Decorated Buttons - "Shadow" Embroidery - A Linen Blouse with a Scroll Pattern louses are greatly improved in appearance if trimmed with a little hand-made embroidery. The illustrations show different styles of trimming.

This is a shirt blouse made of shangtung silk, trimmed with "shadow" embroidery on white net worked with dull green flourishing thread (2d. a ball), and also flourishing thread two shades deeper in colour than the shangtung; also a little fine gold tinsel thread (Id. a ball).

Method of Work. - Cut a strip of net

2 inches long and 3 1/2 inches broad for the front of blouse and arrange that the strip starts from the top of the neck. Cut two shorter pieces 6 inches in length and 3 1/2 inches wide for each side of collar, and two pieces 9 1/2 inches long, and the same width, for round the bottom of the sleeves (these measure-ments allow for turnings). Fine white muslin can be used for " shadow " embroidery instead of net if preferred.

Lay the net flat down on a table, and with a tape measure mark the spaces required for the "shadow" work, say, oval spaces 1 1/4 inches long and 1/2 inch broad, and allow 1/2 inch between each oval space. Two or three rows of "shadow" work is sufficient for a trimming 3 inches wide. A design in small ivy leaves is often used for this kind of work.