CHOOSING AND WEARING CLOTHES
Have you ever thought that being properly and attractively dressed helps
towards achieving success in life? Marjorie's Cousin Ann says she knows
that the neat, tidy girls who come to the factory looking for work are
more apt to be chosen than those who are careless about their dress.
Cousin Ann, as you have learned, is very particular about her appearance.
She learned long ago that cleanliness of clothing is the first essential
in being well dressed, and that neatness is another requirement. Cousin
Ann knows that it takes time to wash out her collars, her shields,
and stockings every other night; but she also realizes that she must
be particular about her appearance if she wishes to be retained at
the factory. She takes time to mend the tears which sometimes come so
unexpectedly, and the lace which is ripped on her waist, or to sew on
the button which will soon be lost from her coat unless sewed. If she
spills anything on her dress or coat, she tries as soon as possible to
remove the spot. This takes thought, too, as well as time; but Ann knows
that it pays. Have you, too, thought about these things? One must also
know what is suitable and appropriate for various occasions, and how to
choose becoming colors in materials or hats and gowns if one buys them
ready-made. This is really a study in buying, too, and of knowing how
materials are made and can be tested. All these things were discussed by
Miss James and the Pleasant Valley girls. They were always very glad when
Miss Travers came to help too.
LESSON 1
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE WELL DRESSED
The Pleasant Valley girls have decided that it is worth while
learning about suitable and attractive dress. They are anxious to
begin this study. Suppose we learn some of the things one must
think about and study in order to be properly and attractively
dressed.
One does not have to be expensively dressed in order to be attractively
and well dressed. Much depends on appropriateness. It is not appropriate
for a girl to wear jewelry, thin stockings, low fancy slippers, lace
waists, feather hats, to work or to school. How much more attractive
and appropriate is a plain, neat shirt waist and cloth skirt, a plain
necktie and a simple hat, and plain boots or ties. One should not dress
as if one were going to a party when one goes to work or to school.
Do you understand what appropriateness means? It means wearing the
suitable kind of clothing for every occasion. It is our duty to be as
well dressed as possible, for our friends' sakes as well as for our own;
but a well-dressed girl is never conspicuous. Clothes which would be
appropriate in a large city for a reception might be very inappropriate
in a small town. Our daily clothes should be adapted to our uses, whether
in country or city. Would you wear your party dress for gardening or for
tennis or skating?
[Illustration: FIG. 131.--Which of these girls looks ready to do her
work?]
=Criticize your own garments.= Try to have them neat and clean, for this
makes one more self-respecting. Try to have your clothes convenient,
neat, graceful, beautiful, allowing for free movements of the body.
Choose something which is not overdecorated but which will emphasize your
charm and personality. Young girls do not need jewelry or much decoration
on clothes, for youth is always charming in itself.
Some girls try to copy every "latest style." Do you? One should not
unless it is a style which will suit one. Cousin Ann heard a talk at the
Young Women's Christian Association one night. It was on simplicity
of dress. The speaker was from a large department store in Paterson
where Ann lives, and she gave Ann some new ideas about dress. She
said simplicity is not necessarily plainness, but it means being so
intelligent that one knows what to leave off in the way of decoration.
She said being well dressed is knowing what to omit. She also said that
trimmings and ornaments without reason are foolish and spoil a gown.
Because one bow looks well it does not follow that ten will improve
one's appearance. So many girls are really caricatures. They wear every
exaggerated thing and many things which are not refined, as the very
low neck, or the very scant or transparent skirt. This is not beauty of
dress, but very bad and vulgar taste. The speaker said that "beauty of
costume is not necessarily the result of costliness, but of artistic
appreciation." Cousin Ann said several of the members of her sewing
club were at this lecture, and they decided to ask Miss Willing, who
leads their club, to talk about "artistic appreciation." Cousin Ann said
she did not quite understand what the speaker meant. This is what Miss
Willing told the girls, and then they understood perfectly. Perhaps you
would like to know, too.
=A costume is a work of art.= She said we must think of our costumes as
being works of art. Every girl has a style of her own, and she should
study it and dress so as to bring out all her good points and conceal
those not so attractive. One's hair or eyes should be considered
in choosing color. Stooped or narrow shoulders, if they cannot be
corrected, can be made to look less narrow by the plan of the gown. Stout
figures can be made to look less stout. So by choosing the right colors
and correct decoration and right lines, one can often improve one's
appearance. Miss Willing says to understand about this is to have what
the speaker at the Young Women's Christian Association called "artistic
appreciation." One should cultivate artistic appreciation for good
furnishings as well as for appropriate dress. Miss Willing told the girls
another evening about color and good lines, for they are all so anxious
to learn. They never even imagined before that any one ever thought about
such things. Marjorie Allen and the other girls at Pleasant Valley School
are very glad Cousin Ann told them too.
=The costume should be the background as it were.= Miss Willing says to
remember always that a really artistic costume is one which makes us say
"what a lovely girl!" rather than "what a lovely gown she is wearing."
A costume should not be so strong in color or design that one thinks
only of that. Do you remember how in some rooms we feel the pattern of
the wall paper or of the carpet. When one does, the design is poor;
the wall is the background. Our clothes should make the wearers' good
qualities stand out. They should be subordinate, Miss Willing says. Do
you understand that word?
Miss Willing says the outline of our clothed figures should be pleasing.
Have you ever walked to town and seen girls with large hats which were
not balanced on their heads, and short skirts and perhaps large muffs?
If you watch them as they come towards you down the street, you will
see that the whole outline or silhouette against the sky or house is
poor; they look top-heavy or, we say, unbalanced. Such a costume is not
good. A smaller hat with the short skirt is what is needed in order to
have a balanced figure. The outline of the natural human figure is most
beautiful. Look at the lovely figure of the Grecian woman (Fig. 132);
see how the lines follow her figure. Costumes which make ugly lumps, as
bustles and large muffs, and other ugly shapes are not well balanced.
[Illustration: FIG. 132.--Notice the lovely folds of the Grecian costume.]
=An artistic dress shows good taste.= Do you remember your talks in
your art class about the spaces in a design, and the relation of one to
the other. This is true in dresses too. Tucks, buttons, seams, bands of
trimming all mark off spaces on our bodies (Fig. 133). In order to have
a really artistic dress, there must be a plan about the arrangement of
spaces. A short, stout girl with bands of trimming running around her
skirt and with lines of trimming running up and down the waist will
present a very strange appearance to one who has "artistic appreciation."
Can you tell why this would not be good taste? A stout figure should
wear vertical lines of trimming rather than horizontal; and the spaces
between lines should be such as will make the girl look smaller rather
than larger; so dresses must be really designed, and the spaces, colors,
values, really thought about. Do you know what value means? Some costumes
have contrast in values. Black and white are sharp contrasts. One sees
the black or the white at once. These spots of black or white jump at
one unless there is something to connect the two, as gray, which would
be an intermediate value. Spotty costumes are not good or restful. Have
you seen, perhaps, a white dress with black hat and gloves and shoes?
Did you notice how the black things stand out and the eye jumps from one
spot of black to another? A white dress with white shoes and gloves and a
black hat trimmed with some white, thus carrying some of the white to the
black, would be better.
[Illustration: FIG. 133.--Notice the good spacing and arrangement of
lines.]
Miss Willing said this is called studying values. We can study values of
color as well as of black and white. Next lesson we shall learn what Miss
Willing told the girls about color in selecting or making dresses.
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS
1. Why do you think Miss Willing had "good taste" in dress?
2. What can you tell about Miss Willing's talk on artistic
appreciation? What does it mean in relation to dress?
3. Criticize your own garments in relation to line, simplicity,
decoration, appropriateness.
LESSON 2
THE CHOICE OF COLORS FOR CLOTHING
Color is important in choosing or making our clothes. We too must
learn if we would choose as wisely as the Pleasant Valley girls.
Miss James thinks that the Pleasant Valley girls have learned so much
about color in relation to general design in their art classes that they
will be able to understand easily about color in dress too. Colors, they
have learned, have value, with gradations from light to dark. In black
and white the contrast is striking, but when values are closer together
the harmony is closer and less conspicuous.
=In choosing your new spring dress be sure to think of your own
characteristics.= Your appearance may be injured or improved according to
the color chosen. Color even more than design may spoil the appearance,
and is important to the wearer and to all who come in contact with her,
for color is expression of one's refinement and culture. Every girl of
Pleasant Valley will wish to know how to look her best. Color in which
there has been mixed much gray, as dull blue or dull red rather than
pure bright color, is apt to make the individual characteristics stand
out. This grayness in color forms a background as it were, or a setting,
for the face and shows the figure to best advantage.
Artists have a way of expressing this brilliancy of color. Miss James
says they call it intensity. Do you understand what is meant by color
when it is strongest and loudest and most intense? Think of red of the
most vivid brilliant kind; gradually think of it growing grayer and
grayer until it is pure gray. By intensity of a color is meant this
difference in grayness. Very few people can wear very bright red. Miss
James says she must have the "grayed" colors, in dahlia tones of red if
she wishes a dark dress of this color, or in old rose if she wishes a
dress which will be less somber. This is true of all colors; only red is
perhaps the most difficult to use. One learns to use color in its full
intensity only for touches here and there on a gown or a hat, which is
itself not intense in color.
[Illustration: FIG. 134.--Can you find the middle values of gray?]
Large people should not wear red. Blue or green are cooling, quieting
colors and so are better adapted to large figures than red and also
better for those whose features are not very pronounced. Blues which are
not very strong, or so grayed that they have lost half or more than half
of their strength, are more interesting and becoming for large figures
for a whole dress.
Yellow is nearest light, and in combination with red gives the oranges
from which we get browns of all kinds and degrees, rich and warm in
effect. Try mixing these colors in your paint box. Green combines yellow
and blue. It is a light, cheerful, and calm color, always restful and
soothing. The yellow-greens are perhaps more cheerful; that is, when more
yellow than blue is used. When more blue is introduced, the greens are
more soothing and cool. Violet is red and blue mixed; a cool and exciting
color, which can be very intense or very subdued.
=Choosing color for a dress.= Do you think the Pleasant Valley girls will
think before choosing their new gowns whether it is for school, or for
a best dress, for a party or for the house? Even apron material can be
chosen which will make the wearer look unattractive. Why not look pretty
and clean when one is at work too? Miss Willing says that quiet color
in dress is an evidence of good taste. In combining colors in dress one
must aim to obtain the right balance in color. Miss Willing says, in
planning the color scheme for a costume, think about the dominant or most
prominent color and endeavor to bring the others into harmony with it.
Harmony is the result of colors being brought together. Touches of black
help to bring colors together and so harmonize them. Miss Willing gave
several other suggestions for harmony. Cousin Ann put them down in her
notebook and sent them to Marjorie.
1. When one wishes to use contrasting colors, as yellow and
violet, one can get pleasing harmony by using a large quantity
of one color and a small amount of the other. This subordinate
relationship of one color to the other gives harmony; the more
grayed the tone of the large mass of color, the greater the
intensity of color in contrast that can be used.
2. In combining colors of weak intensity for harmony, a harmony of
costume of one mode, that is one color used in different values,
is safe but is not always so interesting as the contrasting colors.
3. To emphasize a color, a touch of the same may be added to some
part of the costume. Blue eyes seem even more blue with a blue
necktie around the shirt waist collar.
4. Another way to make a good harmony is to use complementary
colors. Red and blue; green, violet, and yellow; green and plum;
blue and orange; purple and yellow-green. One should be used
intense, and the other in a gray tone. For example, in combining
color with hair, greens, particularly gray greens, are very
pleasing with auburn hair. Barbara Oakes discovered that fact
with her auburn hair. Violet tends to make yellow hair look more
golden, so care must be taken to have a gray violet so the gold
color in the hair will not be overpowered. "Red" hair is made to
look brighter when a blue costume is worn. So you see one can
avoid unfortunate combinations if one studies the strength of the
color of the hair in relation to the colors to be used.
=Learning to combine colors.= Miss James had many samples of gauzy
chiffons which the girls learned to handle and to combine so as to get
artistic results, for combinations of complementary and contrasting
colors as well as for combinations of "one hue." It is only through
trying that one learns. This, too, is a matter of appreciation. Some
people have finer appreciation for color than others. By thinking about
this and learning all you can in school and from books, you too may come
to have real color appreciation.
In choosing the best colors for your figure or for mother's or for
auntie's, you must think about the value and intensity as well as the
other characteristics of color.
Our costumes, as a rule, are worn for different occasions and are seen
against different backgrounds. We say that the backgrounds, as in rooms,
or against rocks or grass or hillside, are of about middle value--halfway
between white and black; in other words, gray. Black and white costumes,
then, will always stand out. White tends to make the figure appear large;
black calls attention to the outlines of figure and looks best on people
with good figures because of this emphasis of outline. Blue, blue green,
and blue violet--if of middle value, very "gray"--or gray itself are best
adapted to stout figures as they are retiring colors. They seem to melt
into the background and do not give prominence to the figure. A little
brighter color may be added and make the costume more becoming to the
face. This should be used through the center of the gown, not at the edge
to draw the eye to the boundaries of the stout figure. A rose or a flower
of contrast at the center of the belt is an example.
=Studying lines of a costume.= Miss James says the best way to get an
effect of height is to place the longest possible vertical lines through
the center of the figure with no points of emphasis as trimming on the
outer parts (Fig. 135). For a slim figure, when one wishes to appear
stout, the outline of the figure should be emphasized at the outer sides
of sleeves or shoulders or skirts, by such arrangement of trimming that
the eye is carried across the figure (Fig. 136).
[Illustration: FIG. 135.--Vertical lines through the center of the
costume make the figure appear thinner.]
Miss Willing and the girls had a good laugh about the use of large plaids
and broad stripes for stout people. Plaids or squares certainly tend to
emphasize stoutness, as do bold designs or conspicuous color combinations.
[Illustration: FIG. 136.--Notice how the emphasis on the outside of the
costume makes the figure appear larger.]
So many things to remember--line, value, color; all-important, if one is
to be attractively dressed. Miss James has decided to permit the girls to
work out the color combinations at school for their new spring dresses.
The subject of color in choosing hats is equally important. Let us study
next lesson about it.
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS
1. Study your own characteristics. Write them down. Decide what
predominating color you would like for a spring dress. From the
chiffon colors which your teacher has, combine the appropriate
color combination which you would like.
2. Arrange with the chiffon samples, combinations of complementary
colors, of contrasting colors.
3. Write a composition on the subject of "What makes a girl well
dressed."
LESSON 3
SELECTING A HAT
What can you learn about the care and arrangement of your hair. Do
you know how to choose a hat?
Jane Smith says that some day she expects to be a milliner. Perhaps
she will be. Miss James says she can later go to a school and study
millinery. This means that Jane will learn not only how to make hats, but
about the right lines and colors to use. Jane has a natural deftness of
touch and a good idea about copying and designing; so Miss James thinks
she will make a good milliner. So often hats are unbecoming because the
colors are inharmonious, or the lines out of relation to the face wearing
them. Whether one is old or young, one should think about this.
=Give some care and thought to your hair.= One day when Miss Travers came
from the State College to speak to the Mothers' Clubs, she stopped at
the school and gave a talk to the girls of Pleasant Valley School about
their hair and hats. She said that so many women and girls forget to take
care of their hair. It should be washed once a month in hot water with
castile soap and perhaps with the white of an egg, and then thoroughly
rinsed. The comb and brush should be washed once a week. Marjorie Allen's
mother has beautiful hair, and she says she does as Miss Travers told
the girls; and also she brushes her hair carefully to remove dust, every
night before going to bed, and braids her hair in two braids for the
night. This is a very good way to care for one's hair.
Have you ever noticed how some girls nearly lose all their hair because
they burn it or dry it up with the curling irons? One should be very
careful always to test the irons on a paper. Burned hair is not
beautiful. So often girls forget that the becomingness of a hat will
depend on the way the hair is taken care of or dressed.
[Illustration: FIG. 137.--Which arrangement of hair and bow do you think
most appropriate for school wear?]
Large bows, out of proportion to the size of the head, are very poor
taste. A bow as well as a hat should suit the face in line as well as
color, and a bow which stands way out in conspicuous angles is not good
in line, as it is not apt to conform to the lines of the face and of
the head wearing it. Have you noticed this? Perhaps you can try to
rearrange some of the bows the girls are wearing to school so they will
be in better taste. Cleanliness of the head and hair, and a clean, clear
complexion, which comes from proper food and good digestion as well as
from cleanliness, are the best backgrounds for a hat. Any girl who has
this charm of cleanliness can with thought choose a hat which will be
becoming. Hats, also, emphasize the defects as well as the good points
of the wearer; so neatness and a becoming way of arranging the hair will
help very much. Perhaps some of the girls would like to learn to make
hats, too. The hat is the most difficult article of the whole wardrobe
to select. Most girls and women wear hats that are too small and that
stand on the top of the head instead of fitting it. Good taste, Miss
James says, in choosing hats means the very thing we have studied about:
artistic appreciation, a knowledge of line and color and form as well as
appropriateness.
=Think about the shape and the lines of a hat.= Hats should be chosen or
planned, if one is making them, in relation to the whole figure. Do you
stand up or sit down before the mirror in selecting a hat? Try standing
up so you can see your whole figure and the relation of the hat to the
whole. You can tell then if the hat is too large or too small, whether it
overbalances the figure, or if the silhouette will be pleasing. Marjorie
Allen says since she has learned about these things she is surprised to
notice how few people have thought of this question of the silhouette.
Sometimes, the milliners are to blame too, for they do not always know
this secret. Marjorie says her new winter hat does not please her because
of the silhouette.
Miss Travers told the girls to think especially about lines. The
round-faced girl whose nose turns up a little will look best in a hat
that is slightly tilted in front or with a rolling brim at the side or
front. Barbara Oakes says she discovered that for herself. She had two
hats which rolled in that way; and she liked them better and was more
comfortable in them than in others. She also learned through experience
that she did not look well in narrow hats that bend over the face. Miss
Travers says it is true when one's face is full and the nose _retroussé_,
that such a shape is not apt to be becoming.
[Illustration: FIG. 138.--One can select a hat which will make a good
silhouette when one sees the whole figure before a mirror.]
Miss James says she noticed that long, thin faces look longer and thinner
in high pointed trimmings. What kind of trimming, then, would you
recommend for a long, thin face? For long faces, a brim worn slightly
forward will cast a shadow and so tend to shorten the length of the face;
and brims that are rolling and wide, counteract the effect of the long,
thin face. Do you see how very important it is to study the face and its
lines?
The way of dressing one's hair may make it difficult to choose a hat. If
the person with the long, thin face also draws back her hair sharply at
the sides, her face will look longer and it will be more difficult to
choose a hat for such a face. If the hair is worn very fluffy when one
has a very round, full face, then the face is apt to look fuller. So you
see hairdressing is very important to study too, if a girl is to look her
best and choose the most becoming hats.
=Color, too, should be kept in mind.= Some skins are pale; others are
rosy. Black makes the complexion look white and should not be worn next
to a dark, swarthy skin. Browns are apt to look well with auburn hair
like Jane Alden's. She has such a clear complexion. Barbara's mother,
Mrs. Oakes, with gray eyes and hair, will look well in gray.
We have studied about contrasting colors. The contrasting colors for a
person with light hair will be quite different from the colors for a
person with auburn hair. Notice what is said in the lesson about color in
selection of dress. This is true of hats too.
=Select a hat that is becoming.= In choosing hats aim always to get
what is becoming to _you_ and _your style_ rather than the extremes of
fashion. The latest styles can always be adapted to suit your style if a
milliner knows her business.
Remember that very often hats are not becoming because they are not WORN
PROPERLY. Sometimes the wearer forgets and pushes the hat back or to one
side; and then its lines do not conform to the outline of hair and head
and face. Study how to wear your hats. Large hats are often difficult to
wear because of correct balance.
[Illustration: FIG. 139.--Which way looks better?]
If you would like to try to make a simple summer hat, perhaps you can
buy a frame, and with your teacher's help learn to change and adapt it
to your face. It is easy to learn to sew straw on a frame and to trim
with a bow or flowers. Simple trimming for young girls is always the most
pleasing; flowers, wings, quills, and simple bows are the most suitable.
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS
1. What things will you have in mind when you go to the milliner's
to select a new hat, or to have your old hat remodeled? Write a
list of the principal points to be kept in mind in choosing.
2. Bring to school pictures of hats adapted to faces; some that
are not. You can find these in old fashion magazines; perhaps
in old portraits. Pin them on your classroom Bulletin Board.
Criticize. Your teacher will probably have some too. Why is this a
good subject to study?
LESSON 4
MAKING THE MIDDY BLOUSE
The Pleasant Valley girls will make middy blouses and so complete
their gymnasium suits. Will you not wish to complete your suits
too?
The girls have found their bloomers and skirts very useful, and
are glad to make the middy blouse too. They will use the same
material as for the skirt.
By this time the Pleasant Valley girls are so expert that they make no
mistakes in laying on their patterns or in cutting out garments. They are
very particular to have the long line of single perforations indicating
the length lying exactly on the warp threads of the cloth. Jane Smith
says she can tell exactly which pieces must be cut double on a fold of
the goods. Can you? The girls sent for patterns for 34 bust measure and
for 38. Some of the girls are quite large for their age--Jane Andrews and
Barbara both are large and will need the 38 size.
Miss James opened a pattern and held up all the pieces. She pinned them
to the dress form so as to show the relationship of each piece to the
figure. Can you do this, too, before you begin to cut, and so learn which
pieces are to be cut on a fold? Then lay the pattern on your cloth most
carefully and pin ready for cutting. Do not cut until your teacher says
you may. Learn to use a tracing wheel and trace your seams, so all will
match in putting the middy together. This garment will be made entirely
by machine, except the hand processes of basting and gathering. Hems and
facings should be carefully basted before being stitched. Good, perfect
stitching improves all such tailored garments. Poor stitching spoils the
effect.
=How to make a middy blouse.= After the pattern has been carefully laid
on, and the material cut out, this is the way to make and finish a middy
blouse:
1. Baste, with the seams on the outside, shoulder, and underarm
seams. Try on. If necessary in order to fit more smoothly across
the chest, let the front drop; if extra fullness across the chest
is desired, let out under the arms. The shoulder seams will be
finished, but not the underarm. Mark with tracing or pencil the
new seam for underarm if you must change it.
Make a flat fell seam at the shoulder, ½-inch wide finished. You
have all learned how.
2. The sleeves, which are in one piece, are put in next, before
the sleeves or underarms are seamed. Match the notches, gather
the sleeves if there is any fullness at armhole, and baste in the
sleeves so that the seam is on the right side. Make flat fells,
basting the turn which falls over the sleeves so that it will lie
very flat.
3. Baste seams of sleeve and underarm all in one long seam on
right side. Match at armhole. Make flat fell, turning the fell
towards the front (see page 216).
4. Hem the bottom of the middy with one inch hem.
5. Finish the neck next. Prepare the collar with its facing
according to the notches of the pattern and directions. Sew; turn
to right side. If the collar is to be decorated with finishing
braid, this decorating should be done before the collar and facing
are sewed together. Attach collar to middy, right of center collar
to right of the center back of middy. The seam will then fall on
the inside towards the neck and will be concealed by the facing
which should be turned in and sewed over the seam. Patterns
for middies vary, and other methods of attaching collar may be
suggested. A loose ribbon or scarf of silk can be tied under the
collar to form a sailor's knot.
6. Then finish the sleeve. The sleeve may be finished with a half
inch hem and rolled as many are worn, or a cuff can be attached
which will be of the same width as the sleeve or just to fit the
wrist. In the latter case, the fullness of the sleeve must be
gathered to fit.
[Illustration: FIG. 140.--Eyelets were made by some girls, in the front
of their middy waists.]
The girls of Pleasant Valley School made sleeves of three quarter length,
and attached a turned-up cuff of same width as sleeve. This cuff was made
double: the two pieces sewed together, turned, and attached to the sleeve
with the seam, on the outside of sleeve. The facing, then, concealed the
seam and, when the cuff was turned up, was entirely concealed. This makes
a very neat finish inside the sleeve.
Some of the girls, those who worked rapidly, made eyelets at the front
of the middy and laced the middy. Eyelets are punched with a stiletto or
sharp point, and are worked like a buttonhole, only perfectly round.
The girls of Pleasant Valley will give an entertainment of calisthenic
exercises as soon as their middy suits are entirely completed. The
boys will also give some exercises with the dumbbells and join in the
folk dancing. "The Pleasant Valley News" has already announced this
entertainment at the Town Hall. Every body in Pleasant Valley is going.
The money will be used to pay for some of the furnishings of the Ellen H.
Richards House.
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS
1. Draw a sketch of your middy blouse. How will yours differ from
the one in the picture?
2. Try to make another middy at home.
LESSON 5
SUGGESTIONS FOR BUYING GARMENTS OF WOOL AND SILK
Miss Travers from the State College talks to the girls of Pleasant
Valley School about buying clothing, especially of wool or silk.
You, too, will wish to know what Miss Travers said.
=Have you ever considered whether it is wise or not to buy your clothing
ready-made?= Most of the mothers of the Pleasant Valley girls make the
garments at home with some assistance from the visiting dressmaker.
What a help the Pleasant Valley girls will be when the dressmaker comes
to their homes. They are not old enough to take full responsibility, but
they will surely be able to assist after the dressmaker has planned. This
will help their mothers, too. Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Stark, and Mrs. Oakes have
already discovered how many good suggestions their daughters have to give.
=It is sometimes wise to buy things ready-made.= In our grandmothers' day
this was impossible. Grandmother Stark used to stitch all Grandfather
Stark's shirts by hand and make his overalls. To-day one can buy good
serviceable garments like overalls, rompers, shirts, etc., at moderate
prices, ready-made. Just what should be made at home should be determined
by the mother, and will depend on her time and duties at home. Some
mothers can so organize their household work that they have time for some
sewing too, and they enjoy the change of work. It pays to make certain
garments because the workmanship is often better and one can choose
one's own materials. This means that the life of the garment is apt to
be longer. This is economy if one has the time and strength; but it
never pays if one sacrifices other things like fresh air, exercise, some
relaxation, for the sake of saving a little money.
=What should you consider in buying ready-made garments?= Miss Travers
says it never pays to buy flimsy materials, cheap lace edging, or
insertions which are poorly put together and will tear. One can instead
purchase ready-made garments which are plain. It is not always possible
to afford the time to make dainty, fine, handmade underwear, which soon
wears out; but one can often spare the time to construct a few pairs of
more durable drawers, and corset covers, by machine for everyday wear,
when one realizes how much greater will be the life of the garment.
If one is buying ready-made garments, one should think about the
following things:
1. Is the _material_ suitable? will it wear well? is the color suitable
or will it fade very soon?
2. Consider the _workmanship_. Are the seams well sewed? Is the stitching
very coarse, or does the garment look well finished? Is the appearance
neat, or will it pull apart very soon?
3. _The construction_ should be examined. Is the garment well cut, or
is it cheap because it is scant in fullness? This may not permit of
freedom in movement, and the garment may have to be cast aside because
uncomfortable. Then money is wasted.
4. It never pays to buy anything which one does not need. It is well
to have foresight and to plan for what one will need for the year,
but experience soon teaches one the quantity. It is foolish to buy
unnecessary things because they are pretty. One should learn not to be
tempted.
5. It sometimes pays to wait until certain seasons for purchasing
garments. Between seasons one can get well-made articles of clothing at
considerable reduction, if one can wait. Winter garments are reduced in
January or February, and summer goods in July or August. It often pays
to wait. In planning one's wardrobe, one can think about this. January
is often a good time to buy household linens or other furnishings at a
reduction.
6. The use of garments should guide one in making a selection. It is
necessary to study one's whole wardrobe and to know what is needed. A
girl engaged in business will need an entirely different wardrobe from
one who spends most of her time at home helping mother. The first step,
then, in economy is to know one's needs and to purchase accordingly.
Is the garment needed and suitable for the occasion? Remember about
appropriateness, and buy garments which will render the service needed.
One does not wear silk dresses for housework.
7. Sometimes undergarments are made in sweatshops under very undesirable
conditions for health. The garments are cheap because made by poorly
paid workers under very unsanitary conditions. Do you wish to wear such
garments? As long as women buy the cheap kind made at the sacrifice of
human life, this sweatshop system will continue. One can buy inexpensive
underwear made under sanitary conditions. It is labeled with a tag of
the Consumers' League. This is an organization which is trying to better
the conditions in workrooms and shops in which clothing is made and to
improve wages and working hours. This League permits the use of its
label on white underwear made under the conditions they approve of: no
work outside of factories, no child labor under sixteen years of age, and
obedience to the state labor laws. The labels are used by firms agreeing
to fulfill the above requirements. If you are purchasing underwear,
perhaps you can buy some with the Consumers' League label. It looks like
this (Fig. 141). Miss James wears this kind, and Mrs. Oakes and Mrs.
Allen, too, now that they know about it.
[Illustration: FIG. 141.--Consumers' League Label and Union Label.]
8. It is sometimes more economical to decide on a particular color for
a season. One can, as a rule, wear one's clothes to more economical
advantage and look better dressed by choosing a particular color than if
one has a red dress, a blue coat, and a green dress for best. The coat is
probably worn with both dresses and may not look well.
9. Remember, if one has only a limited amount of money for clothes,
one should not try to buy the very latest fashions. Exaggerated styles
live but a short time, and some of us must wear our clothes for a long
time, until they are worn out. If materials are good, one can often have
one's clothes remade, by combination with a little new material of a
contrasting kind. A knowledge of textile materials and values will always
help in selecting either ready-made clothing or materials.
10. Remember you must _know_ about the things you wish to purchase.
Clerks as a rule know very little about the goods they sell. If you know,
you can make the dollars earned buy more than if you were ignorant.
[Illustration: FIG. 142.--It takes much thought to learn to buy
intelligently.]
=What should you think about in buying materials?= Here are some of the
hints for purchasing wool and silk materials or garments which Miss
Travers gave the Pleasant Valley girls. Talk them over with your teacher.
See if you agree.
1. Garments made of wool and cotton mixed do not keep their shape as well
as all wool. If one can afford only wool and cotton, the salesman should
tell one in purchasing about their composition. The mixture should be
cheaper. It is often sold for all wool at a higher price. If one untwists
the fibers of the material, it is possible to detect cotton. Try at
school on some ravelings of garment seams or other materials. The burning
test will help one to decide. We shall learn some tests in our next
lesson.
2. Remember wool is an expensive fiber. Do not expect to get all wool for
little money.
3. Remember the weave affects wearing quality. A close twill weave is
often more durable than a basket weave.
Do you remember your lessons about silk; how it is grown and made by the
little worm, and how it is manufactured or spun into thread or woven into
silk cloth? In buying silk one must remember about its manufacture.
1. Silk is seldom pure. It is apt to be weighted. If the silk feels heavy
in the hand, it does not always mean that it is a good piece of material
and will wear; it may be weighted with tin; up to 30 per cent of tin is
not harmful. A softer, pliable silk is not apt to be so weighted, and
will wear better. Soft silks so woven as to pull at the seams are not
economical. Close weaves are better than loosely woven ones for wearing.
2. Fray some of the threads of the cloth you wish to buy. Is it possible
to break either the warp or woof easily? If so, the silk will split
along either warp or filling and will not wear.
3. One should not expect to get bargains in silk. Cheap silk will not
wear. It is better to wear some other material. Is the material made of
reeled silk or of spun silk? You have learned the difference. Articles
made of reeled silk are more expensive.
4. Silk is sometimes adulterated with cotton or artificial silk and sold
for all silk. We shall learn some tests in our next lesson so we may
discover too.
Miss James talked over all these points with the Pleasant Valley girls
and showed them some good and bad materials. The girls decided to be on
the lookout for these things. Will you?
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS
1. Bring to school garments or materials which have not worn well.
Try to find out why. Your teacher will help.
2. Write a composition about things to think about in purchasing a
new winter suit ready-made. If you must buy from a catalogue, can
you judge about the wearing qualities?
LESSON 6
LEARNING TO USE SOME SIMPLE TEXTILE TESTS
Miss James and the girls of Pleasant Valley tried some simple
tests for materials. Perhaps you would like to try them too?
The Pleasant Valley girls became so interested in Miss Travers' talk
about textiles and how difficult it is to buy intelligently that they
decided to learn to judge materials and to study about adulterations.
=How are clothing materials adulterated?= Miss James told the girls that
there are a number of ways of adulterating materials, and that most
women shoppers are so indifferent that manufacturers have been able to
adulterate the materials of everyday use. This increases the cost of
living, for materials do not wear so long. Miss James says that textiles
should be labeled so we may know what we are buying. Some kind of
adulterations are honest if the goods are so marked; but, when sold for
something they are not, the buyers are fooled. The tests help one to know
whether materials are adulterated or not. Let us learn first some of the
methods generally used in adulterating, and then some of the simple tests.
_Weighting_ is one method of adulterating. This means that something else
has been used beside the material. In cotton and linen material, sizing
or starch is pressed in with the rolling in finishing. After washing,
this material will be found to be very open in mesh instead of smooth.
Notice some of the smooth linen table cloths before they are laundered.
Afterwards you will notice they look quite coarse and have lost their
smoothness. Sometimes glue or clay or gums are used instead of starch.
Silk is often weighted in the finishing process with sugar and some with
dyes and metals. This is because silk has a property which enables it
to absorb a great deal of moisture without changing its quality. The
manufacturer can buy salts and dyes for less than silk, and so he often
uses a large per cent of dye or metal in place of the gum washed out
of the silk in manufacture. One can seldom find to-day silks like our
grandmothers used to use. This is because people wish cheap silks; the
manufacturer cannot produce silks for little money, as the raw fiber is
so high; and so he uses other things with silk to weight it.
Materials are also adulterated by _combination_ with other materials.
Did you ever buy a handkerchief marked "pure linen" and discover it was
a mixture of cotton and linen? Cotton is also used to adulterate woolen
materials, and sometimes silk materials; "pure silk" so called, is often
artificial silk.
[Illustration: FIG. 143.--One can sometimes test materials by burning.]
Adulteration is also practiced when made-over materials or waste is used
to cheapen the cost. We learned about this in studying about wool. Wool
materials should be labeled so that the purchaser will know. It is not
fair to pay the price for an all-new wool material if shoddy and mungo
and flocks, which are all old wool and waste, have been used. The per
cent of new wool should be told and the price made accordingly.
Silk is sometimes sold as reeled silk when waste from cocoons which is
called spun silk has been used for the woof or filling thread.
In _finishing_ of materials, adulteration is sometimes practiced. In
pressing cotton or linen, a luster is given to the surface. Cotton can
be made to appear like silk or like linen, and is often sold for those
fibers. Cotton can be napped in finishing and made to look woolly as in
blankets or outing flannel, but it is still only cotton.
[Illustration: FIG. 144.--The microscope reveals many things.]
=How can clothing material be tested?= These are the simple tests which
the Pleasant Valley girls learned:
=For sizing.= This is easy to identify. Pick at the surface with your
nail, and the starch or sizing will easily come off. Hang a wet piece
in the air and see how the gloss looks then. This sizing often conceals
defects in the cloth. These can be seen if the material is thin, by
holding it against the light.
[Illustration: FIG. 145.--The test for fading.]
=Burning tests.= The girls unraveled the fibers which Miss James gave
them and tested wool, silk, cotton, and linen. They tried both warp and
filling threads. They burned them with a taper. The animal threads (which
are they?) burned slowly, charred, and smelled like burned feathers.
Silk burns to an ash, except when weighted. Then it burns more slowly.
When very heavily weighted, the flame does not burn readily and the form
of the silk will remain. The vegetable fibers, cotton and linen, burn
quickly and with a flame.
[Illustration: FIG. 146.--The test for shrinkage.]
=Tests with microscope.= You have all seen the appearance of the fibers
under the microscope. This reveals many things, and the unraveled fibers
are easily identified. The microscope is the only sure test for telling
cotton and linen fibers. One can sometimes discover shoddy mixed with
the all-wool fiber because of the color. Shoddy is sometimes made of old
colored woolen rags.
=Tests for fading.= Pin a piece of cloth on a board with thumb tacks.
Cover half with cardboard or heavy paper. Expose to the rays of sun
for several days. Remove paper and notice difference. A piece can also
be exposed near bright light, but not in sun's rays, to see the effect
under ordinary wear. Marjorie Allen tested a piece of cashmere she was
considering for a dress and decided not to buy it, for it faded quickly
near the bright light.
[Illustration: FIG. 147.--The test for strength.]
=Tests for strength.= Try to break either warp or woof threads. Place
the two thumbs together and press down on the cloth which should be held
firmly in the hands. Try both sets of threads. Sometimes a weak warp or
woof can be discovered.
=Tests for shrinkage.= Barbara Oakes had a white cotton dress last year
which never seemed to stop shrinking. Sometimes we can test materials for
shrinkage. Measure width and length of sample to be tested. Wash it in
hot water and soap. Dry and measure again. Is it narrower and shorter?
In planning for cotton or woolen garments allowance should be made for
shrinkage.
[Illustration: FIG. 148.--The chemical tests show many things of use in
judging materials.]
=Chemical tests.= Chemicals are used for identifying fibers. Have you
learned in your eighth grade studies about acids and alkalies? Have
you studied at all about chemicals? It is possible to discover the
composition of woven materials by testing them with chemicals. This
is because acids and alkalies affect vegetable and animal fibers in
different ways. Look up the difference between acids and alkalies.
Study with your teacher and try to discover some of the common food and
cleaning materials which we use every day in our homes which are acid or
alkali. Some of these teach us we should know what the soaps and washing
powders which we use will do to our clothes. Your teacher will provide
some chemicals for testing. It is easier to test samples of cloth if they
are fringed at the edges. Here are directions for some chemical tests:
1. Place a piece of white cotton cloth and a piece of woolen
material in small dishes. Cover with 50 per cent solution of
nitric acid. The wool fibers will turn yellow. The cotton remain
white. If a piece of wool cloth was mixed with cotton, how would
the test prove it?
2. Boil samples of cotton and wool together; then samples of
cotton and silk together, for fifteen minutes in a 5 per cent
solution of caustic potash. The animal fibers will dissolve, the
cotton will remain. Of what use would this test be?
3. Moisten samples of cotton and of wool with Millon's reagent.
Place in porcelain dishes and heat gently. The animal fibers will
become red; the vegetable are unchanged.
4. Material made of cotton and linen and sold for all linen can
be tested. Place fringed sample in a porcelain dish. Heat gently
in 50 per cent solution of caustic potash for two minutes. Remove
with glass rod and dry between blotting papers. The linen will be
dark yellow in color and the cotton white or light yellow.
So we have learned a few tests of different kinds. There are many more.
When you go to high school you can learn about others. The Pleasant
Valley girls enjoyed making these tests with Miss James' help. Perhaps
you may be able to try them with your teacher.
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS
1. Try the above chemical tests with your teacher's help.
2. Try some of the other tests for adulterations.
3. Tell four ways in which materials are adulterated.
LESSON 7
HOW PATTERN IS MADE IN CLOTH
Barbara said she never could quite see how pattern is made in
cloth. There seem to be so many different kinds of patterns. Miss
James explained about this. She said there are several ways of
making patterns. Some are printed; others woven; some embroidered.
Have you discovered this?
=Patterns are often woven.= Do you remember, when you studied about
linen, you learned that the Jacquard loom has a series of cards above
it which are able to control the pattern? Wonderful silks and beautiful
velvets and brocades as well as damask table linen are made in this way
by weaving. Patterns of stripes and plaids are also made by the loom in
weaving. Sometimes the warp or the filling threads are colored; and this
color forms patterns in stripes or squares. See if you have any pieces in
your surprise box in which pattern is made by colored threads of warp or
woof.
Try to find some woven patterns made by the Jacquard loom in silk or
linen. Think of all the beautiful ribbons, silks, tablecloth damasks,
towels, and napkins; all such patterns are woven by the loom. Plain
patterns like basket weave, twill, diagonal, satin weave, are also made
by weaving. See if you can work out some of these patterns on your school
loom.
=Some patterns are printed.= On the plain woven material, patterns are
printed by means of rollers on which the pattern has been stamped. The
colors are put on by this roller. The picture shows the machine. Did you
ever have a calico apron or dress of percale or cambric on which the
pattern showed on one side only? Many ribbons are printed with a pattern,
but sometimes patterns are put on both sides of the cloth. Again,
printing is sometimes done on the warp threads before the filling thread
is woven in. This makes a dull effect in pattern. Miss James had a piece
of ribbon which was so printed. When it was ravelled out a little, the
printed warp could be seen.
[Illustration: _Courtesy of Cheney Bros._
FIG. 149.--Printing cloth by machinery.]
Did you ever see a foulard silk dress with white spots? Do you know how
they are made? There are two. methods. One is called "resist," and the
other "discharge." The first method, "resist," is easy to understand.
The material is printed before it is dyed. The spots are printed with
a chemical which resists the dye when it is put in the dye bath. So
the cloth comes out of the dye with white spots where the chemical was
stamped. The "discharge" method is just the opposite. The cloth is dyed
blue or black or whatever the color is to be, and then it is passed
between rollers something like your wringing machine and the color is
taken out in spots by chemicals. Sometimes, when the chemicals are too
strong or cheap, they eat the cloth. Jane Alden's cousin had a dress from
which the white spots fell out, leaving holes.
Patterns are sometimes printed on cloth by means of wood blocks or
stencils. Perhaps you can do some printing on plain cloth. You can make a
stencil pattern. Cut out the design in it and paint through the holes, or
cut a design from a piece of wood, dip it in color, and print the cloth.
Lovely materials are made by hand in this way. Miss James has a beautiful
English piece of Morris block printing which she values highly.
=Many patterns are embroidered.= Look in the piece box. Sometimes
embroidered designs are worked on cloth by hand, but many are made by
machine. Miss James has a scarf which came from India. It is embroidered
in gold with little bits of glass sewed on the right side, and held by
the embroidery. This is all hand work. Miss James has a waist with little
spots of white embroidered in silk. This is done by machine on a loom.
Find some piece of material embroidered by machine.
So Barbara Oakes now understands about the patterns. Miss James had some
books to show the girls, too. They looked up in the encyclopedia about
printing of materials and about the other things they wished to know
about patterns. Barbara says to her the most wonderful thing is the way
in which the warp threads of the loom can be controlled by the Jacquard
pattern cards and other devices. The shed of the warp as it is raised for
each filling thread is governed by the devices, and a different set of
threads bobs up for each shuttle throw.
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS
1. Mount on strips of cardboard, samples of material made:
_a._ By weaving, plain, stripes, diagonal, etc.
_b._ By printing, resist, discharge, machine, block, stencil;
_c._ By embroidery.
2. Look up in the encyclopedia or other books the subject of
cotton printing.
3. Try to find pictures of modern looms and more primitive ones in
which pattern is controlled by the harness which raises the warp
threads and makes the so-called shed.
REVIEW PROBLEMS
I. Look over the fashion pages of your magazines at home and find:
1. A young woman suitably dressed for business.
2. A girl dressed for outdoor sports.
3. A girl in a party gown.
Tell why you think each is "well dressed." If not, why?
II. What textile tests would you suggest when buying a silk dress.
Mrs. Stark expects to have one next summer. How will she be able
to judge if it will wear?
III. Can you make another middy at home. Perhaps you are so expert
you can take an order for one.
THE ELLEN H. RICHARDS HOUSE
[Illustration: _Courtesy of Mr. R. J. Planten._
FIG. 150.--The Ellen H. Richards house.]
You will be glad to know that all the townspeople in Pleasant Valley were
delighted with the year's work in homemaking in the new schoolhouse.
Mr. Roberts, the President of the Pleasant Valley Bank, was so pleased
with the results both at school and in the homes of the valley that he
gave the house that you see in the picture (Fig. 150), to be used for
homemaking work by the girls, and for the boys' clubs as well. The house
was named for Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, the great and good woman who lived
in Boston, Massachusetts, but whose friends are found all over the world,
and who helped to develop the teaching of home economics everywhere.
=What are some of the facts about clothing and health that a girl may
learn, useful to herself and her family?= This is the question at the
beginning of the first chapter. Do you not think that you can all give
an answer to this question now? And would you not like to write a
composition about it? Perhaps your teacher will have a gathering at the
school of all the fathers and mothers; and maybe one of you can write a
little play or pageant connected in some way with household arts for this
closing party of the school year. Perhaps you are able now to design your
costumes and make some of your garments or, at least, to select them more
wisely.
=And where is Pleasant Valley?= Perhaps you asked this question when you
looked at the picture on one of the first pages. Pleasant Valley is your
own home town; and, though it has really quite another name, it may still
be Pleasant Rivers, or Pleasant Hill, or Pleasant Fields, or Pleasant
Plain. Why not? In this wide country of ours there are many forms of
natural beauty; and even in the dry sections, where trees are grown
with difficulty, there are still the far reaches of the plains and the
beautiful effects of cloud, sunrise, and sunset. If our own town is ugly
and unhealthy, it is not Nature's fault; for the beauty and home-likeness
and the healthfulness of any place depend upon its inhabitants. Even the
simplest and plainest village or countryside has one kind of beauty if it
is kept perfectly clean, and it costs but little money in many places to
plant trees and shrubs and keep the grass green.
You must see, however, that it is something more than beauty in the
things about us that we have been studying together. You boys and girls
in your school are to be the men and women who will make the homes and
the town the best possible places for successful and happy living. Do
you realize what it means to be citizens of a great commonwealth like
this of our United States? Do you understand the meaning of the word
"commonwealth"? It is a good old word that means a land where all the
people share everything alike and work together for the good of all. We
cannot succeed in doing this unless we begin in our home and in our home
town. More and more must our country stand for democracy for ourselves
and for the whole world, and you must bring to the problems of the
future, bodies strong and clean, and strong hearts and minds.
INDEX
Adulteration:
by combination, 280.
by weighting, 279.
in finishing, 281.
Albatross, 210.
Alpaca, 213.
Ammonium phosphate for outing flannel, 9.
Aniline dyes, 134.
Apparel:
choosing, 242.
Apron:
attaching the yoke, 37-39.
basting skirt part, 33.
cutting skirt part, 31.
cutting yoke part, 33.
gathering top of, 36.
hemming sides and bottom, 36.
material for, 7.
planning pattern for yoke, 32.
planning to make, 31-33.
sewing seams of, 34-36.
the sewing, 127, 128.
useful, 129.
"Artistic appreciation" in dress, 254-255.
Attaching an apron yoke, 38.
Basting:
corset cover, 106.
gores of petticoat, 104.
hemmed patch, 173.
skirt of apron, 33.
stitch, 20.
Bathing, 91.
Bean bags, making, 29.
Bean bag board, 29.
Bean bag game, 29, 30.
Bias bands, to finish, 99.
Bias strip, cutting and placing, 24-25.
Birdseye, 62, 183.
Blankets, 214.
Blanket stitch:
how to make, 138.
uses of, 44, 138, 141.
Bleaching linen cloth, 195.
Bloomers:
bands for, 217.
making, 215-217.
material to use for, 202.
pattern for, 201.
Bluing, 190.
Bobbin, 67, 68.
Boiling linen, 190.
Brilliantine, 213.
Broadcloth, 211.
Brocaded satin, 124.
Brushing clothes, 157.
Bunting, 213.
Butchers' linen, 183.
Button, sewing on, 45.
Buttonhole:
fan and bar ends, 43.
finishing, 44.
overcasting, 41, 42.
placing, 40.
practice in making, 39.
stitch, 42, 43.
turning corner, 43.
Buying:
garments, 271-278.
materials, 276-278.
points about, 197-199.
Calico, 7.
Cambric, 60.
Canton flannel, 8.
Carding:
by hand, 76-77.
cotton, 72, 74.
wool, 222-224.
Caring for clothes, 155-174.
Carpets, 214.
Cashmere, 210.
Catch stitch, how to make, 150-152.
Chain stitch, 119.
Challis, 210.
Chambray, 7.
Cheesecloth, use of, 9.
Cheviot, 209.
Chiffon, 125.
China silk, 125.
Chintz, use of, 9.
Cleanliness of body, 89-92.
Cloth:
how made, 74-76, 132-137, 191-196, 218-224.
how pattern is made in, 285.
Clothes:
appropriate, 251.
brushing, 157.
care of, 155-163.
choosing and wearing, 249, 250.
removing stains and spots from, 158.
things to learn about caring for, 156.
why important, 3.
Clothespin bag, 149-152.
Clothing:
budget, 230-236.
color for, 256-259.
expense of for a year, 230.
for body at night, 89-92.
helps save body heat, 91.
important things about wearing, 242.
night, aired during day, 90.
points about buying, 229.
ready-made, 271-272.
relation to health, 240-248.
selecting healthful, 244.
several layers of, warmer than one thick layer, 92.
things to think about in choosing, 242.
what to do with, at night, 89.
what to remember, in purchasing wool, 224-229.
why air at night, 89.
why changed at night, 90-92.
why we wear, 241.
Clothing budget, 230-236.
Cluny lace, 93.
Cocoons, grown for silk, 109-114.
Colored silks, 133.
Colors:
choice of, 256-260.
for clothing, 256.
for a hat, 266.
"grayed," 256-257.
intensity of, 257.
learning to combine, 259-260.
to bring out one's characteristics, 256-258.
Commercial pattern, how to use, 46-53.
Consumer's League, 275.
Corsets, 245.
Corset cover:
how to make, 106.
material for, 106.
nainsook for, 105.
Corticelli cocoons, 113.
Costume:
a background, 253.
a work of art, 252.
artistic, 254-255.
studying lines of, 261.
Cotton:
baled and shipped, 16.
carding, 72, 74.
fibers, 7, 14.
how grown, 12.
how spun, 74, 75.
loom for weaving, 66.
picking, 13.
seeds taken from fiber, 1.
spinning, 72-77.
use of, 65.
use of seeds, 15.
varieties of, 17.
weaving, 66-71.
where grown, 11-12.
Cotton cloth, how woven, 66-71.
Cotton crêpe, 60.
Cotton fibers, magnified, 14.
Cotton flannel, varieties of, 8.
Cotton ginning, 15.
Cotton materials, 7-10, 59-62, 101.
Cotton plant, 12.
Cousin Ann:
her clothes budget, 230-236.
how she cares for her clothes, 156-163, 249.
what she learned about dress, 251-256.
what she told about silk, 133-137.
Covert cloth, 211.
Crêpe de Chine, 123.
Cretonne, use of, 9.
Crinoline, use of, 9.
Cross-stitch:
design for, 144.
gifts made from, 146.
how to make, 144, 145.
use of, 143-146.
Damask, 183.
Darning, straight tears, 163-166.
Darning stitch:
for stockings, 167-169.
for straight tears, 163, 166.
how made, 152-153.
where to use, 166.
Decorating, stitches used for, 118-121.
(_See also_ Embroidery stitches.)
Denims, 8, 10.
Dimity, 60.
Dress:
artistic appreciation in, 254-255.
colors for, 258.
personal characteristics in relation to, 256-257.
spacing and arrangement of lines, 255.
use of colors, 255.
Dress Skirt:
laying and cutting pattern, 238.
making, 238-239.
pattern for, 236-238.
Duck, 61.
Dyeing silk, 134-135.
Ellen H. Richards House, 291.
Embroidery stitches:
blanket stitch, 138-141.
catch stitch, 150-152.
chain stitch, 119.
cross-stitch, 143-146.
featherstitch, 119, 120, 129, 130.
outline stitch, 121.
Embroidered patterns, 288.
Etamine, 213.
Eyelets, 270.
Factory, silk, 137.
Featherstitch:
how made, 119, 120.
use for, 129, 130.
Felt, 212.
Fibers:
cotton, 7, 14.
flax, 180.
silk, 111, 132.
wool, 205-207, 226.
Filling thread, 66.
Flannel, 212.
Flat felled seam, 216.
Flax:
breaking, 179.
combing and spinning, 191.
cultivation an ancient industry, 180-181.
fiber, 6, 180.
hackling, 193.
how grown, 176.
rippling and retting, 177-179.
rippling by hand, 178.
rovings, 193.
seeds, 184.
what is the, plant, 175.
wheel, 76, 192.
where grown, 175.
Flocks, 228.
Folding table linen, 190.
Foulard silk, 123.
Free-hand pattern, 46.
French seam:
how to make, 87-88.
use of, 86-88.
Galatea, 62.
Garments:
buying, 271, 278.
criticize your own, 251.
points to consider in buying ready-made, 272-276.
Gauge, for hem, 36.
"German Val," 94-97.
Gifts:
aprons, 129.
bag, 127.
clothespin bag, 149-152.
darning-case, 117.
guest towel, 146.
needle book, 117.
pin-case, 116, 117.
sewing apron, 127.
sewing-case, 118.
spool-case, 117.
useful cases, 130.
Gingham, 7, 10.
Grenadine, 213.
Guest towel, 146.
Hair, care of, 262-264.
Hamburg edging, 101, 103.
Handkerchief, linen, 182.
Handmade garments, 57-58.
Hanging table linen, 190.
Hat
becoming, 266-267.
color, 266.
how to wear, 267.
selecting, 262.
shape and lines of, 264-265.
trimming for, 267.
Health:
clothing in relation to, 240-248.
underwear effects, 245-247.
Heels, 162.
Hem:
gauge for, 36.
making on nightdress, 88.
turning around neck of nightdress, 98.
Hemmed patch, how to make, 171, 174.
Hemming stitch:
for hemmed patch, 171.
how made, 19-22.
why useful, 19.
Hemstitch:
different from hemming stitch, 147.
how to make, 147-148.
Henrietta, 210.
Herringbone stitch, 150.
Herringbone weave, 149.
Holder:
finishing, 27.
planning, cutting, and basting, 24.
Homespun, 210.
Huckaback, 62, 183.
Indian head, 61.
Ironing, 189, 190.
Jacquard Loom, 124.
Javelle water, 187.
Kimono night dress, 64.
Knitting machine, 167.
Lace:
cluny, 93.
German Val, 94, 96.
kinds of, 93, 96.
made by hand, 96.
names and retail prices of, 94-95.
other ways to finish instead of using, 97.
sewing on, 97-99.
torchon, 93, 95.
valenciennes, 94, 97.
Lady's cloth, 211.
"Latest style," 251.
Lawn, 61.
Linen:
bleaching, cloth, 195.
finishing, cloth for shipping, 195.
kinds of, 182-184.
manufacture of, 191-196.
weaving, 194.
where grown, 175.
(_See_ Flax.)
Linen canvas, 183.
Linen laces, 93, 96.
Linen materials:
adulteration in, 280.
how identified, 181-182.
kinds of, 182-183.
Linen sheeting, 182.
Linens:
how to wash and iron, 188-190.
points to be noticed in buying, 196-199.
Linseed oil, 184.
Loom:
for weaving cotton, 66-68.
hand, 67, 70, 71.
"in days gone by," 68.
in factory, 69.
Jacquard, 124.
primitive, 68, 71.
Luna moth, 111.
Materials:
adulterated, 279, 280.
buying, 276-278.
for apron, 31.
for bloomers, 202.
for underwear, 101, 106.
from cotton, 7-10.
from wool, 209-214.
linen, 182-184.
silk, 123-126.
weighted, 279.
Measurements:
how to take, 49-50.
Melton, 211.
Middy blouse, how to make, 268-271.
Mohair, 213.
Moire silk, 125.
Mull, 61.
Muslin, 59.
Nainsook, 59.
Nightdress:
cutting, 78.
french-seam, 86-89.
making hem of, 88.
material for, 63.
placing pattern, 78.
trimming, 98.
Nun's veiling, 212.
Organzine, 133.
Outing flannel, 9.
Outline stitch, 121.
Overcasting buttonhole, 41, 42.
Overhanding stitch, 28-30.
Pageant, 200.
Parts of sewing machine, 80-83.
Patch (_See_ Hemmed patch).
Pattern:
embroidered, 288.
for bloomers, 201.
for petticoat, 102.
how made in cloth, 285.
how woven, 285.
laying for bloomers, 215.
laying nightdress, 79.
opening and reading, 47-48.
opening and studying, 201.
printed, 286.
sending for, 47.
to change, 51.
to lengthen, 51.
Percales, 7, 10.
Petticoat:
learning to make, 103-105.
making, for children, 53-55.
material for, 101, 102.
pattern for, 102.
planning and cutting, 48-52.
Pincase, 116-118.
Placket, 105.
Pongee, 125.
Porch cushion, 140-141.
Pressing suits, and skirts, 157.
Printing cloth, 287.
Protecting clothes, 161.
Raw silk, 115.
Removing stains and spots, 158, 185-189.
Rinsing, 190.
Rubbers, 162.
Ruffle, making for petticoat, 104.
Running and backstitch, 34.
Running stitch, 165, 168, 169.
Russian crash, 139, 182.
Samplers, 143.
Samples for toweling, 6.
Satin, 123.
Scalloped edge, 142.
Seams, sewing with running and backstitch, 35.
Serge, 209.
Sewing, an art, 3.
Sewing apron, 127-129.
Sewing case, 118.
Sewing machine:
how to regulate, 83.
how to run, 84-86.
how to thread, 84-86.
invented, 81.
kinds of, 81.
parts of, 81-83.
things to remember about stitching with, 85.
Sewing on lace insertion or edging, 97.
Shearing sheep, 204-206.
Shears, 205.
Sheep, 204.
Sheep industry, 205.
Shoes:
buying, 243.
care of, 162.
Shuttle, 67-68.
Silhouette, 254, 255, 261.
Silk:
cocoons grown for, 112.
dyeing, 133-135.
fibers, 111, 132.
how produced, 109.
kinds of, 122-126.
moths, 109.
names of, 122-126.
raw, 114-115.
reeling, 114.
throwing, 132-133.
weaving by hand, 136-137.
weighting, 135, 279-280.
where manufactured, 131.
winding, 133.
Silk-scraps, articles made from, 116-122.
Silkworm:
life story of, 109-112.
where grown, 110.
Sizing:
test for, 281.
Skirt pattern, 47.
Skirts:
changing and lengthening pattern for, 50, 51.
pressing, 157.
to cut, 51, 52.
to make, 53-55.
Soap bark, 158.
Soap solution, 158.
Spinning, method of:
in modern factory, 73, 227.
primitive, 71.
Spinning:
cotton, 72-77.
flax, 191-194.
silk (_See_ silk throwing).
wool, 225-228.
Spinning wheel:
for flax, 75.
for wool, 74.
Sprinkling linen, 190.
Stains:
blood, 187.
coffee, 186.
fruit, 186.
grass, 187.
how removed, 185.
ink, 187.
tea, 186.
when to be removed, 185.
Stitches for decorating, 118-120.
(_See_ Embroidery stitches.)
Stitching stitch:
making, 25-26.
other uses of, 27.
use of, 23.
Stockinet, 167.
Stockings:
darning, 167-169.
how made, 167.
kind to buy, 170.
sewing rips in, 170.
Studying lines, 261.
Studying values, 255, 257, 259.
Suits, pressing, 157.
Table runner, 139.
Taffeta, 122.
Tears, learning to darn, 163-166.
Textiles:
for apron, 7, 8.
weighted, 279.
Textile sample books, 8.
Textile surprise book, 10.
Textile surprise box, opening, 58.
Textile test:
burning, 282.
chemical, 284.
for combination, 280.
for fading, 283.
for finishing, 281.
for shrinkage, 284.
for sizing, 281.
for strength, 283.
with microscope, 282.
Threading and running a machine, 84-86.
Ticking, 10, 149.
Torchon lace, 93, 95.
Toweling, material for, 6.
Towels, material for, 6-7.
"Tram", 133.
Tweed, 210.
Underwear:
cotton material for, 101.
relation to health, 245-247.
Uses of lace, 93-97.
Valenciennes lace, 94, 96.
Velvet, 125.
Voile, 212.
Warp thread, 67-68.
Washing and ironing, the process for, 189-190.
Weaving:
by hand, with simple loom, 67.
cotton, 69.
in modern factory, 69.
Japanese girl, 69-70, 136.
linen, 194.
patterns in cloth, 285.
silk, 124, 136-137
wool, 226-228.
Well-dressed, what it means to be, 250-255.
White petticoat, 101-102.
Wool:
blended, 221.
carder, 223.
carding, 222.
carding by hand, 76-77.
fibers, 205, 226.
how made into cloth, 218-228.
material made from, 209-215.
sheared from sheep, 206.
sorted, 218.
spinning, 225-228.
quality of, 207.
variety of fibers, 207.
washing or scouring, 220.
where grown, 203-204.
why it varies, 208.
Wool clothing, facts to remember about purchasing, 224-229.
Woolen garments:
points about buying, 229.
washing, 158.
Wool Voile, 213.
Woolen yarns, 225.
Workbag, 127.
Worsted yarns, 225.
Yarn:
spinning of cotton into, 72-77.
woolen and worsted, 225.
Yoke:
attaching, 38.
cutting, apron, 33.
making for apron, 37.
placing the lining, 39.
planning pattern for apron, 32.
Printed in the United States of America.
* * * * *
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| Transcriber notes: |
| |
| P.242. "5." changed to '3.". |
| P.262. 'characterisics' changed to 'characteristics'. |
| Various punctuation fixed. |
| |
| Note: The equals sign is used to surround =bold text=; |
| underscores to surround _italic text_. |
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