RICE AND QUALITY

The 2 3/4-yard length in an average sheet of good quality costs 90 cents
for a double bed, 75 cents for a three-quarter bed, and 45 cents for a
single bed, with hemstitched sheets of corresponding quality at the same
price. It is hardly worth while to pay more than this, while very good
sheets are to be had for 75 cents, with a decrease in price as the width
decreases. Half-bleach double-bed sheets of good quality cost 85 and 70
cents, and so on, and are more especially for servants' beds. They are
popularly supposed to outwear the bleached, but are somewhat trying
bedfellows until whitened.

Plain or hemstitched pillowcases cost from 25 to 75 cents a pair, each
additional width raising the price 5 cents. The average or sleeping-size
pillow is 22 1/2 by 36 1/2 inches, and calls for a case enough larger to
slip on easily, but not loose nor long enough to hang over the sides of
the bed. If pillows of different sizes are in use their cases should be
numbered.

Bed linen should be firmly woven, with a thread rather coarse than fine.
The amount purchased must be regulated by the number of beds to be
furnished, allowing three sheets and three pairs of cases to each. The
supply can always be easily added to, but if expedient for any reason to
buy in large quantities, set apart enough to supply all the beds and keep
the rest in reserve, otherwise it will all give out at once. If the
housewife is so unfortunately situated that she is forced to make her own
bed linen, she will do well to buy her material by the piece--40 to 50
yards. All hems can be run on the machine.

REAL LINEN

Though not everyone likes the "feel" of linen, most housekeepers are
ambitious to include a certain amount with their other bed linens, for
use in the summer or during illness, because of its non-absorbent
qualities. Sheets cost $3, $3.50, $4, $5, $6, and on up to $17, the more
expensive ones being embellished with hemstitching, scallops, or lace.
Pillowcases to correspond sell at from $1.25 up. Linen for this purpose
is always bleached, the 90-inch sheeting being $1 to $3 a yard, the
45-inch pillowcasing 50 cents to $1.50 a yard, and 50-inch casing 75
cents to $2 a yard. Inch-high monograms or letters may be embroidered in
white at the middle of sheets and pillowcases, just above the hem. When
sheets wear thin down the center, tear and "turn," whipping the selvages
together and hemming the torn edges, which becom