Encyclopedia of Needlework Part 2

In under-linen, it often so happens that two selvedges meet at the slit, which renders binding unnecessary; in that case take a small square of stuff, turn in the raw edges, top-sew it into the slit on two sides, turn in the other two, fold over on the bias, and hem them down over the top-sewing, as shewn in fig. 36. Such little squares of material, inserted into a slit or seam, to prevent its tearing, are called gussets.

SEWING ON PIPING (fig. 37). Piping is a border, consisting of a cord or bobbin, folded into a stripe of material, cut on the cross, and affixed to the edge of an article to give it more strength and finish. It is a good subst.i.tute for a hem or binding on a bias edge, which by means of the cord, can be held in, and prevented from stretching. Cut your stripes diagonally, across the web of the stuff, and very even; run them together, lay the cord or bobbin along the stripe, on the wrong side, 5 m/m. from the edge, fold the edge over, and tack the cord lightly in.

Then lay it on the raw edge of the article, with the cord towards you, and with all the raw edges turned away from you. Back-st.i.tch the piping to the edge, keeping close to the cord. Then turn the article round, fold in the raw outside edge over the others, and hem it down like an ordinary hem.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 37. SEWING ON PIPING.]

FIXING WHALE-BONES (fig. 38).--Before slipping the whale-bone into its case or fold of stuff, pierce holes in it, top and bottom, with a red hot stiletto. Through these holes, make your st.i.tches, diverging like rays or crossing each other as shown in fig. 38.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG 38. FIXING WHALE-BONES.]

HERRING-BONING (fig. 39).--This st.i.tch is chiefly used for seams in flannel, and for overcasting dress-seams, and takes the place of hemming, for fastening down the raw edges of a seam that has been run or st.i.tched, without turning them in. Herring-boning is done from left to right, and forms two rows of st.i.tches. Insert the needle from right to left, and make a st.i.tch first above, and then below the edge, the threads crossing each other diagonally, as shewn in fig. 39.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 39. HERRING-BONING]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Our readers should be provided with a French metre, with the English yard marked on the back for purposes of comparison.

[A] See at the end of the concluding chapter, the table of numbers and sizes and the list of colours of the D.M.C threads and cottons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPECIMENS OF PATTERN DARNS.]

Mending.

The mending of wearing-apparel and house-linen, though often an ungrateful task, is yet a very necessary one, to which every female hand ought to be carefully trained. How best to disguise and repair the wear and tear of use or accident is quite as valuable an art, as that of making new things.

Under the head of mending, we include the strengthening and replacing of the worn and broken threads of a fabric, and fitting in of new stuff in the place of that which is torn or damaged. The former is called darning, the latter, patching.

DARNING.--When only a few of the warp or woof threads are torn or missing, a darn will repair the mischief, provided the surrounding parts be sound. When the damage is more extensive, the piece must be cut out.

In some cases the warp of the stuff itself can be used for darning, otherwise thread as much like the stuff as possible should be chosen.

MATERIALS SUITABLE FOR MENDING.--Coton a repriser D.M.C is used for most kinds of darning. It can be had in 18 different sizes, from Nos. 8 to 100, white and unbleached, and in all the colours of the D.M.C colour-card in Nos. 12, 25 and 50.

It is but very slightly twisted and can be split or used double, if necessary, according to the material. For all the coa.r.s.er articles of house-linen, unbleached cotton is the best, and for the finer white fabrics, Coton surfin D.M.C Nos. 110, 120 and 150[A]. This cotton, which is not the least twisted, and is to be had both white and unbleached, can be used, by subdividing it, for darning the finest cambric.

VARIETIES OF DARNING.--These are four, (1) Linen darning, (2) Damask darning, (3) Satin or Twill darning, and (4) Invisible darning, called also, Fine-drawing.

(1) LINEN DARNING (figs. 40 and 41).--All darns should be made on the wrong side of the stuff, excepting fig. 54, which it is sometimes better to make on the right side. The longitudinal running, to form the warp, must be made first. The thread must not be drawn tightly in running your st.i.tches backwards and forwards, and be careful to leave loops at each turning, to allow for the shrinking of the thread in the washing, without its pulling the darn together.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 40. LINEN DARNING. DRAWING IN THE WARP THREADS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 41. LINEN DARNING. DRAWING IN THE WOOF THREADS.]

Run your needle in, about one c/m. above the damaged part, take up one or two threads of the stuff and miss the same number, working straight to a thread; on reaching the hole, carry your cotton straight across it, take up alternate threads beyond, and proceed as before. Continue the rows backwards and forwards, taking up in each row, the threads left in the preceding one. Turn the work round and do the same for the woof; alternately taking up and leaving the warp threads, where the cotton crosses the hole. The threads must lie so alone both ways, that the darn, when completed, replaces the original web. The threads are only drawn so far apart in the ill.u.s.trations, for the sake of clearness.

When the material to be darned does not admit of a fleecy thread, such as Coton a repriser D.M.C, one that as nearly as possible matches the material, should be chosen from the D.M.C cottons.[A]

DIAGONAL LINEN DARNING (fig. 42).--Darns are sometimes begun from the corner, so as to form a diagonal web, but they are then much more visible than when they are worked straight to a thread, and therefore not advisable.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 42. DIAGONAL LINEN DARNING.]

(2) SATIN OR TWILL DARNING (fig. 43).--By twill darning, the damaged web of any twilled or diagonal material can be restored. It would be impossible to enumerate all the varieties of twilled stuffs, but the ill.u.s.trations and accompanying directions will enable the worker to imitate them all.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 43. SATIN OR TWILL DARNING.]

Begin, as in ordinary darning by running in the warp threads, then take up one thread, and miss three. In every succeeding row, advance one thread in the same direction. Or, miss one thread of the stuff and take up two, and as before, advance, one thread in the same direction, every succeeding row. The order in which threads should be missed and taken up, must depend on the web which the darn is intended to imitate.

When the original is a coloured stuff, it is advisable to make a specimen darn first, on a larger scale, so that you may be more sure of obtaining a correct copy of the original web.

(3) DAMASK DARNING (figs. 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49).--A damask darn is begun in the same way as all other darns are; the pattern is formed by the cross-runnings and will vary with the number of warp threads taken up and missed, in each successive running. The woven design which you are to copy with your needle must therefore be carefully examined first.

Figs. 44 and 45 show the wrong and right sides of a damask darn, in process of being made.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 44. DAMASK DARNING. WRONG SIDE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 45. DAMASK DARNING. RIGHT SIDE.]

Fig. 46 represents a completed one. In the case of coloured webs, a light shade of cotton is generally used for the warp, one that matches the stuff, for the shot or woof.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 46. DAMASK DARNING. COVERED GROUND.]

Figs. 47 and 48, ill.u.s.trate two specimens of darning, formerly done in the convents, from which it will be seen, that the warp and the woof were first drawn in with rather fine thread and the pattern then worked into this foundation with coa.r.s.er, or else, coloured thread. When this kind of darn is in two colours, take, for the darker shade, Coton a broder D.M.C, or Coton a repriser D.M.C, which are both of them to be had in all the bright and faded shades, to match alike both old and new linen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 47. DAMASK DARNING ON NEEDLE-MADE GROUND.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 48. DAMASK DARNING ON NEEDLE-MADE GROUND.]

Fig. 49, which is executed in two colours, and is likewise copied from an old work on darning, shows you the manner in which a dice-pattern is to be reproduced.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 49. DAMASK DARNING WITH COLOURED THREAD.]

(4) DARNING, LOST IN THE GROUND (fig. 50).--A kind of darn used for repairing rents, the edges of which fit exactly into one another.

Neither the torn threads of the material nor the rough edges must be cut off; the torn part is to be tacked upon a piece of oil-cloth, wrong side uppermost, and the edges, drawn together by a thread, run in backwards, and forwards, across them. The st.i.tches must be set as closely together as possible, and regularly inverted, as in every other darn. A much finer thread relatively than that of which the material is composed should, in all cases be used for darning. In this instance also, for the sake of greater distinctness, the size of the thread has been magnified in the ill.u.s.tration. Coton surfin D.M.C, will be found the best for darning both calico and linen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 50. DARNING LOST IN THE GROUND.]

FINE DRAWING (fig. 51).--The art of making invisible darns in cloth, though such a useful one, is all but unknown. It is a tedious process and one which, though easy enough to understand, requires great care in the execution.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 51. FINE DRAWING.]