Arts & Crafts

It is mainly with the application of "japan" to metallic surfaces that we are concerned in these pages. Japanning may be said to occupy a position midway between painting and porcelain enamelling, and a japanned surface differs from an ordinary painted surface in being far more brilliant, smoother, harder, and more durable, and also in retaining its gloss permanently, in not being easily injured by hot water or by being placed near a fire;

while real good japanning is characterised by great lustre and adhesiveness to the metal to which it has been applied, and its non-liability to chipping-a fault which, as a rule, stamps the common article.

If the English process of japanning be more simple and produces a less durable, a less costly coating than the Japanese method, yet its practice is not so injurious to the health. Continue reading

Carpentry is the oldest of the arts, and it has been said that the knowledge necessary to make a good carpenter fits one for almost any trade or occupation requiring the use of tools. The hatchet, the saw, and the plane are the three primal implements of the carpenter. The value is in knowing how to use them. The institution of Manual Training Schools everywhere is but a tardy recognition of the value of systematic training in the use of tools. There is no branch of

industry which needs such diversification, in order to become efficient.The skill of the blacksmith is centered in his ability to forge, to weld, and to temper; that of the machinist depends upon the callipered dimensions of his product; the painter in his taste for harmony; the mason on his ability to cut the stone accurately; and the plasterer to produce a uniform surface

the inferior kinds of wood, and to stain, bleach, or match any of the fancy materials to which his art is applied, in a manner that will produce the greatest perfection. The following information is given to facilitate a thorough knowledge of the above processes.

Improving.-Iron filings added to a decoction of gall-nuts and vinegar will give to ebony which has been discoloured an intense black, after brushing over once or twice. Walnut or poor-coloured rosewood can be improved by boiling half an ounce of walnut-shell extract and the same quantity of catechu in a quart of softwater, and applying with a sponge. Continue reading

A mission chair suitable for the dining room can be made from any one of the furniture woods to match the other articles of furniture. The materials can be secured from the planing mill dressed and sand papered ready

ready tocut the tenons and mortises. The material list can be made up from the dimensions given in the detail drawing. The front legs or [7] posts, as well as the back ones, are made from 1-3/4-in. square stock, the back ones having a slope of 2 in. from the seat to the top. All the slats are made from 7/8-in. material and of such widths as are shown in the detail. Continue reading

Rustic carpentry does not demand great skill in woodworking, but it does require a large amount of artistic perception. The tools needed are but few, and the materials employed are comparatively cheap, although inmany districts they are becoming dearer every year.

It may be said that any articles made from the now popular bamboo may be made quite as effectively in light rustic work.

For light rustic work, sticks of hazel, cherry, yew, blackthorn, birch, larch, fir, and the prunings of many varieties of shrubs may be used; but it is necessary that the material should be cut at the proper season, and thoroughly dried before being worked up. The sticks should be cut in mid-winter, as at that time the sap is at rest; if cut in the summer time the bark will peel off. If peeled sticks are required, they should be cut in the spring, when the sap is rising, as at that time the rind

to instruct themselves in every branch of plain and fancy needlework.

All the patterns given, even the most insignificant, were worked a fresh for the purpose, and thus, not merely faithful representations, but also lucid and intelligible explanations of the same, are secured.

In order that my readers may have something besides the dull theory, the work is enlivened by a

number of useful patterns, some new, some derived from the artistic productions of such countries and epochs as have become famous by special excellence in the domain of needlework.

Though, at first sight, the reproduction of many of these patterns may seem to present insuperable difficulties,they will, after a careful study of the text, and exact attention to the directions given, Continue reading

In many instances the pupils are allowed the privilege of supplying themselves with a better grade of material if they wish. In every case a substitute is given for the full-sized garment if the home cannot furnish the material. All supplies can be purchased by the class collectively or individually, if the Board of Education so desires.

Every exercise in handicraft should embody an educational principle, making sure the training of the judgment, the eye, or the memory, and tending to develop skill, patience, accuracy, perseverance, dexterity or artistic appreciation. Continue reading

Hat making is an art which may be acquired by any one possessing patience and ordinary ability. To make a hatfor the trade is not as difficult as to make one for an individual; neither is it so high a phase of art.

Many rules are given for crown-height, brim width, and color, as being suited to different types of faces, butthey are so often misleading that it seems best to consider only a few, since the becomingness of a hat almost

invariably depends upon minor characteristics of the individual for which there are no rules.

A girl or woman with auburn hair may wear grays-gray-green, cream color, salmon pink; a touch of henna with gold or orange; mulberry if the eyes are dark.

The woman with dark hair and blue or dark eyes may wear any color if the skin is clear.

We have no articles of use or luxury made in homes which are objects of commercial interchange or sources offamily profit. To this general statement there are but few exceptions, and curiously enough these are, for the most part, in the work of our native Indians.

A stranger in America, wishing after the manner of travelers to carry back something characteristic of the country, generally buys what we call "Indian curiosities" moccasins, baskets, feather work, and the one admirable and well established product of Indian manufacture, the Navajo blanket. But these hardly represent the mass of our people Continue reading

Modern man's inventive genius in the textile art has been expended upon perfecting the machinery, while primitive man's ingenuity has resulted in making a beautiful weaving with very simple means. No doubt could we know the history of primitive loom work in America prior to the coming of the white man, we would find an extended distribution of weaving, but all early textiles have been lost owing to the destructability of the material and the lack climatic and other conditions

suitable for their preservation conditions such as are present in the hot desert lands of the Southwest and the coast region of Peru. However,so many impressions of weavings have been found on early pottery as to assure us that beautiful work of this kind was made in eastern, middle and southern United States. In western British Columbia at the present time there are tribes carrying on certain forms of weaving which show four interesting types. Continue reading

Halifax, which is situated in the heart of the great textile trade of Lancashire and Yorkshire, has been a home ofthe woollen manufacture since the earliest time, and it is only meet, therefore, that its museum should possess specimens of the tools used in the early days of spinning, weaving, and cloth making generally. In spite of the considerable progress made towards that end, many typical specimens are still wanting, and, while we have plenty of material

for the study of weaving in various parts of the world, we are lacking in everything relatingto the industry in Ancient Egypt and Greece. Failing specimens I have had recourse to illustrations, but theEgyptian ones published by Cailliaud, Rosellini, Sir J. G. Wilkinson and Lepsius, contradict each other in many important points, so that those who study them find them practically useless for an understanding of the art as carried on in the Nile lands.

This loom presents the advantage to be simple to make. It contains no shaped detail which is easily building by a handyman equipped to work the wood. Furthermore, 90 % of the elements use an unique wooden section, what will facilitate the supply.

We shall supply you so all that is necessary to make this loom by you or a carpenter. You will have so a loom, solid, sure and well conceived which will bring you

the biggest satisfactions for a budget very reasonable.If you are novice, you can then consult the other columns of the site, existing or to come to know how to complete your material and to learn to weave. Continue reading

This might have been woven from vegetable fibres, perhaps from wool, butin what manner we do not know. The warp and woof of linen and woolen garments is mentioned in Leviticus xiii, 47, 48.

Dyeing

Spinning and weaving have been practised by the Chinese, Hindoos, and Egyptians for thousands of years and carried by them to great proficiency.

The Israelites were probably familiar with the art of weaving before their sojourn in Egypt, but it was there that they attained the skill which enabled them to execute the hangings in the Tabernacle. Joseph's "coat of many colors" is a proof that dyeing existed at a very early period, and the eloquent writings of Ezekiel tell us of the beautiful colored cloths of Tyre and Damascus. Continue reading