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Show WOMAN'S WORLD Enhance Appeal of Food, Dining With ProperTable Appointments By Ertta Haley "PHE HOSTESS who is fortunate enough to have gracious table appointments need never worry about decorations ' for her table. She does not have to make a last-minute last-minute hurried trip to her florist or to the gift shop for that something some-thing to make the table complete. If she has been wise enough to invest in good silverware, china and glass for table use, then the picture can be completed easily with a few well chosen cloths or mats. Many of these can be made at home, more often than not from remnants or inexpensive but well-chosen well-chosen materials. Never make or buy a cloth or table set that looks nice with things other than your own. You may have seen a table setting somewhere and endeavor to make an exact copy of it for your own use. Have you ever thought it just might not go with your china, silver sil-ver or glass? The effect of a well-set table is perfect balance and harmony. True, your table cloth may pick up a brilliant color used as a spray of decoration on your dishes, but it should never be so startling as to clash with other table accompaniments. accom-paniments. Neatness and cleanliness are of prime importance in setting a table because of the contact with food. Cloths or doilies should be immaculately im-maculately clean and perfectly pressed; it does not matter if they are old if they are well mended and neat. Though brilliant colors are now being used with modern wares, they should never be displeasing as they may detract from the food or upset the appetite. Lace and embroidery on table linens should be used conservative- Sew your own mats and clothes . . , ly as too much may give a cluttered effect. If china and silverware silver-ware are intricately designed, use the simpler, quality cloths. Use Colors to Brighten Breakfast Tables Food for the first meal of the day is the simplest of any of the three, and so frequently are the dishes and silverware. Possibly because be-cause many of us are just a little bit sleepy, we may use just a little lit-tle more color in the table appointor appoint-or effective table settings. ments for breakfast, than is usually usual-ly employed for luncheon or dinner. din-ner. Another reason we can use more color for the breakfast is the informality in-formality of the occasion. A brightly bright-ly checked cloth or gay plaid is I appropriate for the meal be it for breakfast or a porch supper. Smart homemakers concentrate on gay cloths for breakfast because be-cause they add so much cheer to dining. A good stock of these cloths is also an incentive toward making this meal as good as the others, too. You can have a lot of fun making a few breakfast cloths simply by poking around among the remnants rem-nants you now have, or by ransacking ran-sacking the remnant counters which about this time offer good , inspiration and bargains. Breakfast cloths do not need to ' fall over the table several inches. They may be small, as long as they cover the table comfortably. Your choice of colors and materials ma-terials is wide. Cotton, rayon or linen or combinations of these may ! be used. They may be white, colored col-ored solid, prints, plaids or checks. Round tables may use round cloths, but square ones are more practical from a laundering standpoint stand-point since they may be folded after ironing, rather than rolled over a cardboard, the treatment usually required for round types. Simple trimmings may be used. Rick rack, braided borders, fringe or a facing or bordering with a ! contrasting material and color are proper, but a simple hem will do as well. This may be sewed by machine to save time. Napkins to match the cloth are not at all necessary for the breakfast. break-fast. You may have them, of course, especially if the cloth is to double for a bridge cloth, but paper pa-per ones will do as well for breakfast. break-fast. Mats or Cloths Used for Lunch Table mats are frequently used for luncheon because they give the table a quick and interesting change and offer little difficulty in the way of laundering. Another reason for the popularity of the mats is that they are easily hemmed from less material than the - cloths themselves. An old sheet or even a tablecloth can be cut into four, six or more 12"xl8" 1 rectangles, hemmed and used for mats that serve beautifully for luncheon. Napkins to match may also be made. If you are using an old sheet, it's a good idea to dye it first, then press and measure and cut. To make these mats especially attractive, attrac-tive, add a contrasting border of another color. Use the second color col-or for napkins, or follow the same motif for napkins as you have for the mats. The luncheon size napkin is properly the same size as the mat. Luncheon cloths have almost as much variety as breakfast cloths, although color is played down somewhat, even for the informal meal. Quality is the keynote, and the finer materials are usually the best choice. The decoration may be in the form of exquisite lace, conservative con-servative color in borders, subtle appliques, well applied, or lovely embroidery carefully done. Conservative Cloths Best for Dinner If you crochet, you might find lots of pleasure in crocheting some mats for luncheon. Here again, the rectangular shapes are better than round ones, especially for rectangular rec-tangular tables, since they give neater lines. When crocheted mats are starched, they give lots of beautiful service. The more formal the dinner, the more conservative the cloth. For special dinners damask and linen are preferred with white or an off white shade considered best and pastels becoming popular. Others which are good for formal for-mal dinners include rayon fabric, or combinatios of limn nnd lar-e |