This warm overboot, suitable for carriage wear, is worked with white fleecy, ornamented with a pattern worked in cross stitch with red twist and wool, and a crochet border and fringe. It is knitted round like a stocking, and the sole appears purled on the right side. Begin on a chain of 88 stitches and knit 40 rows alternately 2 plain, 2 purl, then 6 rows purl and 14 plain. Take up 43 stitches on one needle for the heel, and work backwards and forwards 40 rows, take up the 11 middle stitches and knit as for the sole of a stocking, observing that the work should appear purled on the right side. Then take up the stitches along the edges of the heel, and knit round as above, decreasing 7 times in every 3rd row on both sides of the foot. Purl the sole throughout, and decrease by knitting the 2 first and the 2 last stitches together in the 2nd, 5th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 27th, and 35th row. After the 42nd row, increase on both sides of the sole, by taking up a stitch before the last and after the 1st purled stitch in the 43rd, 48th, 53rd, 58th, and 63rd row. At the same time decrease on the front by knitting the 2 first and the 2 last stitches together in the 45th, 56th, 67th, 78th, and 89th row. Decrease I stitch on both sides of the sole in the 91st, 97th. 103rd, 109th, 115th and 120th row, and begin the decrease for the tie in the front in the 91st row by taking off every 8th stitch. Work the toe like a stocking, finishing off by knitting off the stitches of the front and the sole together. Now work over the instep the pattern in cross stitch with scarlet wool, and sew on a scarlet fringe according to illustration. The fringe is made as follows: on a chain the required length work a row of treble, after each treble I chain, draw out the wool to a loop half an inch in length, slip it off the needle, take up the front cross thread and the adjacent straight thread of the treble stitch, bring the thread forward, and draw it through as a stitch. The narrow fringe consists of a row of double with loops as above. Cut the loops open, and add a double row of crochet scallops with scarlet wool along the top of the boot, according to illustration. Each scallop consists of 7 chain and I double,

No. 427. INSERTION FOR UNDERLINEN, ETC. TATTING AND CROCHET.

The centre part of this insertion is worked in gimp crochet, which, as we stated in a previous number, is worked over a coarse hair-pin, or a metal needle made for the purpose. Make a loop of the thread, and take it with the metal needle between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand. Wind the thread round the right prong of the needle and over the forefinger; crochet I chain, which of course forms a loop *. Take the crochet needle out of the chainstitch; turn the metal needle from right to left so that the thread lies upon the right prong; crochet I chain and then I double in the upper side of the loop on the left prong. Repeat from *. When a sufficient quantity of braid has been worked in this manner, a row of tatting edges it on each side. The reader will have seen at once that when the metal needle is filled with gimp, the stitches are simply pushed off, leaving two to continue the work. One shuttle is required. I circle of 6 double. Join to the next 3 loops of gimp with the crochet hook 6 double, tatted. Then at a sufficient interval I circle as above. When the tatting has been continued along each side of the braid, crochet as follows. Ist row: 7 double in every interval of the tatted thread. 2nd row: I treble in every stitch.

No. 428. CROCHET EDGING WORKED ON A BEADING, OR
ON THE EDGE OF THE ARTICLE TO BE TRIMMED.
Ist row: I double on the beading, 5 chain, leave
inch of thread, 6 treble long treble with 2 chain between,

worked into the edge of the beading, 5 chain, passing over inch of beading, repeat from *. 2nd row: I double on the centre stitch of the 1st 5 chain of the previous row, 5 chain, 6 times alternately I double before and I double after the treble long treble, and after every double, 5 chain, then I double on the centre stitch of the next 5 chain of the previous row, repeat from *.

No. 429. NETTED BORDER.

This pattern is suitable for various purposes, for curtains, covers, antimacassars, coverets, etc., according to their uses. It must be worked on a more or less coarse foundation, the parts entirely white are worked in darning it with soft cotton, the other parts of the pattern are worked in point d'esprit with very fine twilled cotton.

No. 430. BORDERING FOR MANTLES, DRESSES, ETC. MIGNARDISE AND BRAID.

On a ground of net the pattern is laid in écru coloured point-lace, braid, and mignardise, and the border, which is of mignardise with one loop on the one side and five on the other, is joined to the pattern by Venetian bars, worked with écru coloured thread.

No. 431. PATTERN FOR SLIPPERS, BAGS, FOOTSTOOLS, ETC.

This pattern is worked on American cloth, on the underside of which lines have been drawn in opposite directions at distances of inch, so that the whole is divided into regular squares. Having done this, cut slits in the cloth at the places indicated in the illustration, to allow the braid to pass through, and afterwards work the cross stitches with coloured silk corresponding with the braid. This pattern is produced by first drawing on the underside of American cloth a series of lines crossing each other so as to present a regular set of equal squares. This being done, cut with a sharp knife slits in the cloth at the places indicated in the illustration, and pass a braid of a darker shade than the cloth through the slits, after which put in the cross stitches with thick silk corresponding in colour with the braid.

No. 432. BORDER IN CROSS STITCH EMBROIDERY.

This pattern is worked on canvas, and is useful to ornament cases, ornamental boxes, etc.; single Berlin wool, or filoselle is used, and the colours of the pattern given are black, dark and light fawn colour, red and blue.

No. 433. LAMP SCREEN OF CARDBOARD AND SILK. This screen consists of a carved wooden stand, on which is fixed a circular piece of cardboard covered with green silk and edged with lace. Cut a round piece of cardboard 7 inches in diameter, trace upon it the designs seen in the illustrations; pierce the small holes with a large needle and cut out the figures with a sharp knife. Then cover the cardboard on both sides with green silk, turn in the edges, and overcast them together all round. Sew on a black lace edging I inch deep, and over that a white lace edging inch deep, set on full. Cover the stitches with a gold border, and fix the screen to the stand.

No. 434. BAG TO HOLD PEGS.

This useful bag is made of grey linen; it consists of 8 pieces, 4 plain, 4 full with reversed plaits, joined together alternately. The plain pieces are 11 inches long, 5 inches wide at the bottom, and 24 inches at the top. The full pieces are plaited up to the same size, and a flat circular piece of linen is sewn in at the bottom. Over this flat bottom put a straight strip, long enough to go round the edge of the bag, and gather it up with a rosette of worsted braid below the centre of the bottom. Where the sides of the bag meet the bottom, sew on 8 tabs according to illustration, and run a red worsted gimp along the edges of the bag, making a loop at the point of each tab. Finish the top with a plaited frill, and sew small brass rings inside, through which run 2 worsted cords to draw up the bag.

I

MUST begin my July letter by rectifying a mistake into which I fell last month, by saying that JANNING'S COPENHAGEN GLOVE was sold, in two buttons, at 2s. 6d. The price of the Copenhagen Glove, with two buttons, is 2s. 9d. I may take the opportunity of saying that these gloves wear remarkably well, as I can testify from personal experience.

I have pleasure in informing our readers that the firm of Messrs. WHEELER AND WILSON have been appointed Sewing Machine Manufacturers to the Imperial and Royal Courts of Austria and Hungary. This is an honour well deserved and fairly won. The rotary hook principle is exceedingly economical in the use of thread, rapid in its motion and execution of work, works lightly and with very little noise, and is adapted for the manufactory or home use.

The new kind of Cuff Fastener, patented by JOHN JEFFERYS AND Co., is a great improvement on all former ones. The Corinthian Solitaire, as it is called, differs from the usual crescent fastening in there being a small pillar at one end of the crescent, which prevents the latter disappearing completely under the buttonholes, and thus there is none of the usual difficulty in getting the Solitaire out. To put it in, you have merely to get the two but tonholes directly over each other, and turn the Solitaire round twice; and to take it out, it has merely to be turned twice in the opposite direction. The Corinthian Solitaire and Studs, made on the same principle, may be obtained at any good shop.

If we have any hot weather this summer, we shall be glad to know where to get cool refreshing beverages. J. MCCALL and Co., 137, Houndsditch, E.C., have foreseen this want, and have invented a new drink called Citronine. It contains no spirit, and our teetotaller friends will, no doubt, welcome it, as it is very refreshing and wholesome. A very small quantity poured into a tumbler of water makes a drink. Citronine is sold in pint and quart bottles; the former costs one shilling.

Shoes are still worn, but come higher over the instep than they did last year. The bars of kid that are so often worn with shoes look well over a pretty striped stocking of any colour, matching or contrasting well with the dress. White stockings are never worn with shoes.

I quote, for the benefit of our readers, a small extract from the "Pictorial World," which aptly illustrates the changeableness of our English climate :

"We have all got neuralgia in our shoulders from wearing spring clothes, and many new dresses are supplemented across the backs by porous plasters, and next to a vest front a mustard poultice is generally most worn. Young ladies. alternate between a necklace for street wear and a flannel rag for the house. Diamonds are worn in the ears with much effect abroad, but a lock of cotton and a little roast onion is the usual adornment at home. Pearl powder is applied to the shoulders for full dress, but camphoretted oil and hartshorn liniment are considered very pretty also by

the sufferers. I notice silk stockings, with coloured clockings, are the things for low-slashed shoes, but pails of hot mustard-water and warm bricks are also much worn on the feet."

There can be no doubt that this sort of weather is most trying in every sense of the word. Sometimes it is several degrees colder at three o'clock in the afternoon than it has been at mid-day, and this makes it very diffi cult to dress appropriately for either the weather or one's. own comfort.

The bonnets worn now are quite baskets of flowers. The flowers themselves are more beautiful than artificial flowers have ever been before, and on young girls, espe cially if they have pretty faces, the long garlands and the wreaths under the brim look very well. Neutral tints are still fashionable. A curious reason has been given for the prevalence of neutral tints during the last few years. It is said that a nation pretending to the simplicity of Republican institutions, and recovering from the disasters of a great war, as France is, whence come our fashions, is not in a position to flaunt its gaiety before the world without provoking remarks, and that the French themselves profess to have some consciousness of the inappropriateness of gaudy colours; hence the fashionable neutral tints, which, however, cost no less than the brighter colours worn last year. Still, some ladies suppose themselves to be economising, and the milliners manage to keep up the delusion without in any way curtailing their own profits. The general effect of a milliner's show-room is described as that of "a garden of bonnets" that had grown up last year and all tried to take each other's colours, and all faded away from exhaustion in the attempt. This is entitled the "Republic of Bonnets," and the president is by no means a loser.

These neutral tints may or may not signify sadness, but it is certain that they are much less trying and more becoming than colours which are prettier in themselvesmore brilliant and showy. The only complexions which are really rendered pleasing by brilliant hues in their close proximity, are the different varieties of brown, shading up from the swarthy Hindoo to the brunette of our own northern climate. These types look the better for bright hues. Browns and drabs reduce them to a painful brownness; bright crimsons, scarlets, and blues, bring out all their better points. The Hindoo ayah, for instance, knows instinctively what suits her, and, if permitted to clothe herself as she likes, she will don brilliant colours; but we who live in London may sometimes meet a Hindoo nurse whose mistress has insisted on her wearing European garments. Where, then, is the comely picturesqueness of her aspect? As effectually concealed as Cinderella's coach when it became a pumpkin!

The study of colour is, in itself, a charming and artistic pursuit, and taken in relation with the various complexions and styles of us human creatures, it forms no unimportant portion of the art of dress. SYLVIA.

SIGNOR SALVINI has followed up his successes in

Othello and Il Gladiatore by appearing in the greatest of Shakespeare's creations, the part of Hamlet; and if the Italian tragedian at all fell short of his former triumphs, it must be argued that it was owing rather to the lameness of the version in which he elected to play, than to want of power or intelligence on his own part. It is decidedly unfortunate that Signor Salvini has to take such an imperfect version of Shakespeare's noblest play, in which the adapter seems to have formed his own conception of what the part should be, and to have tricked and altered it to suit his own preconceived notions. We could wish, indeed, that he would play it in English, however imperfect; but, as that is not to be, we have to content ourselves with a consummate delineation of what one must feel to be only an imperfect representation of the prince that Shakespeare drew. It is, at all events, gratifying to find that Signor Salvini had no part in the mutilation, and that he has merely taken the version of the play which is accepted in Italy, for it was at first suggested that he had altered and trimmed it for his own private ends. Now, we know that this is not the case, and we are therefore left free to judge his impersonation upon its own personal merits, apart from any question of the variation of his version from the original. As in the case of Othello, his conception of the part is clear and consistent, and the performance is nothing short of marvellous. We miss, it is true, some of the most famous and most striking points of the drama, as we do necessarily some of the most remarkable phases of the character; but those which are left form a consistent whole, and the character as conceived is presented in the most faultless style. Getting rid of the philosophical side of Hamlet's character, as well as of the feeling that he is an instrument in the hands of fate, Signor Salvini shows the Danish prince most especially as a being full of human sympathies and affections, whose chief incentives to action are his love for his dear father, rather than the necessity imposed upon him for avenging his death, his love for Ophelia, and his hatred of and disgust at the falseness and unreality by which he feels himself environed on all sides. The climax of the performance was in the play scene, in which, after watching the king's departure with frenzied eagerness, he tosses into the air the manuscript he has held in his hand throughout the play, and sinks, not as Mr. Irving does into the empty throne, but rather as a man yearning for human sympathy, upon the neck of his friend. It only remains to add that Signor Salvini is as well supported as he was in the "Othello," all the company working together with a careful attention to detail and perfect unanimity so rarely seen upon the English stage.

The latest novelty at the Princesses is a version, by Mr. J. Mortimer, of the well-known "Dame aux Camellias," upon which the "Traviata" is founded. What, however, is tolerable in the libretto of an opera may be very objectionable in a spoken play, and Mr. Mortimer has had to excise and alter very considerably to fit the very questionable story for the English stage. On the whole, he has done his work with tact and judgment, and his version, which is called " Heartsease," is not in any way calculated to "call up a blush to the cheek of the young person," as Mr. Podsnap would have said. It is undeniable, however, that along with the objectionable features of the play much of its point and force disappear, and many of the situations become inconsistent and hardly intelligible. However, it is thoroughly well worth seeing, if only for the sake of the acting, which is throughout good, and in parts powerful. Mr. William Rignold infuses even more than his wonted energy into the character of the hero, and Miss Helen Barry shows a very decided advance upon any of her former efforts in her impersonation of the heroine. At the St. James's we have one of the very funniest things that has been seen for many a long day, in the shape of a "musical folly," by Messrs. Rowe and Arthur Sullivan, entitled "At the Zoo," a piece of much the same class as Trial by Jury," which has proved so successful at the Royalty. Here, as there, the plot is of the most extravagantly funny cha racter, the music being one of those inimitable burlesques of grand opera for which Mr. Sullivan seems to have a special talent. Indeed, the only fault about the music is that it is too good; it seems a positive shame to associate such really admirable pieces of writing with such a farcical libretto. The piece is thoroughly well performed, Miss Hodson sustaining the principal female character, that of a barmaid at a refreshment saloon at the "Zoo," with great spirit and vivacity. There are not many important changes at the other London houses, and they may dismissed in a brief summary. At the Mirror Theatre, Mr. Horace Wigan has replaced the "Hidden Hand" by a clever adaptation of a French play, "Le Parricide," by M. Adolphe Belot. The adaptation, which bears the title of "The Detective," is the work of Messrs. Clement Scott and Mansell, who have displayed great skill and judgment in their adaptation. So well is the work done, that the foreign atmosphere of the piece is almost entirely got rid of, and the play reads as if the scenes and surroundings had been originally entirely English. Apart from this, the play is of no great value, being of that sensational and melodramatic character which Mr. Wigan seems to have adopted as the especial "line" of his new theatre. The only noteworthy piece of acting is his own very clever portrait of the Detective.

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