COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.
SECOND YEAR--FOURTH GRADE.
EQUIPMENT.
Sewing box.
Pin cushion--20 pins.
Thimble.
Needles.
Scissors.
Thread cards.
Practice Piece--Unbleached muslin 9" x 12".
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
Prepare Thread Cards--Cardboard 4" x 4", designed and cut for four kinds
of thread.
Exercise No. 11--Seam Sampler--Seam A--Combination Stitch.
Exercise No. 12--Emery Balls.[9]
Exercise No. 13--Seam Sampler--Seam B--Stitching.
Exercise No. 14--Bags--Christmas Piece.[10]
Exercise No. 15--Seam Sampler--Seam C--Half-Back Stitching.
Exercise No. 16--Doily--Blanket Stitch--Outline Stitch.[11]
Exercise No. 17--Seam Sampler--Seam D--French Seam.
Exercise No. 18--A Pair of Dolls' Pillow Cases.[12]
Exercise No. 19--Seam Sampler--Seam E--French Fell.
Exercise No. 20--Textile Fibers and Fabrics--Silk.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] See Electives, page 27.
[10] See Electives, page 27.
[11] See Electives, page 27.
[12] See Electives, page 27.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXERCISES.
_Review:_ One inch, one-half inch, one-fourth inch.
_Teach:_ One-eighth inch, three-eighths inch, seven-eighths inch.
SEAM SAMPLER.
_Materials:_ Plain percale 10" warp, 12" woof; white thread No. 50;
needle No. 7.
Five exercises of the Second Year Sewing will consist of seam work on
the Seam Sampler. _Each stitch will be first taught on the Practice
Piece._ Make pupils perfectly familiar with the names and uses of the
different stitches as they are taught. As the year's work progresses
compare the different seams and teach when, where and why these various
seams are used in garment making. See "Description of Seams," page 85.
That the pupils may not lose interest in their sewing the seam work is
alternated with miscellaneous exercises.
Fold the percale with the warp into three equal pieces. Cut off one
piece. Have each pupil label her large piece with her name. Collect and
put them away until ready for Seam B. Do not leave them in the boxes or
they will be lost, or soiled with too much handling.
EXERCISE NO. 11--SEAM A--COMBINATION STITCH.
See description of "Seam Sampler" given above.
_Materials:_ First section of Seam Sampler.
Fold with the warp through the center, and cut on the fold. Baste these
two edges together one-fourth of an inch from the edge. Sew with the
Combination Stitch three-eighths of an inch from the edge.
EXERCISE NO. 12--EMERY BALLS.[13]
_Materials:_ Unbleached muslin, 6-1/2" x 6-1/2"; red cashmere 6-1/2" x
6-1/2" (this amount provides for four); thread, yellow, white and red;
emery powder; needles No. 7 and No. 3; green luster cotton.
To cut the pattern of the strawberry emery ball: Draw a circle three
inches in radius, and cut on the line.
Cut a circle from the unbleached muslin for the lining and one a quarter
of an inch larger from the cashmere for the outside; cut both into
quarters.
To make the case: Fold the two edges of the muslin together and sew in a
seam with the combination stitch, rounding the point to give the
strawberry shape. Turn in a good seam at the top and gather. Fill with
the powdered emery and fasten the gathering thread by overhanding over
the top.
[Illustration: THE COMPLETED SEAM SAMPLER ILLUSTRATING EXERCISES NOS.
11, 13, 15, 17, AND 19.]
Before sewing up the outside put in the stitches, with yellow thread, to
represent the seeds of the strawberry as follows: Hold the wrong side of
the cloth toward you and put in a row of tiny stitches half an inch
apart. One-fourth of an inch above these put in another row with the
stitches midway between those of the last row, and so continue. If
desired these may be omitted and the seeds represented by French knots
when the strawberry is finished.
Seam up the outside, slip it over the case, arranging the seams on
opposite sides to avoid the possibility of powder sifting through.
Overhand the top and cover with the green luster cotton to represent the
calyx, leaving a loop for the stem.
EXERCISE NO. 13--SEAM B--STITCHING.
_Materials:_ Second section of Seam Sampler.
Fold with the warp through the center and cut on the fold. Baste these
two edges together one-fourth of an inch from the edge. Stitch
three-eighths of an inch from the edge.
EXERCISE NO. 14--BAGS--CHRISTMAS PIECE.[14]
The Christmas Piece will consist of bags of any size, shape or style for
which the pupils wish to furnish their own materials. This gives the
teacher an opportunity to exercise her own ingenuity and taste and to
have some individuality in her work. There is a great variety, from the
utility bag made of cheap, pretty material, costing only a few pennies,
to the more elaborate ones made of dainty silk or ribbon. A little tact
will easily adapt the style of bag to the home into which it is to go,
for the purpose for which it is to be used, and the purse of the donor.
Following are the directions for a simple button-bag:
_Materials:_ A soft washable fabric, 14" warp, 6" woof; thread; needles;
narrow tape 26 inches.
[Illustration: BAGS TO ILLUSTRATE EXERCISE NO. 14.]
Crease an inch hem at each end. Fold the cloth with the two hems right
sides together and baste from the lower edge of the hems to the bottom
of the bag. Stitch a quarter-inch seam. Turn in the ends of the hems
even with the sides of the bag and overhand from the top five-eighths of
an inch, leaving an opening for the tapes three-eighths of an inch wide
at the bottom of the hem. Baste and hem the hems, fastening securely
at each side of the tape openings, as there is considerable strain when
the tapes are drawn. Put in a row of running stitches parallel to and
five-eighths of an inch from the top of the bag, for the tape opening.
With a tape needle draw in the two tapes, sew the ends of each together
and draw out of opposite openings so that the place of joining will not
show. Overcast the seams.
EXERCISE NO. 15--HALF-BACK STITCHING.
_Materials:_ First and second sections of the Seam Sampler.
Baste the two sections together one-fourth of an inch from the edge. Sew
with the half-back stitch three-eighths of an inch from the edge.
EXERCISE NO. 16--A DOILY--BLANKET STITCH AND THE KENSINGTON OUTLINE
STITCH.[15]
_Materials:_ Imitation Butchers' Linen 9" x 9"; white luster cotton;
needle No. 5.
An exercise in paper cutting for the doily design. Have pupils provide
themselves with ten or twelve pieces of paper eight inches square for
practice cutting. Fold the first paper three times and cut a convex,
concave or compound curve from corner to corner. Open and study these
curved lines and select the most graceful. Cut again making corrections.
Cut a design in straight lines. Cut one composed of both straight and
curved lines. Do not work haphazard, but criticise, compare and reject.
The surface requires little decoration if the doily is pleasing in
outline. That which is placed upon it should have some relation to the
outline. Study the space to be decorated and how it can be divided or
ornamented by lines, curved or straight, that may serve as a real
decoration, but avoid too elaborate designs. Before beginning the doily
have a finished pattern. The pattern may be transferred to the cloth by
tracing the pattern with a hard pencil, using carbon paper between
pattern and cloth, or the pattern may be pinned on and the outline drawn
and the design put on freehand.
[Illustration: ORIGINAL DESIGNS FOR THE DOILY BY FOURTH GRADE GIRLS.]
To work the Doily. Finish the edge with the blanket stitch. See "Blanket
Stitch," page 73. Work the lines of the design with the Kensington
Outline Stitch.
EXERCISE NO. 17--FRENCH SEAM.
_Materials:_ Third section of the Seam Sampler.
Fold with the warp through the center and cut on the fold. Follow the
directions for the French Seam.
EXERCISE NO. 18--A PAIR OF MINIATURE PILLOW CASES.[16]
_Materials:_ Two pieces bleached muslin 7-1/2" warp, 8-1/2" woof; white
thread No. 50; needle No. 7.
In a pillow case the warp threads should run lengthwise of the pillow.
Crease a quarter-inch fold across one end and on both sides. Fold with
the warp through the center so that the seam just turned comes on the
inside, baste the folded edges together on the right side. Overhand on
the right side, using no knot, but sewing over the end of the thread.
Turn a three-quarter inch hem, baste and hem. Trim the seam and
overcast.
EXERCISE NO. 19--FRENCH FELL.
_Materials:_ Seam Sampler.
Sew Section Three of the Seam Sampler to the others with the French
Fell. Follow directions for the French Fell.
EXERCISE NO. 20--TEXTILE FIBERS AND FABRICS--SILK.
Under the heading "Textile Fibers and Fabrics," page 90, will be found
subject matter which can be used in correlation with the geography,
language and history work. The fourth grade subject is silk. Secure if
possible the silk cocoon and make a collection of silk fabrics. Language
papers on the subject can be illustrated with pictures cut from papers
and magazines.
ELECTIVES.
[13] A choice may be had between the strawberry and the tomato emery
ball.
TOMATO EMERY BALL--_Materials:_ Unbleached muslin 6" x 3"; red cashmere
6" x 3"; emery powder; red thread No. 50; green luster cotton.
To cut the pattern: Draw a circle one and one-fourth inches in radius
and cut on the line.
Cut the two pieces for the lining and the two for the outside of the
same size. Place the right sides of the two pieces of cashmere together
between the two pieces of lining. Baste all together. Sew with the back
stitch one-fourth of an inch from the edge, leaving an opening for
turning and filling. Turn in a seam at the opening, fill with powder and
close by overhanding the edges together. Flatten as much as possible and
make the creases seen in the tomato by tightly drawing the thread of
luster cotton from the center around the outside and back to the center,
repeating several times. Make a little tuft of the luster cotton in the
middle at the top.
[14] The order of the doily and the bag may be reversed, using the doily
for the Christmas piece instead of the bag, or the paper box may be
substituted. See "Cloth and Cardboard Construction," page 102.
[15] Simple toilet articles in white, such as a handkerchief case, may
be substituted for the doily, teachers planning their own designs.
[16] One pillow-case may be omitted and a pillow for the other case made
instead. This may be stuffed with crumpled bits of paper. Use unbleached
muslin for the pillow.