Table linen

“ The celebrated Irish linen is the most valuable staple in the market, and on account of its fineness and strength, and particularly its bright color, it attains an unapproachable excellence because the best processes are used throughout the entire manufacture. Linen is less elastic and pliable than cotton and bleaches and dyes readily.
Flax from all countries is woven into table linen, [Pg 197] though very fine linen must have carefully prepared fiber. Linen should be soft, yielding, and elastic, with almost a leathery feel. Fineness of linen does not always determine good wearing qualities. ”

“ The housekeeper in selecting linen at the counter may test the linen by ravelling out some of the threads. The threads that form the woof as well as the warp should be strong, and long thread linen. Never buy linen that is stiff and glossy, as it will be thin after it is laundered. Linen should be substantial, but pliant when crushed in the hand. Never buy a table-cloth that is part linen and part cotton, as the shrinkage of linen and cotton fibre varies greatly, which causes the threads to break, and the table-cloth will soon be full of holes.
[Pg 73]
Laundry Work. ”

“ There are no bamboo tables, no skimpy French chairs or Japanese umbrellas; everything is severely plain and impeccably clean. The wood shines, the table linen is hard and glossy, the glass is hand cut and heavy, the plate quite plain and obviously dear. ”

“ Table linen, like friendship, must be kept constantly in repair. Look out for the thin places and darn before they have a chance to wear through. Ravelings from the cloth should be kept for this purpose. A carefully applied patch or darn is scarcely noticeable after laundering. The hardest wear comes where the cloth hangs over the edge of the table, at head and foot. When it begins to be thin at these places cut off one end at the worn point, if the cloth is sufficiently long to warrant it, and hem the raw edge. ”

“ There is nothing handsomer or more elegant than the fine, hemmed table linen, but if a hemstitched cloth is desired, or one containing some drawn-work design, it is better to buy the material and do the work oneself; otherwise; the expense goes into the work, not the linen, and the cost is usually about double that of the same cloth plainly finished. Hemstitching and fancy work are appropriate only on cloths for the luncheon table, which may be of either plain or figured damask, or of heavy linen, which is often effectively combined with Battenberg and linen laces. ”

“ Linen is chiefly manufactured in France, Belgium, Germany, England and the United States. France is noted for the finest kinds of lawn and cambric, while Ireland excels in the production of table linen. ”

“ A thick cotton material, which is made for the purpose, for interlining between table and cloth, is the first requisite in laying the table, and should always be used. It protects the polished surface of the table from injury, gives a more brilliant whiteness to the cloth, and prevents any noise when placing the china and silver upon the table. The linen should be as fine as the purse will allow. Handsome linen will give elegance to a table where ornamentation is very simple. It should be ironed without starch, or with a very little if it is not sufficiently heavy to take polish without it. ”

“ When all the linen necessary is on the table, place exactly in the middle of the linen centrepiece the vase of flowers, plant or dish of fruit which is to be the centre decoration of the table. It makes variety and daintiness if this decoration is flowers or a plant or even a silver or glass vase rather than food in any form. A pretty thing helps to remind us that eating is not the only thing for which we come together. ”

“ In laying the table for dinner all the linen should be a spotless white throughout, and underneath the linen tablecloth should be spread one of thick cotton-flannel or baize, which gives the linen a heavier and finer appearance, also deadening the sound of moving dishes. ”

“ These were fitted up by the ordinary house carpenters, and consisted of three stages or shelves standing on four turned legs, with a drawer for table linen. They were at this period not enclosed, but the mugs or drinking vessels were hung on hooks, and were taken down and replaced after use; a ewer and basin was also part of the complement of a livery cupboard, for cleansing these cups. ”

“ The sublime indifference to passing fashions is astonishingly delightful to the student and to the collector.
There is nothing more uncertain than to attempt with exactitude to place a date upon cottage or farmhouse furniture. The bacon-cupboard, the linen-chest, the gate-table, the ladder-back chair and the windsor chair, were made through successive generations down to fifty years ago without departing from the original pattern of the Charles I. or the Queen Anne period. Oak chests are found carved with the Gothic linen-fold pattern. ”

“ Napkins, quilts, bedspreads, and sheets, as well as large-flowered damask table-cloths and linen covers testify to the industry of the women of the family. The good wife lost her long gowns and short gowns, her "shifts of 500 linen," handkerchiefs of gauze, lawn, and linen, aprons of new flowered lawn, fine linen and homespun, 3 caps of cambric and lawn, all new, and even two bibs for a child. ”

“ An ample supply of choice bed linen and towels, all handsomely marked, is no less a subject of pride with housekeepers than dainty table damask, and people of wealth in these days spend lavishly upon hemstitched linen or silk sheets, elegant towels, and elaborately embroidered letterings. ”

“ The linen-woman has in her care all the beautiful and expensive linen in the hotel; if she is careless in counting it when sending it to the different departments, careless in counting it after it has been returned, there will be a deficit in the "stock-report" at the end of the month. The linen-room is a position of trust. The linen-woman should be as accurate in counting her employer's napkins and table-cloths as the cashier is in counting his employer's dollars.
The following set of rules and essential requirements are suggested for the management of the linen-woman:
1. ”

“ Their suppers are, like their dinners, various and plentiful. The table is always covered with elegant linen. Their plates for common use are often of that kind of manufacture which is called cream coloured, or queen’s ware. ”

“ Summer will be found the best period for examining and repairing household linen, and for "putting to rights" all those articles which have received a large share of wear and tear during the winter. The old proverb, "A stitch in time saves nine," applies very strongly to the care of such linen articles as table cloths, serviettes, sheets, pillow-slips, etc., a little early and careful attention to which will often prolong their period of usefulness. ”

“ If the store keeper sells it for union, it [198] is honest; if he calls it linen, and you pay linen price, it is dishonest. Ravel and untwist the ends of the warp and filling thread. Cotton will be fuzzy, linen should be long and lustrous. Round threads of linen are best. The linen threads appear pointed at the ends when separated. The all linens made from the tow (you have learned what that is) are cheaper than those made from the line. Why? They will not last quite so well.
Wet the linen. Water spreads more rapidly on linen than on cotton. ”

“ Piled in baskets upon the shore and lying in bluish wet lumps upon black rocks are the clothes; and the linen is stout indeed that resists the battering those furious workers give it—a heavy club, a powerful right arm, a rough bare stone in running water which contains not a little sand and never a trace of soap. Indeed, the more pieces one’s linen comes home in, the more certain he may be that he has a good laundress! ”

“ The shutters were closed, and the afternoon sun shot yellow shafts against floors and walls. There was a perfume of lavender, of rose leaves.
"Somewhere in one of these closets there is a roll of linen." She opened one after another, looking into each. "No; it is not here. Then it must be in there. Yes; here it is. This linen was spun and woven from flax grown on your great-great-grandfather's land. Look at it! It is beautifully made. Each generation of the family has inherited part and left the rest for generations yet to come. Half of it is yours, half is Dent's. ”

“ Open the linen-cupboard in any farm kitchen, and you will be amazed at the wealth of its heaps of rustic creamy white.
Our weavers do not weave, our women do not spin, only hemp-thread and linen. Every man on the countryside, of the peasant class, is clad in the stout rase (thick rough cloth) , or frieze, which his brown flocks wore first of all, his own hands sheared, his wife’s clever fingers spun, and which was woven on the village loom. ”

“ The dining-room is decorated in stucco, or painted in imitation of marble. The furniture is mahogany. The chairs are covered with leather. The window-curtains are of “Persian” taffeta, cloth or cotton, trimmed with ball fringe. The dining-table is round or oval, and is often supported on the pillar-and-claw.
The dining-room table also is round, and stands on four feet decorated with lions’ heads or chimæras; or again it is supported by the pillar-and-claw. The drawing-room table is frequently finished with a marble top, or it is covered with a cloth. ”

“ Old pewter plates and mugs, and queer ugly delightful bits of pottery were everywhere—on shelves, on the wide mantelpiece, and hanging from the beams. Colored sporting prints covered the walls, among stuffed fish and heads of deer with royal antlers and beady eyes with a fixed stare. The furniture was Jacobean—the chairs with ladder backs and cane seats; a wide dresser, lined with colored plates; a long narrow table with rails and bulging legs. Two old oak church pews were set on each side of the fireplace filled with cushions covered with a merry chintz. ”

“ Great care should be exercised in the choice of the linen, which should be unbleached and closely and evenly woven, coarse or fine, according to the nature of the work to be done on it. The inexperienced would do well to buy their linen not from drapers, but from the best embroidery shops, stating for what purpose they require it, whether for heavy gold-work, fine floss, &c.
To stretch the linen on to the frame, cut the linen, ‘by the thread,’ rather wider than the webbing which is attached to two bars of the frame. Turn down the edges evenly. ”

“ Batiste and handkerchief linen can also be used, but it is a bit more difficult to draw the threads.
For household linens, drawn-work adds to the beauty and value of the linen and can be used alone or with hand-embioidery. ”

“ Here the green shutters were wide open, letting the sunlight flood the shining deal flooring, stained and polished to resemble oak, and the cheap suite of dining-room furniture, which had been [Pg 10] beautified in the same manner. An earthenware jug, filled with poppies, marguerites, and cornflowers, stood on the mantelpiece, and a bowl of poppies on the snowy well-darned cloth laid upon the table, which article of furniture was pushed back to allow full space for the gambols of a girl, a cat, and a kitten on the uncarpeted floor.
Laline's back was turned to the two men as they entered. ”

“ If most of your furniture is to be oak, be sure and select well-made pieces stained a soft brown and waxed. Oak furniture is delightful when it isn't too heavy. A large gate-leg table of dark brown oak is one of the most beautiful tables in the world. With it you would need a bench of oak, with cane or rush seat; a small octagonal, or butterfly oak table for your couch end, and one or two Windsor chairs. Oak demands simple, wholesome surroundings, just as mahogany permits a certain feminine elegance. Oak furniture invites printed linens and books and brass and copper and pewter and gay china. ”

“ Typical drawing-room tables are shown on Plate XLIII. It is very rarely that a table of gilded wood is met with in a drawing-room or petit salon. Solid or veneered tables of rosewood, amaranth, violet-wood or mahogany, decorated with brass-work or gilded copper, are the favourites. Sometimes the top consists of a marble slab, and sometimes a square of velvet or cloth is framed in a border of wood ornamented with a metal moulding ”

“ If she is fond of handwork, there may be hand-embroidered linens for the bed-spreads, hand-embroidered linen scarfs and hand-embroidered centerpieces of linen. One bride we know included a twenty-yard bolster of uncut linen in her trousseau in addition to the items mentioned above. If one can afford it, it is best to start out with a generous supply of linens, as somehow the older they grow, the longer we have them, the more precious they become. ”

“ When storing linen, camphor, lavender, cedar wood, etc., are just as necessary for its preservation as they are for woollen goods, and it is said that an apple, hung up till quite dry, then studded all over with cloves, stuck in up to the head, is very potent when attached to the top of the drawer of the chest, or hung on the inside of the door, if the chest be made in this way. All linen should be well aired before putting away. ”

“ For interior finish use few horizontal moldings; they make traps for dust. Use such shades at the windows as will permit adjustment for letting in light at top or bottom, or both. The less ornamentation in the furniture the better. A simple pine or white-wood table is more dignified and easier kept clean than a cheaply carved one of oak. ”

“ I did just venture to inquire what use I could possibly make of four superficial inches of fine linen, surrounded by very delicate openwork, not less than a foot in width, and was immediately answered, “And shure, yer honner'll be for buying the handkercher, to dry up the tares of the swate young lady, as is waping for ye over the says.” ”