I wonder whether you have made the bedspread, shown on page 61, with the doll’s bed outfit. I daresay you have, and perhaps the patchwork quilt too. But of course you will not want all your doll-children’s beds to look quite the same, so how about a bedspread with a fringe to it for Victoria’s bed? You usually dress her in blue, don’t you, to match her eyes, so you had better work the bedspread in blue. No, I know she does not go to sleep with her eyes open, but she has lovely fair hair, and pink roses in her cheeks; and a cream bedspread, worked in blue, is what she needs to set her off properly.

The bedspread is worked in coarse cream Hardanger Canvas. The little detail of the stitch shows you the actual size of the canvas. If you use a finer canvas than this—as of course you can if you like—then you will have to take your stitches over more threads to get your design the same size as the one shown here.

The shade of blue that will suit Victoria beautifully is No. 709 in Ardern’s “Star Sylko,” size 5, and you could use this for the work on your bedspread; and you will also want some white “Star Sylko,” size 5, for the satin stitch. For sewing the fringe cream linen thread can be used.

If you have not yet learnt to work the stitches used in making this bedspread, the best plan would be to take an odd piece of canvas and practise on that first.

We will start with the white outlines of the border. This is worked in satin stitch—a very simple stitch, but it needs to be worked evenly, and the thread must not be pulled too tightly. Do not make a knot to start the work, leave a piece of thread at the back, and put the needle through this piece before you work the second stitch. Start by putting the needle up through a hole of the canvas, miss 1 hole, put the needle into the next hole; put the needle through the next hole on a line with the first, and go on working stitches like this in a straight line.

If you do this in the right way, the stitches on the right side will be straight, and on the wrong side they will slant a little.

The corners of this piece of work are done in an easy way, look carefully at the illustration, and I think you will see what to do. The 2 stitches on each side and the centre stitch are all worked into the same hole on the inside of the corner.

Now if you can do satin stitch, the bedspread can be started.

Leave 12 holes around outside the satin stitch line. Work 50 stitches across both ends, 84 stitches on each side—not counting the 3 extra stitches at corners. Leave 14 holes on the side and work a line of stitches across to the other side, on both ends of work. Leave 14 holes, counting towards the centre from side, and work a second line on each side between the ones worked at each end.

To divide this into squares, leave 14 holes, and work rows of satin stitch between the 2 lines.

Thread your needle with blue, and put it up through the corner hole, miss 2 holes, counting towards the centre, put the needle in the next hole, put the needle up through the third hole in a straight line from end of first stitch, then into same hole as the end of first stitch; work another straight stitch on the other side.

Work 3 more stitches like the first 3. Do 3 more corners in the same way, and join these corners with 4 stitches, these stitches make the square in the centre.

The fringe looks difficult, but it is easier than it looks.

Count 3 lines of thread from the satin stitch, this will leave 2 holes, draw out the next two lines of thread from across the canvas; this leaves a narrow piece of the canvas with threads one way only.

On page 30 you will see how to do the Serpentine Hem-stitching. This is the stitch that is used for the edge of this bedspread, only that here you have no hem. You just do the work on both sides of the threads. Then pull away the threads at the edge, outside the second row of stitches, and you will get your fringe.