Colours.

Our Autumn tonings for street wear are mainly dark except for jumper suits, which swagger abroad in brilliant guise. Favourite colours are brown, through the tawny shades to mahogany, burgandy, raisin, prune, blackberry and other berry shades; blues, especially a light navy known as marine blue, and one a few shades paler; greens (almond and olive); mushroom (a pinky beige).

Materials.

Dress woollens, which become more interesting year by year, are showing in innumerable weaves, including crinkled, corded, chevron, diagonal and honeycomb. Other favourite finishes are angora and hair-cloth. Loose weaves are popular for dress fabrics. Plaid and checked woollen material is smart for scarf, collars, etc., on a plain colour.

The new coating materials are fascinating. Novelty finishes are new in velours—we find pique cord, Bedford cord, diagonal cord, basket weave and angora. Also showing, are diagonal and plain cord boucle, coating in new mottled effects and caracal and beaver finishes. Charming mixtures are to be seen in Harris and Donegal tweed effects. Diagonal tweeds are new.

Coats.

Colours in coats are mainly deep blues, wine shades, browns and greens. The cut is slim, with semi-fitting panel back, worn with or without a belt. Shoulders are wide and sleeves intricate; the latter narrow from just below the elbow to the wrist. Face cloths and velours are adorned with fur collars. A model in almond green has a black fur collar which may be worn open or buttoned cosily across; one in a rust shade is collared in two tones of brown fur. Both fur collars have the head on the right side—a new fashion this season.

Tweed coats have scarf collars or else button across.

Women's Jumper Suits.

The jumper suit is chic and also a utility garment. I saw one striking suit in almond green, the skirt being plain and the jumper in a small green and beige check with Peter Pan collar, cuffs and belt in plain green. This jumper was made to fasten on one side with buttons the size of a two-shilling piece.

Hand-knitted jumpers are usually warmer than the bought variety. Many charming designs are showing in the knitting books. The waist-line is more definite this season, necks are high, shoulders wide and sleeves above the elbow full. One smart model had a scarf tie and waist-band knitted in a tufted stitch which gave an astrakhan effect.

Hats.

Rough and smooth felts with brims are worn tilted to the right side; many dip at front and back with a roll-up at the sides. The beret has developed amazingly since last winter; it now lops over in any direction in a seemingly simple fashion, and when worn at the correct angle adds an air of jauntiness to any outfit. These new berets are carried out in velvets or soft felts and velours. Variants of the toque have beautifully swathed crowns; the Afghan cap rises to a peak; the square crown vies with the high crown. In fact, there are hats to suit every type of face.

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Home Dressmaking.

In these days of severe economy and hard-upness, it is necessary for most of us to learn to make at least some of our clothes. With patience and particular attention to detail you can make the most charming and successful garments.

First of all it is well to have some knowledge of dressmaking and be able page 43 to use a sewing machine. A good idea is to have some lessons in dressmaking. These can usually be obtained at Technical Schools or at private classes. In the country the local dressmaker would probably be willing to give you a few lessons.

The next step is to provide yourself with needles, good pins, cotton, a pair of cutting-out scissors, and, if possible, a heavy iron and an ironing board.

Now about the patterns, most important, of course, is suitability of design. Choose your styles to bring out your best points. Follow to the letter the instructions given with the paper pattern. Amateurs frequently ignore the instructions given on the envelope and wonder why their garment does not look like the design they have chosen. Paper patterns are scientifically cut by experts and fitted on models, so you can see that the instructions are worth studying and following. When the cutting of your garment is successful, it has a good chance of fitting and looking right.

Tacking a garment together before sewing it is well worth the extra trouble involved. Then a critical survey of yourself in the tacked garment, making any alteration that may be necessary before the sewing, which must be very carefully done. Stretched or puckered seams will spoil the most carefully cut garment.

Be sure that the materials are suitable for the style of the garment. Do not commence by trying to make up a very thin or “stretchy” material.

Pressing is most important. It goes on all the time. Seams must be pressed as they occur, and must on no account be left until the garment is complete.

Buttonholes must be perfectly made or they will give your garment an amateurish and home-made look. Unless you are absolutely sure of yourself, give them to a tailor or dressmaker to do for you.

Children and Colds.

As the autumn and winter months draw nearer, the subject of coughs, colds and chills cannot be entirely dismissed. Especially where children are concerned, the fight against the cold germ cannot be relaxed. In children colds turn so frequently to bronchitis and more serious illnesses, and are often the direct cause of ill-health in later life.

An open-air life is the enemy of germs of all descriptions. Fresh air helps to keep the body fit to withstand the invasion of enemy bacteria. Moving and changing air carries away the microbes. Cleanliness is another essential, and freedom from constipation. A clean body makes a poor breeding place for microbes.

Diet is an important factor. In the winter there is an inclination to increase the starchy ration. Try to include as much fresh green stuff and fruit (especially apples and oranges) as possible in the daily diet.

Clothing is also important. Do not coddle in the cold weather by dressing the child in layers of thick underclothing. Have a lightly woven porous garment next the skin. Two, or at the most three layers of clothing are all that are necessary. On a cold day an extra cardigan or jersey can be worn out of doors. A child keeps warm with exercise.

If a child complains of an unusually chilly feeling the best thing is to give a warm bath, taking care to prevent chilling afterwards, and put him into a warm bed with a hot water bottle. Let him breathe cool, moving air. Have the bed away from draughts and keep the window open. If necessary give him a laxative.

Summed up, the best way to check a cold is a warm bath, warm bed, and plenty of fluids—water, barley water, orange and other fruit drinks. Withhold solid food for a day or two.

Home Notes.
Tomatoes.

Now that tomatoes are in season you will find that the most delicious and inexpensive dishes may be made from them. It is seldom that we find anyone who, liking tomatoes, wearies of them before the season is over. Out-of-season, too, we can have the same delicious and inexpensive dishes made from the tomatoes which we have preserved at so little trouble and cost. In this connection it would not be out of place to include a recipe for tomato soup which will keep all the year. Here it is:

Put 41b. of tomatoes, 2 onions, 1 teaspoon salt, peppercorns and sugar, and a little thyme into a saucepan with two quarts of water and boil rapidly for half an hour, and then rub through a colander. Bottle and seal while hot.

When needed, heat the desired quantity, add the necessary quantity of milk, a little butter, and thicken with flour.

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The Dominion Mark Fruit Book.

The Dominion Mark Fruit Book, which has just been published by the N.Z. Fruitgrowers' Federation, offers New Zealand housewives some interesting and helpful information and suggestions concerning the many nourishing ways in which this valuable food may be prepared for the table. Additional recipes are included in this 1934 booklet.

There is a section on lemons and grapefruit. For those desiring reliable information on the bottling and preserving of fruits, there are complete and dependable instructions.

Last year New Zealand growers marketed over 100,000 packages bearing the Dominion Mark label with its Guarantee of Export Quality. Still greater quantities will be distributed during 1934, and Dominion Mark Fruit should be readily procurable from all reliable retailers.