XXVIII.
SEWING, CUTTING, AND
MENDING.
EVERY young girl should be taught to do the following kinds of
stitch with propriety: Over-stitch, hemming, running, felling,
stitching, back-stitch and run, buttonhole-stitch, chain-stitch,
whipping, darning, gathering, and cross-stitch.
In doing over-stitch, the edges should always be first fitted,
either with pins or basting, to prevent puckering. In turning wide hems,
a paper measure should be used, to make them even. Tucks, also, should
be regulated by a paper measure. A fell should be turned, before the
edges are put together, and the seam should be over-sewed before
felling. All biased or goring seams should be felled. For stitching,
draw a thread, and take up two or three threads at a stitch.
In cutting buttonholes, it is best to have a pair of scissors, made
for the purpose, which cut very neatly. For broadcloth, a chisel and
board are better. The best stitch is made by putting in the needle, and
then turning the thread round it near the eye. This is better than to
draw the needle through, and then take up a loop. A stay thread should
first be put across each side of the buttonhole, and also a bar at each
end before working it. In working the buttonhole, keep the stay thread
as far from the edge as possible. A small bar should be worked at each
end.
Whipping is done better by sewing
over, and not under. The roll should be as fine as possible, the
stiches short,
the thread strong, and in sewing, every gather should be taken up.
The rule for gathering in
shirts is, to draw a thread, and then take up two threads and skip four.
In darning, after the
perpendicular threads are run, the crossing threads should interlace
exactly, taking one thread and leaving one, like woven threads. It is
better to run a fine thread around a hole and draw it together, and then
darn across it.
The neatest sewers always fit and baste their work before sewing;
and they say they always save time in the end by so doing, as they never
have to pick out work on account of mistakes.
It is wise to sew closely and tightly all new garments which will
never be altered in shape; but some are more nice than wise, in sewing
frocks and old garments in the same style. However, this is the least
common extreme. It is much more frequently the case that articles which
ought to be strongly and neatly made are sewed so that a nice sewer
would rather pick out the threads and sew over again than to be annoyed
with the sight of grinning stitches, and vexed with constant rips.
If the thread kinks in sewing, break it off and begin at the other
end. In using spool-cotton, thread the needle with the end which comes
off first, and not the end where you break it off. This often prevents
kinks.
Work-baskets.--It is very
important to neatness, comfort, and success in sewing, that a lady's
work-basket should be properly fitted up. The following articles are
needful to the mistress of a family: a large basket to hold work; having
in it fastened a smaller basket or box, containing a needle-book in
which are needles of every size, both blunts and sharps, with a larger
number of those sizes most used; also small and large darning-needles,
for woolen, cotton, and silk; two tape needles, large and small; nice
scissors for fine work, button-hole scissors; and emery bag; two balls
of white and yellow wax; and two thimbles, in case one should be
mislaid. When a person is troubled with damp fingers, a lump of soft
chalk in a paper is useful to rub on the ends of the fingers.
Besides this box, keep in the basket common scissors; small shears;
a bag containing tapes of all colors and sizes, done up in rolls; bags,
one containing spools of white and another of colored cotton thread, and
another for silks wound on spools or papers; a box or bag for nice
buttons, and another for more common ones; a bag containing silk braid,
welting cords, and galloon binding. Small rolls of pieces of white and
brown linen and cotton are also often needed. A brick pin-cushion is a
great convenience in sewing, and better than screw cushions. It is made
by covering half a brick with cloth, putting a
cushion on the top, and covering it tastefully. It is very
useful to hold pins and needles while sewing, and to fasten long seams
when basting and sewing.
To make a Frock. --The best
way for a novice is to get a dress fitted (not sewed) at
the best mantua-maker's. Then take out a sleeve, rip it to pieces, and
cut out a paper pattern. Then take out half of the waist, (it must have
a seam in front,) and cut out a pattern of the back and fore-body, both
lining and outer part. In cutting the patterns, iron the pieces smooth,
let the paper be stiff, and with a pin prick holes in the
paper, to show the gore in front and the depths of the
seams. With a pen and ink, draw lines from each pin-hole to
preserve this mark. Then baste the parts together again, in doing which
the unbasted half will serve as a pattern. When this is done, a lady of
common ingenuity can cut and fit a dress by these patterns. If the waist
of a dress be too tight, the seam under the arm must be let out; and in
cutting a dress an allowance should be made for letting it out if
needful, at this seam.
The linings for the waists of dresses should be stiffened with
cotton or linen. In cutting bias-pieces for trimming,
they will not set well unless they are exact. In cutting them, use a
long rule, and a lead pencil or piece of chalk. Welting-cords should be
covered with bias-pieces; and it saves time, in many cases, to baste on
the welting-cord at the same time that you cover it. The best way to put
on hooks and eyes is to sew them on double broad tape, and sew this on
the frock lining. They can be moved easily, and do not show where they
are sewed on.
In putting on linings of skirts at the bottom, be careful to have it
a very little fuller than the dress, or it will shrink and look badly.
All thin silks look much better with lining, and last much longer, as do
aprons also. In putting a lining to a dress, baste it on each separate
breadth, and sew it at the seams, and it looks much better than to have
it fastened only at the bottom. Make notches in selvedge, to prevent it
from drawing up the breadth. Dresses which are to be washed should not
be lined.
Figured silks do not generally wear well if the figure be large and
satin-like. Black and plain-colored silks can be tested by procuring
samples, and making creases in them; fold the creases in a bunch, and
rub them against a rough surface of moreen or carpeting. Those which are
poor will soon wear off at the creases.
Plaids look becoming for tall women, as they shorten the appearance
of the figure. Stripes look becoming on a large person, as they reduce
the apparent size. Pale persons should not wear blue or green, and
brunettes should not wear light delicate colors, except shades of buff,
fawn, or straw color. Pearl white is not good for any complexion. Dead
white and black look becoming on almost all persons. It is best to try
colors by candle-light for evening dresses, as some colors which look
very handsome in the daylight are very homely when seen by candle-light.
Never be in haste to be first in a fashion, and never go to the
extremes.
Linen and Cotton.--In buying
linen, seek for that which
has a round close thread and is perfectly white; for if it be not white
at first, it will never afterward become so. Much that is called linen
at the shops is half cotton, and does not wear so well as cotton alone.
Cheap linens are usually of this kind. It is difficult to discover which
are all linen; but the best way is to find a lot presumed to be good,
take a sample, wash it, and ravel it. If this be good, the rest of the
same lot will probably be so. If you can not do this, draw a thread each
way, and if both appear equally strong it is probably all linen. Linen
and cotton must be put in clean water, and boiled, to get out the
starch, and then ironed.
A "long piece" of linen, a yard wide, will, with care and
calculation, make eight shirts. In cutting it, take a shirt of the right
size as a guide in fitting and basting. Bosom-pieces and false collars
must be cut and fitted by patterns which suit the person for whom the
articles are designed. Gentlemen's night-shirts are made like other
shirts, except that they are longer, and do not have bosoms and cuffs
for starching.
In cutting chemises, if the cotton or linen
is a yard wide, cut off small half-gores at the top of the breadths and
set them on the bottom. Use a long rule and a pencil in cutting gores.
In cutting cotton which is quite wide, a seam can be saved by cutting
out two at once, in this manner: cut off three breadths, and with a long
rule and a pencil, mark and cut off the gores; thus from one breadth cut
off two gores the whole length, each gore one fourth of the breadth at
the bottom, and tapering off to a point at the top. The other two
breadths are to have a gore cut off from each, which is one fourth wide
at the top and two fourths at bottom. Arrange these pieces right and
they will make two chemises, one having four seams and the other three.
This is a much easier way of cutting than sewing the three breadths
together in bag fashion, as is often done. The biased or goring seams
must always be felled. The sleeves and neck can be cut
according to the taste of the wearer, by another chemise for a pattern.
There should be a lining around the arm-holes and stays at all corners.
Six yards of yard width will make two chemises.
Long night-gowns are best cut a little goring. It requires five
yards for a long night-gown, and two and a half for a short one. Linen
night caps wear longer than cotton ones, and do not like them turn
yellow. They should be ruffled with linen, as cotton borders will not
last so long as the cap. A double-quilted wrapper is a great comfort, in
case of sickness. It may be made of two old dresses. It should not be
cut full, but rather like a gentleman's study-gown, having no gathers or
plaits, but large enough to slip off and on with ease. A double-gown of
calico is also very useful. Most articles of dress, for grown persons or
children, require patterns.
Old silk dresses quilted for skirts are very serviceable. White
flannel is soiled so easily and shrinks so much in washing that it is a
good plan to color it. Cotton flannel is also good for common skirts. In
making up flannel, back-stitch and run the seams and then cross-stitch
them open. Nice flannel for infants can be ornamented with very little
expense of time, by turning up the hem on the right side and making a
little vine at the edge with saddler's silk. The stitch of the vine is a
modification of button-hole stitch.
Mending. Silk dresses will
last much longer, by ripping out the sleeves when thin, and changing the
arms and also the breadths of the skirt. Tumbled black silk, which if
old and rusty, should be dipped in water, then be drained for a few
minutes, without squeezing or pressing, and then ironed. Coffee or cold
tea is better than water. Sheets when worn thin in the middle should be
ripped, and the other edges sewed together. Window-curtains last much
longer if lined, as the sun fades and rots them.
Broadcloth should be cut with reference to the way the
nap runs. When pataloons are thin, it is best to newly seat them,
cutting the piece inserted in a curve, as corners are difficult to fit.
Hose can be cut down when the feet are worn. Take an old stocking and
cut it up for a pattern. Make the heel short. In sewing, turn each edge
and run it down, and then sew over the edges. This is better than to
stitch and then cross-stitch. "Run" thin places in stockings, and it
will save darning a hole. If shoes are worn through on the sides, in the
upper-leather, slip pieces of broadcloth under, and sew them around the
holes.
Bedding. The best beds are
thick hair mattresses, which for persons in health are good for winter
as well as summer use. Mattresses may also be made of husks, dried and
drawn into shreds; also of alternate layers of cotton and moss. The most
profitable sheeting is the Russian, which will last three times as long
as any other. It is never perfectly white. Unbleached cotton is good for
winter. It is poor economy to make narrow and short sheets, as children
and domestics will always slip them off, and soil the bed-tick and
bolster. They should be three yards long, and two and a half wide, so
that they can be tucked in all around. All bed-linen should be marked
and numbered, so that a bed can always be made properly, and all missing
articles be known.
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