EDITOR'S EDITORIAL CHIT - CHAT. • FEATHER-WORK.- The fashion of feather-trimming, which lately came into use, has come to be very popular. This kind of trimming is quite easy to make, and a few hints about it may not be unwelcome. In the country, any amount of feather-pickings may be had from the farmyards ; but even in the city, plenty of feathers may be obtained with the aid of the cook. It is best, if you can, to work in a room without a carpet as it is difficult to prevent the feathers and down from flying about. Always keep your feathers in a large, flat box, so that you can see and sort them without taking more out than you require at the moment. The way to fix them is to tack them on to a piece of ribbon or braid : the former is the stronger. The feathers should be arranged so that the tips cross each other, and the stitches run through the center so as to cross the crossed tips ; and these should be hidden by the plumage of each succeeding feather. The feathers should be wider than the ribbon, which is only intended for the foundation. White feathers mixed with partridge's look very well together ; the one gives a lightness, and the other a richness, to the appearance, which is very effective. For day-wear we would suggest black ribbon being used, and for white feather-trimming, white ribbon. The width of the ribbon would, of course, be in accordance with the width of the trimming. Every feather should have a separate stitch, to keep it firm and in its place ; and then the two crossed feathers should have another stitch, as a sort of finishing security. Yards of trimming may be made in this way, and it is such easy and agreeable work. We have seen very pretty white evening-dresses trimmed with white feathers in this way, manufactured by the wearers. Round the top of a dress and a peplum, or tunic, the effect is singularly light and elegant. A black velvet hat, trimmed with either white or variegated feathers, is very pretty and becoming. We have also seen black velvet and plush muffs ornamented in a similar manner, children's little jackets and pelisses , as well as parasols of every hue and description, tops of gloves and gauntlets, etc. Novelties in dress are very charming, and sometimes rare to obtain, particularly in the country, far away from town ; but by this work a great many novelties and pretty additions to a lady's toilet may be obtained, and by means of personal taste and very little trouble. We will now speak of another way of working with feathers-namely, with gum. The most beautiful screens may be made in this way, especially small hand-screens for the mantle-piece. First get a foundation of the shape required, and cover the back with colored silk; then, when you have sorted and chosen your feathers, (and we should advise white ones for this kind of work,) dip the tip of every one in very strong liquid gum, and fix it to the frame. Arrange the feathers in a circle, commencing from the edge, and so filling up toward the center. This, when finished, has a lovely effect, and looks like a mass of white down. A bird, fastened in the center of the screen by a stitch or several stout pins, is a great improvement, and by using dye any common bird may be made to look like a rare foreign one. The dye may be bought at any drugstore. A handsome butterfly, nestling in the mass of feathers, looks light and pretty. Sometimes the lining, at the back of the screen, is sewn on after the feathers are dry and fixed, in case of the liquid gum penetrating, and so soiling the silk; but this is rather tiresome work, and 76
TABLE . requires very cool, delicate fingering, for fear of ruffling the feathers. We have seen pen-wipers arranged in the same way with equal success. For fancy bazaars these things sell wonderfully well, and are a very great ornament to a stall, as well as to a room. Mats for the table may be covered in the same way, with a round, bare space left in the center for an ornament to stand on : and many other things which the taste and imagination of the worker may suggest. Though this work is essentially for ladies' fingers, we have found it very popular with boys, who naturally take an interest in birds, and anything connected with them ; and several beautiful articles, which sold for very high prices at a recent fancy fair, were manufactured by boys during their holidays. TAKE CARE OF YOUR WATCH.-Wind your watch as nearly as possible at the same hour every day. Be careful that your key is in good condition, as there is much danger of injuring the machine when the key is worn or cracked ; there are more mainsprings and chains broken through a jerk in winding, than from any other cause. As all metals contract by cold, and expand by heat, it must be manifest that to keep the watch as nearly as possible at one temperature, is a necessary piece of attention. Keep the watch as constantly as possible in one position : that is, ifit hangs by day, let it hang by night against something soft. The hands of a chronometer or duplex watch should never be set backward: in other watches this is of no consequence. The glass should never be opened in watches that set and regulate at the back. On regulating a watch, should it be fast, move the regulator a trifle toward the slow, and if going slow, do the reverse. You cannot move the regulator too slightly or too gently at a time ; and the only inconvenience that can arise is, that you may have to perform the duty more than once. A FACT WORTH KNOWING.- It is a remarkable fact, that persous losing themselves in a forest or a snow-storm, manifest invariably a tendency to turn round gradually to the left, to the extent of eventually moving in a circle. The explanation of this is found, probably, in the fact, that the limbs and muscles of the right side are generally better developed than those of the left side . Under the excitement felt when one is lost, and in the absence of any guiding line, the superior energy of the right limbs throws the pedestrian insensibly round to the left. BONNETS should be not only beautiful, but becoming. Many a woman buys a bonnet that she thinks pretty, and then, when she comes to wear it, wonders she does not look well in it. "MORE OF PETERSON'S MAGAZINES are taken and read in this community," says the Caldwell (Ohio) Republican, "than of all the other ladies' magazines combined." COSMETICS are hardly ever to be trusted. The best cosmetics are pure water, fresh air, plenty of exercise, and a cheerful disposition. " THE LITERARY DEPARTMENTof Peterson's Magazine," says the Valparaiso (Ind.) Republican, " as usual, is the best to be found in any of the fashion magazines." NEAT GLOVES AND SHOES are infallible signs of a lady. Slovenly ones, or ill-fitting ones, are the reverse.
