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| image from AntiqueClipArt.com |
“To Preserve Flowers in Water.—Mix a little carbonate of soda with the water, and it will preserve the flowers for a fortnight.”
Here are instructions for making a lace mantle or "mantilla" edged with silk, very appropriate for summer wear:
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| From _Le Moniteur de la Mode_, 1855. |
“Lace application is now applied to mantillas with great success. It is done by drawing a border on the silk, which is first cut after a scarf pattern, and lining the silk with common cotton net lace of the same shade. This pattern is followed by tacking a narrow silk braid on the outline, and cutting out the silk, leaving the centre of the pattern in lace. It has a very light and graceful effect, but is scarcely suited for anything but a scarf pattern. ... For a watering-place, nothing could be in better taste, or more really useful, to be thrown on for short promenades, with a dinner or evening-dress, or after dancing."
And some directions from 1855 for soothing herb teas:
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| Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net. |
Many of the above herbs are easily grown in pots and can be used year-round. I have 4 kinds of mint, sage, and basil in my garden, and I'm currently starting some lemon balm to keep in a pot over the winter. These plants can last from year to year (although they do die back when the first frost comes) if they are kept someplace that is sheltered from the wind and gets sun for most of the year. They fit in even a small garden, and small plants can be kept on a sunny windowsill inside, for fresh herbs through the winter.
3 comments:
I love how informative your posts are all the time! Though, the vintage directions are lost on me - couldn't visualize the mantilla and lace thing - but the tea tips were helpful and I should like to try with fresh leaves sometime as I've never done so - only dried.
Joy!
Miss Kathy
Hi Kathryn,
yes, I had to think about the mantilla before it made sense to me. I first pictured it as a long narrow rectangle/shawl/scarf shape made of some colored silk. Then, you trace (in pencil) a decorative border shape -- say a wavy line, or Vandykes (sawtooth line), or copy a "braiding pattern" from a vintage fashion magazine -- around all the edges of the piece of fabric, making a 2 to 3-inch border between the traced line and the raw edge of the fabric. Then, you cut a piece of lace the same size and shape as the silk and put it on the back of the silk (right side of the lace to wrong side of the silk) and tack it smoothly down around the edge, as if you're "lining" the silk with lace.
Next, take some decorative braid or cord in a matching or complimentary color to the silk, and sew it down on the line that you traced, stitches going through both silk and lace, so that the cord or braid covers the traced line around the piece and outlines your decorative line. Then, trim away the silk from the middle of the piece, leaving the silk between the cord or braid and the raw edge as a fancy border, and uncovering the lace in the middle.
Make sure the cut edges of the silk don't show from under the braid or cord, and hem the straight edges of the piece, enclosing the outer edges of the silk and the lace. That would give you, basically, a sheer lace shawl/scarf with a colored silk border outlined in braid. Good for a summer ballgown accessory!
Fresh herb leaves taste so different from dried ones! Especially mint, it's so much "mintier" than dried mint, I think. The herb tea recipes were actually taken from a section of recipes for "invalids" and the elderly, but I thought it was good advice for everyday, too!
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