Our young ladies formerly were educated thoroughly in needle-work.
Plain sewing was taught in the primary schools; but, alas! these times
seem past; it is rare to find a little girl of even ten years old who
can hem a pocket-handkerchief well. The children of our mechanics
grow up with but little knowledge of useful work. Their mothers, with
mistaken love, mend, dress, and make their wearing apparel. Often
they marry wholly ignorant of the accomplishments _necessary_ for a
true wife and helpmeet--that is, the knowledge of housekeeping, plain
sewing, and cutting out the simplest garment.
Who is to blame for this? The excuse of many a hard-working mother
is, “I have not had time to teach my daughters;” and of our ladies of
wealth, “I did not suppose my daughters would ever be poor, or require
such knowledge!”
It is a very great pity sewing is not taught in our common schools. It
is quite as important to our girls as reading, writing, spelling, &c.
There is no country in the world where a _practical_ education is so
necessary as in ours, the fluctuations of fortune are so great. The
rich man of to-day may be the poor man of to-morrow. Therefore every
boy and girl in the land should have a useful and practical education.
Our girls especially, rich or poor, need a knowledge of practical
housekeeping; it is not possible for any lady to be a good housekeeper
unless she knows how things should be done herself, as a trained
servant in our free country is rarely found.
Plain sewing is also very important to be learned in early youth. In
these days of machinery much of the old plain work is done by the swift
needle of the sewing machine, rather than by hand; and it is expected,
by and by, that hemming, stitching, over-hand work, and gathering will
be as much forgotten as the old tambour stitch and embroidery of our
ancestors. But we maintain that a person to work well on a machine
should first be taught to sew well, and it is quite possible work may
be required when no machine is to be hired. If young ladies are always
able to hire their sewing, it may be pleasant to work for the poor.
We hope our young readers may be induced, of their _own_ desire, to
become _good sempstresses_. If any one reading this book is induced to
obtain _practical_ knowledge on the subject, we shall feel repaid, and
we would gladly hear from them. We will now give a few directions as
an assistance, at the same time begging our young readers to remember
that one lesson from a good sempstress is worth a dozen pages of print.
A hem should be, generally, narrow and very even; if it is to be wide,
cut a measure the desired width, and be careful to have it exact;
the stitches should be taken through, but so small as to be nearly
invisible. A hem on clear muslin will look neater if it is finely _run_
like the seam of a dress.
In over-hand sewing the stitches should be taken on the edge of the two
sides, and should lay quite close to each other, so as to look like
purling.
In stitching you should only take up two threads, both behind and
before the needle.
Gathering is done on the needle, two threads taken up and four left,
and the line should be kept very straight by a thread, if possible. The
gathers, when finished, are drawn very tightly together on the thread,
and stroked down smoothly with a strong needle or pin.
Darning is done by taking every other thread (in a stocking), and
leaving a long loop at the end of each line. The darn is crossed by
taking every other thread alternately, each way. It used to be called
“weaving.” If muslin is to be darned, it is better to use ravellings of
the same instead of thread.
Should you have a rent in a dress to repair, use ravellings of the same
material; they are easily to be obtained from the turning in of the
top of the skirt, if you have no pieces; but generally some are left
by the dressmaker, and should be kept for such accidents. In mending
by piecing, be careful that you do it very neatly; match stripes or
patterns on the material artfully, and you will have the triumph of
preventing the defacement of your dress.
Learn how to make and trim a bonnet, or make a graceful bow of ribbon.
Young ladies of small means, who are ingenious and tasteful, often
present a better appearance by making things for themselves, than those
who, without taste or neatness, spend large sums at the milliners’. We
advise you to try and make your own dresses.
In order to do this, rip up an old dress that fits you; lay the several
portions of the body on a large sheet of brown paper, with the turnings
_turned in_; trace the pattern carefully with a black pencil; then draw
a line round the whole, including the turnings-in, and cut it out. Pin
this pattern on your material, and cut out the dress, taking care that
you do not get two fronts for the same side, if there is a right and
wrong surface to it. To prevent the possibility of this mistake, it is
well to fold the material and cut both at once. The same may be said
with regard to the side bodies. Greater skill is required to put the
skirt into a band, than in making a body, in order that it may hang
gracefully; but as fashions change continually, we can only advise
you to get a good pattern to copy from, and _care_ and _patience_
will insure you success. If your means render it unnecessary or not
expedient for you to make your own dresses, you will find it pleasant
to be able to make up the cotton dress you destine for some poor
neighbor, whose want of time for needle-work will render her as much
obliged for the _labor_ bestowed, as for the material itself. Making
clothes for poor children is _active charity_.
We know of a young lady so naturally industrious, that at the age of
six years, she made entirely every part of a day shirt for her father.
It is not as likely, at the present day, that your labors will be
required for shirt-making for your male relatives; they generally
prefer buying their linen ready made. Every _woman_ ought to know how
to put one together.
Any child or young lady who can make a shirt well, can easily
manufacture all female undergarments; patterns for cutting out will
be all that will be required. Both cotton and linen cloth should be
scalded in _soap-suds_, dried and pressed _without_ rinsing, before you
work on them, in order to render them soft enough for the needle to
pass through easily. But should you be unable to have this done, rub
the parts you are going to sew or hem with a cake of white soap, or
make a strong suds and brush the parts. Your needle will move easily,
and will run no risk of breaking.
We advise young ladies who have the care of their own linen, and
perhaps have their own allowance for dress, to take a few hours on
one fixed day, weekly, to look over their clothes, and make any small
repairs that may be wanted. They will find the truth of the old
adage,--“A stitch in time saves nine,”--and will make their linen last
as long again as it would otherwise do. Gloves should be neatly mended,
and no rip suffered to remain a day. White and light-colored gloves can
be nicely cleaned by rubbing them with a flannel dipped in milk and
white hard soap. When dry they will need to be pulled till they are
soft and in shape.
Cultivate, we beseech of you, habits of neatness in early youth.
Dresses should never be put away dirty, or with spots that can be
removed, or thrown down in a heap. Benzine or chloroform will remove
nearly all kinds of spots, but it must be quickly rubbed dry, or it
will leave a spot. Wax spots from candles can be removed from any
material by placing over the spot some brown or blotting paper, and
place over it an iron sufficiently hot to melt the grease; change the
paper until all the grease is thus absorbed.
Our young readers may be assured that the little care bestowed on
keeping their garments neat, clean, and whole, will give to their
appearance that air of freshness which in itself is a charm, and will
prove the truest economy. Moreover, the power of using the needle
skilfully will give good manipulation for other and more artistic
employments, and can never be aught but a blessing to the American girl.