Read Ebook: The Child's Rainy Day Book by White Mary

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Ebook has 195 lines and 42478 words, and 4 pages

y in an old city directory.

It will be easy to find furniture in the advertising pages of magazines, rugs can be cut from pictures in the same magazines and bits of wall paper are used for the walls of the book house. Tissue paper of different colours and papers with a lace edge make charming window curtains, while thicker fancy papers may be used for portieres. On the cover of the book a picture of the house, or just the doorway, may be pasted. The first two pages are of course the hall. For this you will need a broad staircase, hall seat, hardwood floor and rugs, with perhaps an open fireplace or a cushioned window seat to make it look hospitable. Try to find furniture all about the same size, or if you cannot do this put the smaller pieces at the back of the room and the larger ones toward the front.

Next there will be the drawing room to furnish, then the library, the dining room and pantry, not forgetting the kitchen and laundry. Use two pages for each room, leaving several between the different rooms, so that the book shall not be too full at the front and empty at the back. If it does not close easily remove some of the blank pages. Cut out the different pieces of furniture as carefully as possible, paste them in as neatly as you can, and you will have a book house to be proud of.

Flowered papers will be the best for the bedrooms, or plain wall papers in light colours; and with brass bedsteads, pretty little dressing tables and curtains made of thin white tissue paper , they will be as dainty as can be. Now and then through the book it is interesting to have a page with just a bay window and a broad window seat with cushions and pillows--as if it were a part of a long hall. Hang curtains of coloured or figured paper in front of it so that they will have to be lifted if anyone wants to peep in. When you have finished the bathroom, playroom, maids' rooms and attic there will still be the piazza, the garden, the stables and the golf course , to arrange. If you have a paint box and can colour tastefully you will be able to make your book house even more attractive than it is already.

This is a fine game for rainy days. Any boy can make it and if he likes to use pencil and paint brush he will find it as interesting to make as to play with. Get a small pasteboard box about six inches long by three wide and an inch deep--such as spools of cotton come in. Cover it with white paper, pasting it neatly and securely. Then draw and colour on the lid a mail bag, which should almost cover it--either a brown leather sack or a white canvas one with "United States Mail" on it in large blue letters. Do not forget to draw the holes at the top of the bag and the rope which passes through them to close it. You have now something to hold the counters for the game. These are made to look like letters and postal cards. To make the letters, rule a set of lines three-quarters of an inch apart, across a box or cover of shiny white cardboard. Then another set, crossing the others at right angles. These should be an inch and a quarter apart. The postal cards are ruled in the same way , so as to make oblong spaces. Cut these out with a sharp pair of scissors. There should be thirty cardboard pieces and at least twenty-five of the postal cards. Now draw on the cards, with a fine pen and black ink, marks like those on a postal card--the stamp in the corner, the lettering and the address. Make pen lines on all of the pasteboard letters like Fig. 2 and paint a tiny red dot on each to look like sealing-wax. On the reverse side of one write something to look like an address, and paint in large letters "D.L.O.," in the corner. Six other letters are also addressed in the same way, but have instead of "D.L.O." a red stamp and a blue one, the latter wider than it is high, to represent a Special Delivery stamp. Nine pieces should also be cut from brown cardboard in the shape shown in Fig. 3 to represent packages. Paint three red stamps in the corner of each of these.

The value of the pieces is as follows: Each postal card counts one, each letter two, each package six. The Special Delivery letters are worth ten points each, and the person who is so unfortunate as to have the letter with "D.L.O." upon it loses ten points from his score.

Boys and girls will enjoy this game, and both can help in making it. The materials are simple and easily obtained, which is also an advantage. First of all we shall need a flour-barrel top. This should be covered with yellow cheesecloth drawn smooth and tight and tacked in place along the outer edge. Measure with a rule to find the exact centre and make a pencil mark on the cheesecloth at that point. Another mark is made above this one, half way between it and the edge. A third mark is placed at the right of the middle one and half way between it and the edge, as well as one to the left and one below it at the same distance from the centre. A large nail is driven into the barrel top at each of the five marks . Two screw eyes are then put in at the top, about a foot apart, so that it can be easily hung. Next draw on note paper that is not too stiff the figures 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50. Make them about an inch high and quite thick and go over them with ink. With a small pair of scissors cut out these numbers and paste each under a nail, as shown in Fig. 4.

Next there are the rings to be made. Follow the directions given on pages 6 and 7, using No. 4 rattan instead of No. 6, and these rings should only be two and a half inches across. Make three rings of each colour, green, red and yellow, and the game is complete.

Hang the barrel top on the wall or against a screen and see who can throw the most rings on the nails standing six feet away. Each player has three rings of a different colour, and each in turn throws his rings at the mark. When he succeeds in tossing a ring on one of the nails he scores as many points as the number under the nail indicates.

Such fascinating castles can be made from old corks--or if you live near a cork factory you can get plenty of odds and ends of cork bark that will be even better for the purpose. With a penknife cut small bricks, half an inch long by quarter of an inch wide and an eighth of an inch thick. If you are planning a round tower, such as is shown in Fig. 5, make the bricks in the wedge shape shown in Fig. 6. Cut them as nearly alike as possible, but it will do no harm if they are not perfectly regular; the castle will only look more ancient and interesting. It is wonderful how much the bits of cork look like stone.

When you have a good supply of bricks ready you may begin to build. Use glue to stick the blocks together; the kind that comes in a tube is the easiest and cleanest to handle. Leave spaces for doors and windows, and for the roof use a large flat cork from a preserve jar. Mark it off into battlements such as are shown in Fig. 5, and cut them out carefully. Then glue the roof securely on the walls of the castle.

Where shall we place it now that it is made? A green mountain side is a good location for a castle, and it can be made quite easily. Bend a piece of pasteboard about a foot square into dents that will almost break it, these look quite like hills and valleys and sharp crags, especially when they have been covered with green tissue paper. To do this spread a layer of paste or glue all over the pasteboard and then press the paper upon it. If it wrinkles, so much the better, for it will look more like grass and growing things.

The daintiest little Shaker bonnet may be easily made by a little girl to fit one of her dolls. From the brim of an old leghorn, or other fine straw hat, cut two pieces, the shapes shown in Figs. 7 and 8. For a doll six or eight inches long the front piece will need to be about five inches long by an inch and a half wide. Bind the curved edge of the front piece with the straw-coloured ribbon, sewing it through and through with small stitches, using straw-coloured sewing silk. Sew one edge of a piece of the straw-coloured ribbon close to the curved edge of the back piece from A to AA . Mark, with a pencil, a dot at the middle of the curved edge of the back portion and one at the middle of the straight edge of the front part. Pin the two parts together at these dots and sew the edges together. In doing this you will have to turn back the ribbon which edges the back portion. Next bring the ribbon forward to cover the rough edges of the straw where the two parts join and sew its loose edge along on the front portion. Cut a piece of China silk seven and three-quarters inches long by an inch and three-quarters wide. Make a narrow hem all around it. A tiny pencil mark is then made on the lower edge of the back piece and another at the middle of the silk strip. Gather the silk just below the hem on the upper edge and sew it to the lower edge of the bonnet at the back. Stitch a piece of narrow ribbon eight inches long at each side of the front, for strings, and the bonnet is done.

With a sharp knife, a small strip of leather and a bit of strong string any boy can make this simple puzzle. It is easier to make, however, than it is to do, as the boy's friends will discover. Fig. 9 will show how it is made. A strip of leather five and a half inches long, an inch and a quarter wide at one end and five-eighths of an inch at the other, is first cut. Then, starting at about five-eighths of an inch from the narrow end, cut with a sharp knife two slits down the middle of the piece three-eighths of an inch apart and three inches long. At three-eighths of an inch from the wide end a small piece, one-quarter of an inch square, is cut out of the middle of the strip . From the scraps of leather remaining cut two pieces, each one inch long by five-eighths of an inch wide. Make a hole in the middle of each. Then pass a piece of stout linen cord eleven inches long back of the long, open strip in the large piece of leather, leaving the ends of equal length. Pass both ends down through the square hole and tie each of them securely through the hole in the middle of one of the small pieces of leather. This completes it.

The object is to try to get the string, with the small piece of leather at either end, off the large piece of leather without cutting or untying it. The only way to do this is shown in Fig. 10. Holding both ends of the string, close to where it passes back of the narrow strip in the middle of the large piece of leather, pull the strip out through the small square hole. One of the small pieces of leather can then be slipped through the loop thus formed, releasing the string.

Almost any little girl who chooses to do so can make this dainty bed for one of her small dolls. She will only need an oblong pasteboard box with a cover, and large enough to hold the doll comfortably. If mamma will let her have some pieces of cotton, flowered, striped and plain and a little cotton or wool wadding, she will have all the materials she needs.

First cut from blue and white striped cotton a bag the length and width of the box. Stitch it neatly together around three sides, turn it right side out and fill it with cotton or wool wadding. Turn in the edges on the fourth side and sew them together over and over. With a darning needle threaded with blue cotton or silk the mattress can be tufted here and there. The needle is first run through to the under side, then one little stitch is taken, bringing the thread back again to the right side, where the two ends are tied tightly together and cut close to the knot. If these tufts are made at equal distances, say one inch apart, all over the mattress it will make it look very "real."

The pillow is made in the same way as the mattress, except that it is not tufted. Cut the sheets and pillowcase from thin white cotton, allowing enough for hems. Make the pillowcase a quarter of an inch wider and about an inch and a quarter longer than the pillow. Stitch it around both sides and on one end and hem the other end. Tiny blankets may be cut from outing flannel, and a spread made from a piece of white piqu? or other thick white wash material. The bed can now be made up, but it will look very plain. A fluffy canopy and valance of flowered or striped white muslin will improve it wonderfully. The cover is set on end and the head of the bedstead is pressed into it , making a frame for the canopy. Measure from the front corner of this frame to the middle of the front and cut a piece of muslin half again as wide as this measurement and long enough to reach from the top of the frame to the bottom of the bed. Another piece the same size is cut, and then both are turned in and gathered at the top, hemmed on the other edges and sewed into place on the top edge of the canopy frame, so that the two will meet in the middle. They are both looped back against the front edge of the frame, see Fig. 11, and sewed there securely. The valance or flounce around the lower part of the bed is cut wide enough to allow for hemming at the bottom and to turn in at the top. It should be long enough to reach once and a half around the bed. Turn in the upper edge of the valance, gather it to fit the bed and pin it in position. Then sew it with a strong needle and coarse thread on to the box through and through. This makes as comfortable and pretty a bed as dolly could wish.

This is a delightful game for a rainy day, and the preparations for it are very simple. In fact, when you have fashioned the disk of lead with a raffia covering, there is nothing to provide but a piece of chalk. You can buy, from almost any plumber or tinsmith, for a few cents, a scrap of sheet lead two or three inches square and about as thick as a half dollar. Upon this piece of lead lay a half dollar, draw around it with a pencil and cut out the circle with a sharp, strong pair of scissors. It cuts as easily as cardboard of the same thickness. Bore a hole one-quarter of an inch across through the centre of the disk with a gimlet or sharp-pointed awl. It is possible to use the disk just as it is, but it makes less noise if it is covered with raffia. To do this, thread a worsted needle with raffia--the grass-like material that you have seen used for making baskets. Tie the other end of the raffia through the disk, as shown in Fig. 12 A, put the needle down through the hole in the centre, up through the loop in the raffia and pull your strand up close to the edge. This will make a stitch like that shown in Fig. 12 C--what sailors call a half hitch and mothers a buttonhole stitch. Make more of these stitches around the disk, until finally it is entirely covered . If the strand of raffia gives out before the disk is covered sew the short end through the last two or three stitches on the edge of the disk and start a new piece by bringing the end through the last stitch on the edge. The short ends of both strands should be covered with the buttonhole stitches as you go on.

Now mark the diagram shown in Fig. 14 on the playroom floor with chalk, making the diamond two feet long by a foot and a half wide. In the centre of it is a circle, four inches across, which is home. Each player takes his turn at throwing the disk, standing on a line eight feet away. If he throws the disk into the space marked 1 he counts that he has a man on first base; if on 2, that he has one on second; and if on H, a home run is counted. If by chance with his first and second throws he puts the disk into 2 and 3 and with the third throw sends it into H he will have three runs to his credit. Should he throw the disk into F he loses one point from his score, and when he has thrown the disk outside the diamond three times he is out.

Hooked rugs such as our grandmothers used to make are great fun to do. Why should not a little girl make one of finer materials for the floor of her doll's house? Either an empty slate frame or a wooden frame such as is sold by dealers in kindergarten supplies for chair caning will do very well to hold the canvas of which the rug is made. Instead of strips of woolen we shall use worsted of various colours, and a strong steel crochet needle will be needed for "hooking."

When you have decided upon the size of the rug you wish to make cut a piece of canvas an inch wider and longer than it is to be, and make a hem a quarter of an inch wide all around it. With a needleful of white linen thread sew the rug into the frame, taking the stitches through the edge of the canvas and around the frame until it is securely fastened in. Suppose a green rug is planned, with a group of white stripes at each end. It will be well to mark on the canvas where the stripes are to run before beginning the work. The worsted should be wound into balls.

Starting with an end of the green worsted, at the lower right side of the frame, hold it under the rug and hook it up through the canvas with the crochet needle. Draw up a long enough end so that it can be cut off when the rug is finished and leave a thick texture. Do not make all the loops the same height, for if now and then one is left too low to cut with the others it will make the rug wear better. One after another of these loops is drawn through the canvas, leaving two threads of canvas between every two loops, in a straight line across the rug. When the edge of the rug is reached a row is made above the one just finished, bringing the worsted from left to right. So it goes on till the rug is finished, only changing the ball of green worsted for a white one when it is time to make the stripes. After the hooking is done, the tops of the longer loops are cut off with a sharp pair of scissors, so as to make a smooth, soft rug. It will wear better if it is lined.

When you have completed this rug you may want to make others with patterns woven into them. Draw the pattern on the canvas with a soft lead pencil and it will be quite easy to work.

Basket Weaving

BASKET WEAVING

The rattan of which the baby's go-cart and mother's armchair are woven came from a far-away forest in India. Troops of monkeys may have swung upon the very pieces on which your baby brother is bouncing, for the rattan hung from tree to tree in long festoons. One day some brown natives cut it down and stripped it of its leaves. It was then packed in bundles and sent to this country. The hard, shiny bark cut into strips has been woven into cane seats for chairs, and the inner part or core of the rattan was cut by a machine into the round strands that you see in wicker furniture.

It takes a man's strong hands to weave great armchairs and baby carriages, but boys and girls can make charming little mats and baskets as well as tiny chairs and tables for the doll's house, and other interesting things. Dealers in kindergarten supplies sell the rattan in different sizes, from No. 00, which is as fine as cord, to No. 7 or No. 8, which is almost as thick as rope. You will only need the medium sizes, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, for your weaving, with some raffia--the soft but strong fibre that the gardener uses for tying up his plants. This you will also find at the kindergarten-supply store. A pair of shears, a yardstick and an awl are the only tools you will need.

Rattan comes in long skeins or twists . Always draw it out from the loop end, so that it will not get tangled and break. Two sizes of rattan are generally used in making a basket, the thicker for the spokes or ribs and the fine for the weavers. Both must be soaked in warm water to make them soft and pliable.

As many spokes as are needed are first cut the required length and tied together with a piece of raffia. The weavers are then coiled into rings, so that they also can be soaked. This is done as follows: Starting near one end of a length of rattan, coil it into a ring. Twist the short end around this ring once or twice to hold it . Coil the rest of the strand into rings, one above the other, and twist the other end of the rattan around them all until they are held securely. Have ready a basin or pail of warm water--not hot--and let the spokes and weaver soak in it for ten or fifteen minutes.

Suppose we begin with a mat, which is started, just as the baskets are, at the centre.

After going under one spoke and over another, the weaver is passed under the last row of weaving just before it reaches the next spoke. It then goes behind that spoke, in front of the next and under the last row of weaving before the next spoke. When a row of this binding has been made around the edge the mat is finished with the following border: Cut the spokes all the same length, not straight across but slanting, so as to make a point that can easily be pushed down between the weaving. Then hold them in water for a few minutes. When they are quite pliable the first spoke is pushed down between the rows of weaving beside the one to the left of it or spoke No. 2. No. 2 is pushed down beside the next one to the left, No. 3, and so on all the way around the mat. Take care that at least an inch of each spoke is pressed below the edge of the mat.

This little basket may be woven of rattan in the natural colour and afterward dyed or gilded, or one can buy the rattan already coloured.

Weave a bottom like the beginning of the mat, and when it measures two inches in diameter , wet the spokes and turn them up. The spokes should be turned up away from you, for the side toward the person weaving is always the outside of the basket and the weaving should go from left to right--as you read. Bend them over the middle finger so that the sides of the basket will be curved.

Place the bottom of the basket on your knee, with the side which in starting was toward you turned down and the spokes bent upward, and do the weaving of the sides in that position. In joining a new weaver lay it across the end of the old one, back of a spoke .

The weaver at first should not be drawn too tight, but allowed to go easily, though it must be pressed closely down upon the row beneath it. When about three-quarters of an inch has been woven up the sides, the spokes are drawn gradually closer together by a slight tightening of the weaver, and this should be continued until an inch more has been woven. Bind off and finish with this border. The spokes for the border should measure at least four inches from the last row of weaving to the end of the spoke. Cut and soak as described in the directions for making a mat. Spoke No. 1 crosses the next one on the left, or No. 2, and is pushed down beside the next spoke, No. 3. No. 2 crosses No. 3 and is pushed down beside No. 4, and so on around the basket.

Perhaps you did not think it was as interesting to make a mat as to weave baskets, but you will be glad you know how to do it when you see some of the things that can be made with mats. For example, this dear little wicker table, just the size for a doll's house and the shape for an afternoon tea.

Two groups of spokes, one of three and the other of three and a half, are crossed in the centre. The short spoke should be put between two others, never on the outside of a group. The mat is woven like the other mat and basket until it is three and a half inches in diameter, when the edge is bound off. Bring each spoke across the next one and press it down beside the next, as in the border of the basket, except that the long end is not cut off, but brought out between the fourth and fifth rows of weaving on the under side of the mat. The loops of the border are drawn in so that they will not be more than a quarter of an inch beyond the weaving. The long ends of the spokes are brought together and bound with a piece of fine wire just under the centre. Separate them into three groups of four spokes each. The odd spoke is either cut off or whittled very thin and bound in with one of the three groups. A strand of raffia is now doubled around two or three spokes, above the wire binding, and wound tightly around one of the groups until it has covered two inches, from the binding down. At the end a half hitch or one buttonhole stitch is made, to keep the raffia from slipping. It is then wound up again to the top. The raffia is brought down the second leg as far as the first one was wound; here it is turned with a half hitch and brought up again in the same way. The third leg is also wound down and up again, with a half hitch at the bottom to hold it. After this third leg has been covered the raffia is brought in and out between the legs, where they separate, in order to spread them more. It is then tied and the ends are cut close. Finally the spokes at the end of each leg are cut slanting so that the table will stand firmly.

Would you like to make a tiny high-backed chair to use with the tea table in the doll's house? It is only a trifle more difficult to make than the table.

Two groups of twenty-inch spokes of No. 3 rattan, one having three and the other three and a half spokes in it, are crossed at the centre, bound around twice with a weaver of No. 2 rattan and woven into a mat three inches in diameter. After binding off the edge the following border is made: Each spoke is brought down beside the next one, as in the border of the mat, except that the long end is drawn out between the second and third rows of weaving on the under side of the mat. When all the spokes have been brought out in this way underneath the mat, or seat, the four groups of three spokes each which are to form the legs are so divided that the vertical spokes in the centre of the chair seat shall run toward the front and back of the seat. The thirteenth spoke is whittled to a thin point and bound in with one of the other groups, which are wound with raffia down to the end, turned with a half hitch and brought up again. A neat way to start the raffia is to thread it across a row of weaving in the chair seat, just above the group it is to bind.

A piece of No. 3 rattan about nine inches long is coiled into a ring and held within the space enclosed by the legs, about half way down, where it is wound around with a strand of raffia and bound securely to each leg.

The back of the chair is formed by inserting four spokes of No. 3 rattan, ten inches long, beside those in the seat, at that part of the seat which has been chosen for the back. To do this push a sharp pointed awl in between the weaving, beside a spoke, draw it out and you will have made room for the new spoke to run in. Bend the spokes up and weave back and forth upon them with a No. 2 weaver, turning on the outside spokes. Needless to say, the weaver must be very soft and pliable in order to make these sharp turns. You will find that you can make almost any kind of a back you choose.

If you decide to make an oval-shaped back, then when you have woven it high enough, bring each of the outside spokes over and down beside the other one, running it in between the weaving. The inner spokes are crossed at the centre and run down beside the outer spokes. To make an armchair insert six spokes instead of four at the back of the seat and weave the outer spokes in with the others for a few rows. They are then bent over and forward to form the arms. Each is cut to the desired length and run in beside one of the side spokes in the seat.

At the Bird Market in Paris charming little nests are sold, woven of rushes on spokes of brown twigs, in the shape of an Indian tepee. They are intended for caged birds, who cannot build their own nests of sticks and grass and horsehair from the fields and wayside. Some free birds like them, too--wrens, for example.

A boy or girl who has made the mat and basket and doll's furniture will have no difficulty in weaving one of these nests. Then there will be the delight of hanging it in a tree and watching to see what bird will choose it when nesting time comes.

A loop to hang it by is made of two strands of raffia, five and a half inches long, covered close with buttonhole stitch in raffia. The spoke in the centre of the doorway should be cut at the lower part of the opening, just above the weaving, and after it has been wet until quite pliable it is bent and pressed up between the weaving beside the upper part of the same spoke.

Knots with Raffia and Cord

KNOTS WITH RAFFIA AND CORD

Sailors' knots are of course fascinating to boys, but why should not girls enjoy making them, too? Think of the dolls' hammocks, the work bags and twine ball nets one can make, and think of being able to tie a good, square knot--one that will hold--instead of the "granny knots" that brothers and boy cousins laugh at!

Of course you know how to tie the simplest knot of all--the one shown in Fig. 21. Let us call it the loop knot, for it is made by tying the ends of a strand together to form a loop. You have used it often for that purpose, I am sure, and sometimes to tie two pieces of string together. You can make a pretty and useful sponge bag of raffia in the natural colour with this knot. The wet sponge will not hurt the raffia, and in such an open bag the air soon dries it.

Roll a length of No. 5 rattan into a ring, as described on page 38, so that it can be soaked in warm water till it is pliable. Cut it into three pieces, each forty-seven inches long. Tie an end of one of these pieces into a ring seven inches in diameter and twist the long end in and out once around this . At the end of this row the ends, where they meet, should overlap an inch. If they are longer, cut them off with a slanting cut and tie them tightly together with a piece of raffia. Two more rings, the same size as the first one, are made with the other pieces of rattan. Hang one of the rings where you can reach it easily, on a low bedpost, for example. Double a strand of raffia and tie it through the ring as shown in Fig. 21, drawing the knot up quite close. Twenty-two strands are knotted on in this way. Space them along the ring about an inch apart, and, beginning with any pair of strands, tie the right-hand one with the nearest strand of the next pair on the right, making an even mesh at an inch from the first row of knots. Continue this all around the ring, when you will have made one row. Ten more rows are knotted in this way. Then bring the ends of all the strands straight down together and tie them below the centre of the ring with a piece of raffia. The ends are cut off evenly at about two inches and a half from where they were tied, to form a tassel.

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