Textiles and Clothing Part 20

A good supply of thread should be kept on hand--not too great a quant.i.ty, but the stock should be added to as it is used. There should be both silk and colored cotton, also twist for b.u.t.ton holes, loops and arrow heads and knitting silk to sew on and finish feather bone.

[Sidenote: Scissors]

Two pairs of scissors are required--one with long, sharp blades, and a pair of medium sizes for snipping machine st.i.tches.

Among the other necessary articles are a tape measure, cake of wax, pencils or tailor's chalk, tracing wheel, emery, lap board.

Canvas, scrim, or any like material should be kept in the sewing room, as these are invaluable for facings, linings of collars, cuffs, etc.

Hooks, eyes, b.u.t.tons, tape, linings, featherbone and shields are requisites not to be forgotten.

[Sidenote: Tapes]

Tape is constantly needed. Linen tape is thinner and makes a neater finish for some purposes than cotton tape. The bias tape or binding now kept by the larger stores is very useful for binding curved edges and for other purposes.

[Sidenote: Cutting Table]

If a regular cutting table is not available, the dining room table should be used. Skirts, bodices, ruffles, and bias bands should be cut on firm, even, and large surfaces. If cut upon the floor or bed and pressed on a coa.r.s.e crash towel, the garment will have the undesirable home-made look.

[Sidenote: Pressing Board]

A good pressing board should be provided and if possible a sleeve board.

In the process of garment making of any kind too much stress cannot be laid upon constant and careful pressing.

The ironing board should have for its outside cover a _finely_ woven, perfectly smooth cloth, tightly stretched, free from wrinkles, and securely tacked.

Where there is gas, a small, portable stove should be kept near the sewing table with a medium-sized flat iron. Lacking gas, one of the single burner oil stoves may be used. An electric flat iron is especially convenient.

[Sidenote: Bust Form]

A bust form is a great convenience in fitting and almost a necessity for one who does much home dressing. These may be purchased at department stores. Some kinds are adjustable, but it is always best to make a carefully fitted lining for it and pad out to the correct shape and size. The pattern should be one that extends well over the hips and heavy unbleached muslin may be used. After padding firmly, the front opening should be oversewed. Special care should be taken with shoulders and neck and the neck band should be carefully adjusted on the figure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PADDED BUST FORM

(From Dressmaking Up-to-Date, b.u.t.terick Co.)]

A padded sleeve lining is also very useful in making sleeves.

Dressmaking never should be begun until each needed article required for the work has been purchased. The sewing room should be in order; the machine well oiled and wiped before any work is undertaken.

[Sidenote: Skill and Taste]

If the finished garment is to be perfect, careful attention must be given to _every_ detail of the cutting and making up. To possess mechanical skill alone is not sufficient. A successful garment depends not only upon the dexterity with which the worker manipulates the actual tools of her craft, but upon all her faculties and her power of applying them. She must have a comprehension of the laws of beauty in dress, construction, ornament, color, selection, economy. The artisan knows the technical part only, and looks upon each dress--each piece of lace and velvet--as so much material to be snipped and cut and sewed, copying from the fashion plate, making gown after gown alike. The artist, on the other hand, makes the gown to suit the individual wearer, considering each dress no matter how simple--and the simpler, the more artistic--as a creation designed to suit the woman for whom it was planned.

People who study economy from principle will never adopt anything extreme in weave, or color, or make. These extreme fashions are never lasting; they are too conspicuous and are vulgarized by bad copies, while a thing which is known to be good and beautiful once will remain so for all time. Those who are beginners in the art of dressmaking should select plain designs until skill is acquired. The making up and finishing of new fabrics and new or untried methods are problems that often dismay even the most experienced dressmaker.

PATTERNS

[Sidenote: Selection of Patterns]

The makers of good and reliable patterns are many. Always buy patterns of firms that make proportion of figure as well as fashion a study.

These patterns state length of skirt, waist and hip measure and quant.i.ty of material required in all widths. Buy a skirt pattern with correct hip size, as it is much more difficult to change this than to alter the dimensions of a waist. Adjust the pattern to the figure for which the garment is to be cut and see that it is right in all of its proportions.

Always follow the notches indicated in the seams of the pattern, and thus avoid putting wrong pieces together. Be sure that the pattern is placed correctly upon the material with the _straight grain_ or warp threads of the goods running directly on a line with the _straight perforations_ indicated in the pattern. Lay the entire pattern upon the cloth. This gives an idea just where every piece is to come out.

[Sidenote: What the Pattern Gives]

All patterns give one-half of the bodice and the skirt, from center of back to center of front. The plain waist pattern consists of back, curved side piece, under arm piece (sometimes these two pieces are in one) front, upper and under sleeve, collar or neck band. Some patterns allow for seams--others do not. Skirt patterns give only one-half of the front gore. The _seam_ edges of front gore are marked by _one_ notch near the waist line. The front or straight edge of the _first_ side gore has one notch, and two on the back edge of side gore. All the gores may be distinguished from the edges of the back gores by the lesser number of notches. This is true of all skirt patterns. If the patterns are studied carefully, all skirt cutting becomes very easy.

The object of goring a garment is to take out unnecessary fullness at the top; reducing the weight, making the garment less clumsy, and giving a nicety of finish which could not be done in heavy material if all the goods were left to fit into a band. Skirts may be lined or unlined, gored or full.

SEVEN-GORED SKIRT

The style may vary with the fashion, but a well-fitting skirt should hang even around the bottom edge, should fit easily around the hips without being strained or defining the figure too closely, or "ride up"

when sitting, should flare slightly from hips to the bottom of the skirt, should not fall in between the feet, the back should fall well behind the figure. For heavy goods, as little material as possible consistent with the prevailing style should be used.

PLAN OF SKIRT MAKING

Shortening or lengthening of pattern if necessary.

Placing of goods.

Pinning on of pattern so there is no waste.

Cutting.

Removing and care of patterns.

Pinning, basting, or tacking of skirt to lining.

Joining of seams, fitting.

St.i.tching.

Pressing.

Finishing of seams and placket hole.

Making and putting on waist-band.

Marking length and finishing the bottom.

Fastenings, loops, braids, hooks and eyes.

[Sidenote: Lengthening or Shortening Patterns]

To lengthen or shorten a skirt pattern, measure the figure and regulate the length of the patterns by making a fold in each gore two-thirds of the way from the top of the pattern if too long. This is for the simplest skirt pattern. The shape of the skirt may require two folds, one two-thirds from the top and a small fold near the bottom to preserve the outline.

If too short pin the pattern on the material, cut around the top of gore and on each side two-thirds of the distance from the top of gore.

Unpin and draw the pattern down to the bottom and cut the required length. Except for wash material, do not turn a gored skirt up at the bottom to form a wide hem, as the fullness made by turning is hard to dispose of neatly and the right curve at the bottom of the skirt may be lost.

Another way to lengthen the pattern is to cut it in two, two-thirds the distance from the top. See that all pleats or tucks are exactly the same width and at the exact distance from the top or bottom of the gore, also that all seams are of the right length. A shorter skirt must be proportionately narrower.

[Sidenote: Testing Patterns]

It is well to test the skirt and waist patterns by using inexpensive materials, such as calico, gingham, or cheap lining. Cut, baste, fit, and make this as carefully as if it were the best cloth or silk. If the skirt and waist are satisfactory, the pattern will do duty for several seasons. The plain waist pattern is the foundation for _any_ waist and many changes can be made easily with a well-fitting skirt and plain waist pattern as a basis.

[Sidenote: Cloth Patterns]