Also, the following et ceteras :

One receiver; 1 basket-cover; 1 flannel, and 1 India-rubber apron; 6 nursery soft towels; 1 cradle, bassinette, or crib-cover, and bedding; 1 pincushion.

LENDING LINEN FOR THE POOR.

Linen is often lent by ladies to the poor, at their confinements, in bags, boxes, or baskets, containing the following articles :

Also, may be added, a baby's crockery bottle, bed-pan, dust-bag, pair of blankets, bottle of castor oil, sal volatile, with proper directions pasted on, some large pins, strong thread, and a few books.

The most convenient kind of basket for containing these articles of clothing, is a light wicker-work one, about 20 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 20 inches high. This size holds two folded sheets, side by side, at the bottom, and all the rest above. It should have two handles, sufficiently high to allow of the lid opening easily. (See Plate 5, Fig. 14.)

A FEW GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Baby-linen should be cut out with great exactness and precision, and made up with the most scrupulous neatness. In all the patterns, an eye should be had to their being contrived so as to put on with the greatest comfort and ease to the infant, and made to button or tie readily. No hard seams, buttons, or runners should come in contact with their tender skin, therefore all strings should be made to tie on the outside.

To each head a scale is affixed, by which the same patterns may be cut out of various sizes, in proper proportions, to suit children of different ages.

There are three lengths for the skirts of baby-linen; the first and longest, for the rich, is generally 18 nails, and for the poor, 16; the second size, commonly called three-quarters, is about 15 nails for the rich, and 13 for the poor; the third size, or short coats, is about half a yard.

To prevent mistakes, observe, that on all occasions, the number of nails marked on the Plate, refers to the size of the article when cut out, and not when made up.

CAPS

Are generally made of soft calico, or checked muslin, with muslin frills, for the poor, and of fine lawn or cambric, with cambric frills or lace borders for the higher classes. Babies' caps, of whatever size they may be, are generally cut so as to form a square when they are doubled, after allowing for runners, &c.

D

Choose your calico soft and fine, of 12 or 16 nails wide, so as to enable you to cut exactly three or four caps in the width, the depth of the cap, from front to back, being 4 nails; the whole length, from ear to ear, is 6 nails, which you must measure down the selvage way of the cloth (see Fig. 2). One yard and 2 nails will cut into twelve caps, if the calico is 16 nails wide.

When you have divided your calico into pieces for caps, cut them out as follows:

Take one piece, and fold the edge backwards one nail down the long side, and then, by doubling the cap in half the other way, it should form a square (Fig. 1): the nail thus doubled back, (see Fig. 3, A upon B), is to be hemmed down neatly, and a runner formed for a bobbin (see Fig. 4, T). The corners, by the ears, are rounded off (see Fig. 4, S), and another runner formed all round the edge. (Observe, in all the Plates the letter D denotes the folded, or doubled part of the material.) The back is shaped by first measuring one nail from the bottom (see Fig. 3, DD), and cutting into the cap one nail (Fig. 3, D E), taking care to cut it very evenly by a thread: afterwards slope off the crown, above the slit, in a semi-circular form (Fig. 3, E F G).

The cap is made up by neatly felling and back-stitching the seam from D to D, Fig. 3, and gathering the semi-circular part into the straight piece, E D, and felling it over. A strip of calico is often neatly sewn on the inside, over the gathers, to make them set softer to the child's head, and is called a backstay. These strips, together with the chin-stays, should be cut selvage-wise of the cloth.

A chin-stay is three nails long, and half a nail wide, therefore cut off three nails from down the selvage, and then divide from this piece as many chin-stays as are wanted; afterwards cut the backstays, which are only two and a half nails long, and a quarter of a nail wide. The chin-stay should be neatly sewn up the whole length, with a small button-hole at one end; they are generally sewn on at the left corner of the cap, and the button on the right.

Some persons prefer having two buttons sewn on the cap, one at each ear, and the stay made with two button-holes, so as easily to be changed and washed, without changing the cap also, as babies are apt to wet them, which makes them hard and rough to the chin. The frills should be cut width-wise

6

of the muslin; the strips should be one inch wide. The length is generally determined by the width of the muslin, and is from a breadth and a half to two breadths, so as to prevent waste as much as possible. For a cap this size, about a yard and ten nails length of frilling is sufficient.

This sort will answer for either day or night-cap, and, when nicely made, looks neat and pretty. The calico should, if possible, be 15 nails wide, to allow of exactly four caps being cut in the width, to prevent waste, as these caps are to be 34 nails wide: should any waste arise, it will, however, come in for chin-stays, &c. The cap is 6 nails long. Double the piece in half, and it will form a square, by allowing the of a nail for the runners in front. Measure one nail behind from the bottom, SS, and slit into the cap one nail, SP. Slope off the crown in a semi-circular form, PQ.

In making up the cap, make three or four runners at regular intervals, Z Z, and a neat hem all round, to admit of bobbins. The semi-circular part, PQ, is gathered into the straight part, PS, and neatly felled over, the seam, SS, being previously sewn up. Hem the back-stay inside the gathers, and put on the chin-stay and frill.

These caps are of use after washing an infant's head, to prevent its taking cold, till its hair is sufficiently dry to put on its usual cap. Choose very soft fine Welsh flannel, of 15 nails wide, so as to