, navy and white striped silk trimmed with oriental embroideries; Mrs. Curtis, grev flowered silk voile; black and gold embroidered silk scarf; Miss K. Hamerton, black silk; Miss Crawford white silk; Mrs. W. Bayly, black embroidered sequinned net, 'over a satin foundation; Mrs. Carthew, black silk with black laee shawl; Mrs. Newman, black satin, silver sequinned trimming; Miss Hempton, bottle green silk, trimmed with Oriental embroideries; Mrs. Hirst, black velvet; Mrs. Ashcroft, white silk, embroidered in pale pink; Mrs. Johns, blue-grey silk, piped with shell ,pink, embroidered net yoke; Mrs. Medley, pale blue crystalline, trimmed with black silk; Mrs. Harvey, black embroidered net over taffeta; Mrs. Chancy, black silk. PERSONAL ITEMS. Mrs. J. Quilliam, New Plymouth, is the guest of 'her daughter, Mrs. Leo Horrocks, of Feilding. Thence she intends sojourning in Wellington, accompanied by Mrs. Horrocks. Mrs. F. L. Porters, Palmerston North, is the guest of Mrs. H. Fitzherbert, New Plymouth. Mrs. Freeth, New Plymouth, has gone for a trip to Auckland. Miss Cunningham ihas returned to New Plymouth after a pleasant three months' trip to Sydney and Melbourne. Mrs. Birdling, Waitara, has gone for a' trip to Christchurch. , During their short visit to New Plymouth, Lord Islington and Captain McDougall, A.D.C., stayed l at the White Hart Hotel. Mr. and Miss Maudsley, who 'have been visiting New Plymouth, leave by Manday's mail train. Mr. Lee, M.P. for Oamaru, with Mrs. Lee, are on a visit to New Plymouth. Judge Sim, with his associate, Mr. Salmon, left for Auckland last night by the s.s. Rarawa. Mrs. Hewitt, of Waipukurau, is on a I visit to New Plymouth. HOW TO PRESS A COSTUME. Pressing is a very important part of dressmaking, and unless it is done carefully the finished garment will never look well.

I If you are making a skirt, or coat and [ skirt, you should always work with a hot iron by your side, and press each seam and piece of stiffening as you put it on. I Tailors always do this, with the result that their seams look beautifully ''block-, ed"—quite straight and clean-cut. A single seam on the ■wrong side of the material—the seams of a skirt, for instance —should be opened, creased back with the fingers, and then pressed, the iron being stamped heavily up the seam, to make it flat 'without stretching it at all. A seam which has puckered up a ! little in the machine, as sewing on thim material will often do, should be pegged down at one end with a pin to the table; then the loose end should be pulled in the fingers, and the material pushed up with the iron towards the hand, so that the seam is stretched out. You can generally increase the length of it, by a full inch if vou treat it in this way. Tucks and pleats should be tacked) down llat before they are pressed. It is I no good folding them and then trying to iron them into the folds, for unless you J are very skilful you are suhe to let I your iron wobble a little, and the result will be a wavering line. So tack the pleat J down firmly, and leave nothing at all! to chance. J

Silk should always be ironed through a piece of thin muslin, for if you put the iron straight on the material it will make the surface glazed and hard. Damp the muslin atad stretch it over the silk. Then use a moderately warm iron till the muslin gets quite dry, and you will find that your silk looks perfectly smooth and fresh.

Embroidery of any kind should always be pressed on the wrong side, in order to throw up the pattern. Lay it on a thick, soft iron-blanket, face downwards, and stamp it over with the iron. You will find that the pattern is thrown up in strong relief, so that the very best is made of it.

Velvet must not be pressed flat on the table, for this would crush down the pile, and make it look 110 better than roughened silk. Get someone to hold the iron upside down in the air; then stretch the velvet between your hands, and pass the wrong side of it lightly to and fro over the hot surface. This will do quite as much smoothing as you require, and will make tine pile stand up nicely. Chiffon or any other very tliin fabric such as ninon, net, or gauze, should be pressed with an iron -which is only moderately warm, for these, thin stuffs are so fragile that they scorch very quickly, I Pass the iron quickly over the material in hiig, straight strokes, and be careful that you do your pressing on a perfectly 1 flat surface, for if there, is a little crumple in the iron-sheet, this will be transferred to the chiffon, and you will afterwards find it difficult to take the mark out again. . _ After using petrol to clean a garment be careful that you do not attempt pressing till t'hc fabrio" is' thoroughly dry, and all the smell lias passed away. Petrol is so.very ready to take fire that even a suspicion of it, "clinging to the surface of a material, would be 'enough to cause that surfac-e to scorch a deep brown, and even, perhaps, burn into holm. -The same caution aplies to" benzoliiie, and all cleaning preparations 'which nhave a smell similar to that ofbenzoline.

TO IMPROVE THE COMPLEXION. When one is fooling very tired and hot, and 'altogether dona ivp, there is nothing' quite so "invigorating as a scented face bath of hot water. A good, aromatic mixture to keep handy for the purpose, is made from 2ozs of tincture , of camphor, 4oza'-of eau de Cologne, 1055 of tincture, of benzoin.' Sufficient of this should 1)0 added to the water to render it milky. - . • • .Parsley water-ia used_a great deal abroad as a termless •bl.ea.oh for the skin. Tt is specially useful at the seaside, and can he made in this manner: Boil a handful of parsley.in a quart 'of .distilled water, which must be filtered through a cheesecloth, and fifteen grains of powdered alum and powdered borax should then be added. If. the mixture is too drying the alum can be omitted. Facial massage will send the blood coursing jnore freely and -evenly through the many little blood-vessels and exercise the muscles',■ which means the tissue will be better nourished, the muscles more elastic, and the skirt will soon be clearer, smoother, finer and softer than 'before. A good flesh food must be used, of course; to feed the tissues, and help largely 'in bringing about these good results. This Jilso proves th'a't mnssngo is just as essential for the prevention as for the removal of wrinkles and other blemishes as well. Tn fact, if you begin in time, the face and throat may be kept free from lines for many years.