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HANDICRAFT FOR GIRLS
A TENTATIVE COURSE
IN
NEEDLEWORK, BASKETRY, DESIGNING, PAPER AND CARD-BOARD
CONSTRUCTION, TEXTILE FIBERS AND FABRICS
AND HOME DECORATION AND CARE
DESIGNED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND HOMES
_Prepared by_
IDABELLE MCGLAUFLIN
_Supervisor of the Girls' Handwork in the Denver Public Schools_
[Illustration]
Published by
THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS
PEORIA, ILLINOIS
COPYRIGHT
IDABELLE MCGLAUFLIN
1910
EXPLANATORY NOTE.
The exercises in this five-year course are based upon an estimated time
of one hour per week in the first two years, and one and one-half hours
in the last three, the school year consisting of thirty-eight weeks.
All materials, with the exception of that used for the full-sized
garments and some of the Christmas gifts, are supposed to be furnished
by the Board of Education. In many instances the pupils are allowed the
privilege of supplying themselves with a better grade of material if
they wish. In every case a substitute is given for the full-sized
garment if the home cannot furnish the material. All supplies can be
purchased by the class collectively or individually, if the Board of
Education so desires.
Every exercise in handicraft should embody an educational principle,
making sure the training of the judgment, the eye, or the memory, and
tending to develop skill, patience, accuracy, perseverance, dexterity or
artistic appreciation.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.--SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 7
General Directions for Pupils of Sewing
Classes. Drills for Beginners.
CHAPTER II--COURSE OF INSTRUCTION 11
First Year--Third Grade. Detailed Description
of Exercises.
CHAPTER III.--COURSE OF INSTRUCTION 19
Second Year--Fourth Grade. Detailed Description
of Exercises.
CHAPTER IV.--COURSE OF INSTRUCTION 28
Third Year--Fifth Grade. Detailed Description
of Exercises.
CHAPTER V.--COURSE OF INSTRUCTION 39
Fourth Year--Sixth Grade. Detailed Description
of Exercises.
CHAPTER VI.--COURSE OF INSTRUCTION 50
Fifth Year--Seventh Grade. Detailed Description
of Exercises.
CHAPTER VII.--DESCRIPTION OF STITCHES 62
Stitches Used in Plain Sewing. Ornamental
Stitches. Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER VIII.--TEXTILE FIBERS AND FABRICS 90
Silk. Cotton. Flax. Wool.
CHAPTER IX.--DRESS AND ITS RELATION TO ART 98
CHAPTER X.--PAPER, CLOTH AND CARDBOARD CONSTRUCTION 101
CHAPTER XI.--HOME FURNISHING, DECORATION AND CARE 112
CHAPTER XII.--BASKETRY 114
General Directions for making the Coil Basket.
The Sewed Baskets.
CHAPTER I.
SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.
The teacher's preparation for the lesson consists in doing each exercise
before presenting the lesson to the class. It will take some of your
time to do so, but it will save hours of time and much worry in the end,
and you will thus discover how best to present the difficult points of
the lesson. A well finished piece gives to the child a complete mental
picture of what she is undertaking, and acts as an inspiration; she will
work quicker, easier, and better because of it. This impulse and a clear
demonstration of the method of doing, will enable her to work far more
independently of the teacher than would otherwise be possible, and will
give more satisfactory results.
What are designated as "electives" in this book are designed to meet the
needs of classes or individuals doing the work a second time or of
teachers who find the regular work too difficult.
Large classes can be handled with less wasted energy by dividing the
class into groups that are doing the same work. This saves endless
repetition and enables the teacher to give better general supervision.
This is the most vulnerable point in class work. A teacher may work
laboriously and still waste her own and the children's time by too close
an adherence to the individual method of instruction. Those children
whose turn comes toward the end of the line will have lost much of the
value of the lesson. Children require constant supervision. It is not
teaching to examine the work when finished and order it ripped out. The
fault is then with the teacher and not with the child. Each successive
step should be inspected and corrected before the next one is taken. I
would go still farther and have every pupil, even in the advanced
grades, submit a sample of her work on every stitch to be used in each
exercise. Children are always eager to begin a new piece, and if
required to practice until the result is satisfactory will very soon do
good work. You then have this to refer to and can hold them to their
best.
There is absolutely no value in poor, careless, puttering work. Unless
the child has a high ideal and strives to reach it, the time of the
lesson is wasted. Encourage self-criticism. Work should be done to
one's own satisfaction whether it is to be seen by others or not.
Do not allow pupils to take their work home unless it is some required
practice work. It is not the object to cover a certain amount of ground,
but to inculcate high standards of excellence and some technical skill.
They cannot accomplish this by themselves. I would prefer that classes
do not complete the entire course rather than have good work sacrificed
to quantity. There is a difference between careful, painstaking effort,
and the puttering away of valuable time.
Avoid delay in distributing supplies.
Be sure that every member of the class understands clearly the object of
the lesson.
Do not encourage waste by a too liberal supply of material.
Too much stress cannot be laid upon the careful preparation of the cloth
to be used. Trim all edges neatly before hemming, facing, gathering,
etc. _Do not allow children to sew without basting._ The time required
for careful basting is well spent.
It is not expected that the various pupils of the class will advance
with the same degree of proficiency. Some will require a much longer
time on an exercise than others. As it is greatly to the advantage of
the class in the end, and saves time and tiresome repetition to give
each new exercise or stitch as a class lesson, the average pupils should
regulate the time for taking up new work. A teacher of resources will
find ways and means of bringing up the work of slow pupils, and
profitable 'busy work' for those who work more rapidly. For the former,
a little extra time each day--not as a punishment, but as an opportunity
to catch up--would be all that is necessary. For the latter, there is a
great variety of interesting, useful work.
It is a pedagogic truism that every teacher, consciously or
unconsciously, imparts to her class her own inclinations. An
enthusiastic class indicates an ardent interest on the part of the
teacher, and a distaste for work and a lack of zeal on the part of the
pupils are equally indicative of the teacher's attitude. Bear in mind
that an unprepared teacher or a poorly presented lesson can make almost
any exercise difficult and distasteful to the class. Do not blame pupils
for poor work for which you are yourself responsible.
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS
GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR PUPILS OF SEWING CLASSES.
1. Be sure that the hands are clean.
2. Always sit erect--well back in the seat--with the light coming over
the left shoulder, both feet upon the floor, because the body will not
become as tired, the hand will not shade the work and it is easier to
see the stitches. Do not fasten the work to the knee, because a stooping
position easily becomes a habit.
3. Place the thimble upon the second finger of the right hand. Either
the side or end of the thimble can be used. Never sew without one.
4. Measure the thread either from shoulder to shoulder or from the end
of the finger to the elbow. A long thread becomes soiled and worn before
being used up and is more liable to knot.
5. Wind the thread once around the forefinger and break from the spool,
because the broken thread twists more easily to a point than when cut.
Cut the thread from the work when finished to avoid drawing the stitches
or breaking at the wrong place.
6. Thread the needle from the end that hangs from the spool. In this way
you are working with the twist of the thread and there is less danger of
knotting and kinking.
7. Do not wet the thread in the mouth. Roll the end of the thread
between the thumb and forefinger and place through the eye of the
needle.
8. To tie a knot wind the thread around the forefinger once and a little
over, and twist by rubbing the finger down the side of the thumb. With
the nail of the second finger bring the knot thus formed to the end of
the thread.
9. Hold the unfinished work in the left hand.
10. Do not bite the threads.
11. Trim the selvedge, as it is hard to sew through and draws up when
washed.
12. The knot is always buried except in the basting which is to be
removed.
DRILLS FOR BEGINNERS.
DRILL 1. Threading the needle with cotton. Needle No. 8; colored thread.
a. Prepare the cotton by twisting between thumb
and forefinger.
b. Place the thread in the eye of the needle.
c. Draw the thread through with the right hand.
DRILL 2. Making the knot.
a. Hold the needle in the right hand and the end
of the thread in the left.
b. Wind the thread around the forefinger once and
a little over, and twist the threads together by
rubbing the finger down the side of the thumb. Do
not accept careless knots.
DRILL 3. Use of the thimble.
a. Push the needle with the thimble.
b. Push the needle back with the finger of the
left hand.
_Never allow a pupil to sew without a thimble._
DRILL 4. Threading the yarn needle.
a. Prepare the yarn by loosening the end with the
needle.
b. Place the yarn over the point of the needle and
draw into a smooth loop.
c. Draw the needle out and thread into the loop.
Needles No. 10 will carry thread No. 100 90 80
Needles No. 9 will carry thread No. 90 80 70 60
Needles No. 8 will carry thread No. 70 60 50 40
Needles No. 7 will carry thread No. 50 40 30 20
Needles No. 6 will carry thread No. 20 10
Needles No. 5 will carry Linen thread--Luster cotton