sweetness and patient perfection in any life makes all living more worthy and noble. A single flower upon which taste and fancy were lavished, and which sustained and deft labor brought to perfection, represents the lives of many diligent women workers.

It has become so much the fashion to worship all things ancient that most lovers of fine lace would prefer to have it a century old; and yet there never was a time when laces were more beautiful, more artistic and more unique in design than just at the present day; for modern laces preserve the best features of the laces that have gone before them, and have added so many new inspirations that except for the sentiment, the romance or the history connecting this scrap with a title, that with a famous beauty, and another with some cathedral's sacred treasure, the palm would certainly be given to the gauze-like production of the poor flax thread spinner of the present day."

Not all people know the difference between point lace which is made with the needle, and pillow lace which is made with the bobbins—but much of the beautiful point lace of the present day is made with the needle, and its beauty stands a favorable comparison with the more costly pillow lace.

Strictly modern lace-making is a result of American ingenuity, and it has so simple a basis and is so easy to learn that any woman of average skill may, with little difficulty, produce by its different processes, laces that are really magnificent and quite as substantial and useful as they are exquisitely beautiful. In America modern lace-making has been developed to a high degree of perfection by its pioneer, Mrs. Grace B. McCormick, in whose designing rooms at No. 923 Broadway, New York, may be seen specimens of modern laces of every variety, from dainty needle-point to a very elaborate kind known as the Royal Battenburg. This English name for an American production was selected in honor of the Battenburg nuptials, which occurred about the time a patent for making the lace was applied for at Washington. Only a few years have elapsed since this plucky little woman made a single piece of lace edging from common braid as an experiment, and sold it for a trifling sum. Love for the work and perseverance have enabled her to overcome obstacles that would have discouraged a woman of ordinary energy, and she has gradually improved upon her earlier methods until modern lace occupies a front rank among the numerous dainty forms of needle-work of the day.

One of the finest specimens lately placed on exhibition is a table-cloth intended for use at elaborate dinners. It is made of the finest table linen and Royal Battenburg lace. The cloth is, of course, very large, and the lace, in the form of wide insertion, is let in above the border and is also arranged to divide the center into three squares. An outside border of edging to match completes this exquisite production, which has been two years in course of construction, and is valued at four hundred and seventy-five dollars. The same style of lace may be made by any one who studies the art and in any width or form, and it may be produced in many textures, although really intended for heavy effects. The making of such lace possesses a great charm for womankind in general, and will undoubtedly retain favor as long as needlecraft remains a pastime and employment with the gentler sex.

MATERIALS.

The requirements of modern lace-making are few. The products are classed as Honiton, Point, Duchesse, Princesse, Royal Battenburg or Old English Point, etc., etc.; but all are made with various braids arranged in different patterns and connected by numerous kinds of stitches, many different stitches often appearing in one variety of lace.

The materials required are neither numerous nor expensive. The following is a complete list: Tracing cloth, leather or toile cirée, lace braids of various kinds, linen thread, two or three sizes of needles, a good thimble and a pair of fine sharp scissors.

For each kind of lace there is a special sort of braid in various patterns, and the selection of the thread depends entirely upon the variety and quality of lace to be made. This selection should be left to the decision of the teacher or the skilled maker of laces, as she knows from experience the proper combinations of materials. Thus, in making Honiton and point lace, thread in twelve different degrees of fineness is used; and as the braids also vary in size, the thread must always be adapted to the braid. For Battenburg lace the thread is in eight sizes, the finest being used only for "whipping curves" or drawing edges into the outlines required. The "Ideal Honiton" is a new lace made with fancy Honiton braid and wash-silk floss in dainty colors, and is exquisite for doilies, mats, table scarfs and center-pieces.

Designs sold by lace-makers are usually drawn upon tracing cloth, as this is flexible and much more agreeable to work upon than any other material. The tracing cloth, when the braid is arranged, is basted to a foundation of leather or toile cirée; or smooth wrapping-paper may be basted under the design and will furnish all the support that is necessary, while being lighter than the toile cirée.

It must be remembered that the work is really wrong side out while in progress, so that it will not show its true beauty until finished and removed from the foundation or pattern. According to the braid and thread selected, these laces may be made of fairy-like fineness or of massive elegance—general results being dainty enough for the gown of a bride or sumptuous enough for the adornment of an altar.

Lace-making establishments will furnish designs of any width or shape desired, and will also originate designs for special articles for which there are only occasional calls. Regular edging designs are ordinarily made in four widths—from quite narrow to very wide; and not infrequently a handkerchief design is enlarged sufficiently to form a square for a table or a fancy stand.

In filling in the spaces of any design or pattern, the worker may choose the stitches that please her best, if she does not like those accompanying the design that she has selected or that has been sent her.

STITCHES USED IN MODERN LACE-MAKING.

As in all fancy work which has a set of foundation stitches peculiar to it that may be varied according to the proficiency and ingenuity of the maker, so has Modern Lace a series of primary stitches from which may be evolved many others. A large number of illustrations of stitches, some of which are primary or foundation stitches, while others are combinations, are here presented, with full instructions for making; and the entire series given will make perfectly plain to the student the ease with which she may combine or invent stitches, when those of the design she is to work are not to her liking. The first stitch given is the main foundation stitch.

PLAIN POINT STITCHES.

Nos. 1 and 2.—Point de Bruxelles or Brussels Point.—Among the stitches most used in lace-making is Point de Bruxelles or Brussels point. It is simply a button-hole stitch worked loosely, and it must be done with regularity, as the beauty of the work depends almost wholly upon the evenness of the stitches. Brussels point is occasionally used as an edge, but is more frequently seen in rows worked back and forth to fill in spaces, or as a ground work. The illustrations clearly represent the method of making this stitch.

No. 1.—Point de Bruxelles (Brussels Point).