ON SEWING, CUTTING, AND MENDING.
Every young girl should be taught to do the following kinds of stitch,
with propriety. Over-stitch, hemming, running, felling, stitching,
back-stitch and run, buttonhole-stitch, chain-stitch, whipping, darning,
gathering, and cross-stitch.
In doing over-stitch, the edges should always be first fitted, either
with pins or basting, to prevent puckering. In turning wide hems, a
paper measure should be used, to make them even. Tucks, also, should be
regulated by a paper measure. A fell should be turned, before the edges
are put together, and the seam should be over-sewed, before felling. All
biased or goring seams should be felled. For stitching, draw a thread,
and take up two or three threads at a stitch.
In making buttonholes, it is best to have a pair of scissors, made for
the purpose, which cut very neatly. For broadcloth, a chisel and board
are better. The best stitch is made by putting in the needle, and then
turning the thread around it, near the eye. This is better than to draw
the needle through, and then take up a loop. A thread should first be
put across each side of the buttonhole, and also a stay-thread, or bar,
at each end, before working it. In working the buttonhole, keep the
stay-thread as far from the edge as possible. A small bar should be
worked at each end. Whipping is done better by sewing _over_, and not
under. The roll should be as fine as possible, the stitches short, the
thread strong, and in sewing, every gather should be taken up.
The rule for _gathering_, in shirts, is, to draw a thread, and then take
up two threads and skip four. In _darning_, after the perpendicular
threads are run, the crossing threads should interlace, exactly, taking
one thread and leaving one, like woven threads.
The neatest sewers always fit and baste their work, before sewing; and
they say they always save time in the end, by so doing, as they never
have to pick out work, on account of mistakes.
It is wise to sew closely and tightly all new garments, which will never
be altered in shape; but some are more nice than wise, in sewing frocks,
and old garments, in the same style. However, this is the least common
extreme. It is much more frequently the case, that articles, which ought
to be strongly and neatly made, are sewed so that a nice sewer would
rather pick out the threads and sew over again, than to be annoyed with
the sight of grinning stitches, and vexed with constant rips.
_Workbaskets._ It is very important to neatness, comfort, and success in
sewing, that a lady's workbasket should be properly fitted up. The
following articles are needful to the mistress of a family: a large
basket, to hold work; having in it, fastened, a smaller basket, or box,
containing a needle-book, in which are needles of every size, both
blunts and sharps, with a larger number of those sizes most used; also,
small and large darning-needles, for woollen, cotton, and silk; two
tape-needles, large and small; nice scissors, for fine work; buttonhole
scissors; an emery-bag; two balls of white and yellow wax; and two
thimbles, in case one should be mislaid. When a person is troubled with
damp fingers, a lump of soft chalk, in a paper, is useful, to rub on the
ends of the fingers.
Besides this box, keep in the basket, common scissors; small shears; a
bag containing tapes, of all colors and sizes, done up in rolls; bags,
one, containing spools of white, and another of colored, cotton thread,
and another for silks, wound on spools or papers; a box or bag for nice
buttons, and another for more common ones; a bag containing silk braid,
welting cords, and galloon binding. Small rolls of pieces of white and
brown linen and cotton, are also often needed. A brick pincushion is a
great convenience, in sewing, and better than screw-cushions. It is made
by covering half a brick with cloth, putting a cushion on the top, and
covering it tastefully. It is very useful to hold pins and needles,
while sewing, and to fasten long seams when basting and sewing.
_To make a Frock._ The best way for a novice, is, to get a dress fitted
(not sewed) at the best mantuamaker's. Then take out a sleeve, rip it
to pieces, and cut out a pattern. Then take out half of the waist, (it
must have a seam in front,) and cut out a pattern of the back and
fore-body, both lining and outer part. In cutting the patterns, iron the
pieces, smooth, let the paper be stiff, and, with a pin, prick holes in
the paper, to show the gore in front, and the depth of the seams. With a
pen and ink, draw lines from each pinhole, to preserve this mark. Then
baste the parts together again, in doing which, the unbasted half will
serve as a pattern. When this is done, a lady of common ingenuity can
cut and fit a dress, by these patterns. If the waist of a dress be too
tight, the seam under the arm must be let out; and in cutting a dress,
an allowance should be made, for letting it out, if needful, at this
seam. The lining of the fore-body must be biased.
The linings for the waists of dresses should be stiffened cotton or
linen. In cutting bias-pieces, for trimming, they will not set well,
unless they are exact. In cutting them, use a long rule, and a lead
pencil or piece of chalk. Welting-cords should be covered with
bias-pieces; and it saves time, in many cases, to baste on the
welting-cord, at the same time that you cover it. The best way to put on
hooks and eyes, is to sew them on double broad tape, and then sew this
on the frock-lining. They can then be moved easily, and do not show
where they are sewed on.
In cutting a sleeve, double it biased. The skirts of dresses look badly,
if not full; and in putting on lining, at the bottom, be careful to have
it a very little fuller than the dress, or it will shrink, and look
badly. All thin silks look much better with lining, and last much
longer, as do aprons, also. In putting a lining to a dress, baste it on
each separate breadth, and sew it in at the seams, and it looks much
better than to have it fastened only at the bottom. Make notches in
selvedge, to prevent it from drawing up the breadth. Dresses, which are
to be washed, should not be lined.
Figured silks do not generally wear well, if the figure be large and
satin-like. Black and plain-colored silks can be tested, by procuring
samples, and making creases in them; fold the creases in a bunch, and
rub them against a rough surface, of moreen or carpeting. Those which
are poor, will soon wear off, at the creases. Plaids look becoming, for
tall women, as they shorten the appearance of the figure. Stripes look
becoming, on a large person, as they reduce the apparent size. Pale
persons should not wear blue or green, and brunettes should not wear
light delicate colors, except shades of buff, fawn, or straw color.
Pearl white is not good for any complexion. Dead white and black look
becoming on almost all persons. It is best to try colors, by
candle-light, for evening dresses; as some colors, which look very
handsome in the daylight, are very homely when seen by candle-light.
Never cut a dress low in the neck, as this shows that a woman is not
properly instructed in the rules of modesty and decorum, or that she has
not sense enough to regard them. Never be in haste to be first in a
fashion, and never go to the extremes.
In buying linen, seek for that which has a round close thread, and is
perfectly white; for, if it be not white, at first, it will never
afterwards become so. Much that is called linen, at the shops, is half
cotton, and does not wear so well as cotton alone. Cheap linens are
usually of this kind. It is difficult to discover which are all linen;
but the best way, is, to find a lot, presumed to be good, take a sample,
wash it, and ravel it. If this be good, the rest of the same lot will
probably be so. If you cannot do this, draw a thread, each way, and if
both appear equally strong, it is probably all linen. Linen and cotton
must be put in clean water, and boiled, to get out the starch, and then
ironed. A long piece of linen, a yard wide, will, with care and
calculation, make eight shirts. In cutting it, take a shirt of the right
size, as a guide, in fitting and basting. Bosom-pieces, false collars,
&c. must be cut and fitted, by a pattern which suits the person for whom
the articles are designed. Gentlemen's night-shirts are made like other
shirts, except that they are longer. In cutting chemises, if the cotton
or linen is a yard wide, cut off small half gores, at the top of the
breadths, and set them on the bottom. Use a long rule and a pencil, in
cutting gores. In cutting cotton, which is quite wide, a seam can be
saved, by cutting out two at once, in this manner:--cut off three
breadths, and, with a long rule and a pencil, mark and cut off the
gores, thus: from one breadth, cut off two gores, the whole length, each
gore one fourth of the breadth, at the bottom, and tapering off to a
point, at the top. The other two breadths are to have a gore cut off
from each, which is one fourth wide at top, and two fourths at bottom.
Arrange these pieces right, and they will make two chemises, one having
four seams, and the other three. This is a much easier way of cutting,
than sewing the three breadths together, in bag-fashion, as is often
done. The biased, or goring seams, must always be felled. The sleeves
and neck can be cut according to the taste of the wearer, by another
chemise for a pattern. There should be a lining around the armholes,
and stays at all corners. Six yards, of yard width, will make two
chemises.
Old silk dresses, quilted for skirts, are very serviceable. White
flannel is soiled so easily, and shrinks so much in washing, that it is
a good plan to color it a light dove-color, according to the receipt
given on page 301. Cotton flannel, dyed thus, is also good for common
skirts. In making up flannel, back-stitch and run the seams, and then
cross-stitch them open. Nice flannel, for infants, can be ornamented,
with very little expense of time, by turning up the hem, on the right
side, and making a little vine at the edge, with saddler's silk. The
stitch of the vine is a modification of buttonhole-stitch.
Long night gowns are best, cut a little goring. It requires five yards,
for a long nightgown, and two and a half for a short one. Linen
nightcaps wear longer than cotton ones, and do not, like them, turn
yellow. They should be ruffled with linen, as cotton borders will not
last so long as the cap. A double-quilted wrapper is a great comfort, in
case of sickness. It may be made of two old dresses. It should not be
cut full, but rather like a gentleman's study-gown, having no gathers or
plaits, but large enough to slip off and on with ease. A double gown, of
calico, is also very useful. Most articles of dress, for grown persons
or children, require patterns.
_Bedding._ The best beds, are thick hair mattresses, which, for persons
in health, are good for Winter as well as Summer use. Mattresses may
also be made of husks, dried and drawn into shreds; also, of alternate
layers of cotton and moss. The most profitable sheeting, is the Russian,
which will last three times as long as any other. It is never perfectly
white. Unbleached cotton is good for Winter. It is poor economy to make
narrow and short sheets, as children and domestics will always slip them
off, and soil the bedtick and bolster. They should be three yards long,
and two and a half wide, so that they can be tucked in all around. All
bed-linen should be marked and numbered, so that a bed can always be
made properly, and all missing articles be known.
_Mending._ Silk dresses will last much longer, by ripping out the
sleeves, when thin, and changing the arms, and also the breadths of the
skirt. Tumbled black silk, which is old and rusty, should be dipped in
water, then be drained for a few minutes, without squeezing or pressing,
and then ironed. Cold tea is better than water. Sheets, when worn thin
in the middle, should be ripped, and the other edges sewed together.
Window-curtains last much longer, if lined, as the sun fades and rots
them. Broadcloth should be cut with reference to the way the nap runs.
When pantaloons are thin, it is best to newly seat them, cutting the
piece inserted in a curve, as corners are difficult to fit. When the
knees are thin, it is a case of domestic surgery, which demands
_amputation_. This is performed, by cutting off both legs, some distance
above the knees, and then changing the legs. Take care to cut them off
exactly of the same length, or in the exchange they will not fit. This
method brings the worn spot under the knees, and the seam looks much
better than a patch and darn. Hose can be cut down, when the feet are
worn. Take an old stocking, and cut it up for a pattern. Make the heel
short. In sewing, turn each edge, and run it down, and then sew over the
edges. This is better than to stitch and then cross-stitch. Run thin
places in stockings, and it will save darning a hole. If shoes are worn
through on the sides, in the upper-leather, slip pieces of broadcloth
under, and sew them around the holes. If, in sewing, the thread kinks,
break it off and begin at the other end. In using spool-cotton, thread
the needle with the end which comes off first, and not the end where you
break it off. This often prevents kinks.