Chapter VI: A Lesson in Stencilling 74 (1)

VII. What Can Be Done with One Skin--Cut
Leather Bags, Belts, Book Covers, etc. 83

VIII. Tooled Leather and Tools Necessary 91

IX. The Simplest Stitches in Embroidery--Chain-stitching,
Outlining, Herring-boning, Cross-stitching,
Soutache, Coronation Braiding 98

X. Smocking--Feather-stitching--Lazy-daisy
Stitch 112

XI. Couching--Shadow-work--Turkish Stitch--How
to Stamp Designs 121

XII. Buttonholing and Wallachian Embroidery 130

XIII. Roman Cut-Work--Fancy Buttonholing for
Borders--Bermuda Fagotting 138

XIV. Satin-Stitch and Marking 147

XV. Eyelets and French Knots--Bullion Stitch,
and Other Fancy Stitches 160

XVI. Long and Short--Kensington Embroidery--Ribbon
Work for Simple Flowers 176

XVII. Hardanger Embroidery for Squares, Pin
Cushions, and Spreads 190

XVIII. Appliqué on Linen and Other Materials--Hedebo
Embroidery 198

XIX. Hemstitching for Handkerchiefs and Collar
and Cuff Sets--Simple Drawn Work
Stitches 207

XX. Easy Lace Stitches--Fagotting, Single Mesh,
Double Mesh, Spiders, Fan, Maltese Cross,
Twisted and Buttonhole Bars, Picots for
Simple Edge 227

XXI. Simple Baskets 242

XXII. Raffia Baskets and Napkin Rings 250

XXIII. Raffia Hats 262

XXIV. Knotting for Dolls' Hammocks, Shopping Bags
and Other Purposes 271

XXV. Simple Bead Chains on Single Strings--A
Homemade Loom--Woven Chains--Belts
and Purses 278

XXVI. Braiding and Weaving Four and Six Strands--Weaving
on Looms 295

XXVII. Simple Crocheting--Stitchery for Edges and
Shawls 306

XXVIII. Pattern Directions for Making Doll Caps
and Capes, Jackets, and Child's Bedroom
Slippers 320

XXIX. Irish Crochet Lace 333

XXX. Knitting, Plain and Purling--Wash Rags--Fancy
Stitches for Shawls 351

XXXI. Doll's Cap, Hood, Leggings, and Jackets 360

XXXII. Embroidery Suggestions for Boarding School
Girl 372

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Last Step is Making the Buttonholes _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

The Right Way to Darn 10

A Single Motif Being Used on a Stencilled Scarf 76

Many a Happy Hour is Spent Embroidering 164

It is Jolly to Make a Raffia Work Bag 250

Sewed Raffia Baskets Make Attractive Gifts 258

The Fascinating Task of Making Bead Chains 284

A Cushion Top Can be Woven on a Simple Hand Loom 296

Her First Knitted Shawl 356

NEEDLECRAFT

I

WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE IN YOUR WORK BOX, SEWING ON BUTTONS, BASTING, DARNING

You will find that you are happiest when doing things for those you love; and what greater help can you give than by learning to do things for yourself that now those who love you best do for you? The little everyday things that appear to be so simple, yet take so much of the mother's time should be the things first to learn. There are so many things that one could do if one only knew how, that it seems a shame to waste time. Dolly needs new clothes, mother always needs help with her sewing; and then, too, the numerous birthdays and Christmases follow so quickly one on top of another, that there is hardly a chance to save up for one before the next is here. Many a hard problem for the little mother will be solved in this book.

It is lovely to have a little work-box fixed up with thread, needles, and scissors, all of your own, and if you ask mother, I am sure she will give some of her threads to help you start one. If you take a card and shape it like a Maltese cross you will have space for four colours of threads. You will need a card for the white alone because you will find you use so much more of it. You must have a little thimble and always use it or your finger will look cramped when working. Have you noticed how pretty ladies look when sewing? Well, you must do as they do, tap your needle with the thimble to send it through the material (Figure 1).

Have you ever wondered and wondered why it is that buttons have the horrid habit of dropping off just when you wanted to dress quickly or take Sally Ann walking? Well, I will whisper the reasons for this: the first is, that the thread might have been worn out from active service; or the thread used might have been weak; or lastly, which is probably the true cause, the button might have been sewn too close to the material and came off the first time it was used. Mother may not be around to help you when the accident happens, and would you not feel proud to sew it on for yourself?

To sew a button on securely you should make a pin-hole where the button is to be placed. A four-hole white button is the easiest to work on. Thread a No. 7 needle with a length of No. 40 white sewing cotton, bring the ends together and make a knot. The right length thread is measured from the tip of the thimble finger to the elbow. When a thread is used double it should be twice the length of this. A neat knot is made by holding the threaded needle in the right hand and by taking the end or ends, as the case may be, between the thumb and first finger of the left hand. Keep the thread tightly stretched, wind it around the top of the first finger, then move the finger down the thumb, carrying the thread with it about half an inch. Now with the nail of the second finger bring the knot thus formed to the end of the thread.

A large ungainly knot is a disfigurement to a piece of sewing. You are now ready to adjust the button; place the knot on the upper or right side so that it will be concealed; after adjusting the button put a pin across the top and sew securely through the holes, crossing the threads. Sew not less than three times through each hole. Remove the pin. Insert the needle from underneath, then bring it out between the button and cloth close to the centre of the button. Wind the thread tightly around the neck of the button three or four times. (The neck is the threads between the button and material.) Wrapping the threads around protects the stitches and allows room for the buttonhole to lie under the button. Take the thread through to the wrong side and take up three stitches, make a short stitch on the material and cut the thread close (Figures 2 and 3).

When a three-hole button is used the stitches form a triangle on the top of the button. A shoe-button should be sewed with a No. 2 needle and coarse black thread. The stitches are taken through the shank of the button. Fasten off the thread after sewing on two buttons, for if they are all on one continuous string or thread and that breaks, all the buttons are apt to come off. If each button is securely fastened the thread may be passed, however, from one to the other.

Now I know you want to do some real sewing; it must not be big or you will get very tired and think sewing is not as pleasant as you fancied. The simplest stitch in sewing is basting. This is used to hold materials together until you are ready to make firmer stitches. In the following illustration the even and uneven basting stitches are shown (Figures 4 and 5). They must be straight. Even basting stitches should be taken about a quarter of an inch apart and in the running stitch which is fine basting about an eighth or a sixteenth of an inch. Pretty huck pillows can be made of even and uneven basting or running stitches. A leaf, star or a figure cut out and traced on a piece of muslin will make a nice design for running stitches (Figure 6).

If you will examine different kinds of materials before they are cut, you will note that the threads run in two directions. The threads running lengthwise must be the stronger, as they have more strain on them. They are called the warp. The warp is set up first before the weaving begins. The threads running crosswise are called the woof. It is the weaker thread and forms the edge or selvage.

If you will take a card three inches square and prick a line of dots half an inch from the top and bottom edges and prick a line a quarter of an inch apart you will have a little loom. The dots must be directly under each other. A piece of coloured worsted and a large-eyed crewel needle No. 2 will be required. Make a knot at the end of your thread and start from the upper right hand hole on the wrong side. Bring your thread up through the hole and down through the lower right-hand dot. The needle must now come up through the next hole at the bottom and the thread be again stretched across the card.

When every hole has been filled and you have several rows of straight lines, fasten off the worsted in the back. Another shade of wool should be selected so that you can distinguish the warp from the woof. The thread you are now going to use is the woof; commence at the top and go straight across to the left line, up over and down under each thread and so on till the row is completed. In weaving the next row, pick up the threads of the warp that you went over last time. Alternate rows agree (Figure 7). When finished, the little piece can be used as a doll's mat.

To darn your stockings is almost as simple a matter as this weaving. Instead, however, of starting the thread of the warp on an even line, as on the card, start some higher than the others. The reason for this is that an even line will be apt to make an uncomfortable seam in your stocking. The woof threads are always connected to the stocking. A darning ball should be used under the hole. In darning cashmere or woollen stockings it is best to allow the warp to be very slack as wool shrinks considerably in washing. Wool should be used for darning woollen stockings.

Have you ever belonged to a sewing club? If not, try to start one and see how much fun there is in it. The club should meet either on Friday or Saturday afternoon, after the school work is finished. Every girl should bring her stockings to darn and another piece of work, so that when the darning is over she will have something to work on. If there are more than four in the club it is a very hard thing to keep up. Three is the ideal number for it. It is better to have a small number--three, for instance. A large club is apt to be distracting, but three or four little girls, with the right helpful spirit, will find such meetings very instructive and entertaining.

II

BACK-STITCHING, OVER-CASTING, CREASING A HEM AND HEMMING, ROLLING A HEM, FRENCH HEMMING, SEWING ON TAPES AND HOOKS AND EYES

"Stitching is witching," the song book says, and it is true, for after we know that stitch there are a hundred and one things we can do. Some people call it back-stitching and we must try to remember that, so that we shall understand of what they are talking. Get mother to give you a piece of material to practise on that has a stripe in it. Now take your scissors (Figure 9) and cut out two three-inch squares. Baste the two squares together a quarter of an inch from the edge. Hold the square over the first finger of the left hand ready for the back-stitching. Let the basting run up and down over your finger. Start from the top and make a small stitch backward, on the right side of the material, instead of forward as you did in running (Figure 10). Pass the needle under until you have a stitch twice as long on the wrong side as that on the right. Take the next stitch backward close to the end of the last one on the right.

Remember that the stitch you take backward is only half as long as the one you take forward. Stitching always looks very different on the wrong side, but on the right side it ought to look like machine stitching. This stitch might be called the lion stitch, because it is so strong. It is used to join two edges together, as for the seams in bean-bags or cushion covers.

In places where there will not be much strain we use a quicker stitch, which is called the half-back stitch (Figure 11). This is very much like the stitching of which I have been telling you. The wrong side will look about the same, but on the right side instead of the stitches touching there will be a space, then a stitch of equal length.

The next stitch to learn is the combination-stitch, which is made up of both the running and the back-stitch (Figure 12). It is a stitch that is greatly used for sewing long seams, as on underwear. By this stitch we can cover the distance in about half the time that back-stitching would take.

Whenever you can avoid making a knot, do so, because it spoils the look of your work on the wrong side. You can start your work, if it is a seam, for example, by making two or three stitches on top of each other. Follow the thread of the warp or woof of the material as much as possible. After fastening your thread, make two fine running stitches forward and one back. Keep the stitches the same length.

Over-casting is used on unfinished or cut edges to keep them from fraying (Figure 13). The stitches all slant from right to left. Take the stitches one eighth of an inch deep and one quarter of an inch apart.

Over-handing is fine over-casting and used to connect two finished edges together (Figure 14), as when sewing lace on ruffles, or joining selvages. What is the selvage? It is the edge of the warp. The next time mother goes shopping ask her to take you with her. When she tells the salesman she wants so many yards of goods, whether it is for kitchen towels or a dress for herself or for you, notice how the goods is measured. The salesman will measure along one of the finished sides of the goods. These finished edges are called selvages.

Make the stitches in over-handing as small as possible, keeping the stitches even. Sew through both pieces of the material. Hold your work between your thumb and first finger. Here again it is not necessary to make a knot. Let a half-inch of the end of your thread lie on top of the material toward the left side; the over-handing stitches will cover this end. When the over-handing is finished run your thumb-nail along the stitches on the right side. If your stitches are too deep there will be a seam on the wrong side, whereas if the instructions have been followed carefully the material will lie perfectly flat (Figure 15).

Now we are ready to help mother hem the new kitchen towels. First see that the edge you are to hem is straight. If it is not, pull out a thread so as to mark a line to cut by. You must take a thread that runs the entire way across the end of the towel. Cut carefully along the space out of which the thread came. Get a piece of card that has two smooth or straight edges and make a notch one-half inch from the corner (Figure 16). A half-inch hem is the one commonly used on a towel.

If mother likes to have her towels with a wider or narrower hem, notch the card the size she wishes. Turn the material back one-quarter inch and crease it down with your thumb-nail. A second fold is made the width of the hem. Take your measuring card and, placing the end of it on the double edge, see if your hem is exactly the width desired. Baste along the first folded edge to hold the material together for hemming (Figures 17 and 18). Hold the edge to be hemmed toward you. Do not knot your thread. Insert the needle at the extreme right of the hem. Pull the needle through, leaving a little end, as in over-handing, to be fastened down with the hemming itself.

Your needle should slant as shown in the diagram (Figure 19). Take a stitch right through all the thicknesses of the material. Be sure that it goes through to the other side. The fewer the threads taken on the needle at the same time, the neater the result will be. The stitches should slant from right to left. The stitches must be close together if we want fine hemming. Let each stitch be the same size as the other and slant in the same direction. The right side of the hem looks like a row of short dashes.

If your needle gets "sticky" when you are sewing, you should pass it through your emery-bag till it is shiny and sharp again. The needle is apt to get that way if your hands perspire. Ladies who like to keep their sewing looking fresh and white, as if hands had never touched it, find it a good plan to wash their hands in a little vinegar, or lemon and water.

It is very necessary to sit so that the light falls over your left shoulder. A little straight-back chair is another good help in sewing. Do you know that many of our English great-grandmothers had very straight backs? When they were little girls they had to sit on a very straight, tall chair, an hour or two every day. A foot-stool was placed under their feet, and their shoulders strapped against the chair. Of course they did not sit there idle, but a piece of fine sewing was given them to work. You see they did not have the opportunity to run around and play as you have. Their chief recreation was their dancing lesson.

The towel finished, the next thing to learn is how to turn a corner and hem it. Shall we make a cover for Sally Ann's bed or a dust-cloth for mother? In either case cut a piece of material eighteen inches square and turn a hem and baste it as you did for the towel. The next side is folded the same as the first. The corner should form a perfect square (Figure 20). Sometimes the material is very thick and the hem wide; in that case it is wise to cut a little oblong piece out of the corner as shown in the illustration (Figure 21).

Napkins and table-covers should be sewed with a French hem. Make a turn about a sixteenth of an inch deep. The second turn should be about three sixteenths of an inch wide. Fold the hem back so that it touches the right side of the material. The hem is connected to the material with tiny over-hand stitches. Open the hem, when finished crease with the thumb-nail till it lies perfectly flat.

A pretty new way of finishing a handkerchief is to roll the material for the edge instead of folding it. Over-cast or, as we sometimes say, whip it with delicate-coloured cotton, (Figure 22). The nicest material for handkerchiefs is fine linen, but lawn is cheaper for practice work. Hold the wrong side of the material to you. Then roll about one eighth of an inch between the thumb and first finger of your left hand. Do not roll more than an inch of the hem at a time. Take a needle and thread it with a piece of coloured cotton. In this case it is permissible to make a knot. Insert the needle at the beginning of the roll. Over-cast or whip the rolled edge. The stitches should encircle the roll and not go through it. When the rolled inch is over-casted, roll another inch and repeat in this manner till the whole handkerchief is worked. If you desire, when you have finished one side, you can whip in an opposite direction toward the point at which you started, thus forming a cross with each return stitch (Figure 23).

Lace is sewed to raw edges by rolling and whipping the material and connecting the lace at the same time.

Tapes should be on all towels and on all your skirts and dresses that are to hang on nails or pegs. Take a piece of fine tape about five inches long. Crease one end down one quarter of an inch (Figure 25). If the tape-loop is to be sewed on a towel find the direct centre of the top edge of the towel. Lay the tape with the creased end open flat on the towel (Figure 26). Sew along the creased line with back-stitching. Fold the other end of the tape over, baste it down so that it entirely covers the stitches already made and with small hemming stitches connect the tape to the material (Figure 27). There should be two tape-loops on your dress or separate skirt. There is usually too much weight for only one loop. Place a loop in each armhole of the waist or dress. For the skirt, measure the waist-band and place the loops so that the band is divided in thirds.

Do you know that very few people sew on hooks and eyes properly? Yet there is no difficulty in sewing them correctly and they look much nicer. Take the eye, connect it to the material with two stitches that make a cross. With the same thread pass the needle to the left-hand loop. Insert the needle in the material so that the eye of the needle is within the loop and the point of the needle comes just outside. See that the thread passes from left to right _under_ the point of the needle. Draw the needle through and repeat in this manner until the two loops of the eye are firmly connected to the material. Sometimes it is necessary to cover the upper part of the eye. In that case cover the metal with fine over-and-over stitches as shown in (Figure 28B).

The loop of the hook is sewed on in a very similar manner at the base, while the top of the hook is caught with eight or nine over-and-over-stitches (Figure 29). These stitches are taken under the hook portion and connect the under side only. Measure accurately just where every eye goes and place the hook so that when it meets the eye it will be straight. A sixteenth of an inch out of the way spoils the appearance and is apt to pull the material crooked. Another point to remember is that it is not a good plan to place the eyes on the extreme edge. A margin of some size is most necessary to extend beyond the eyes. Sometimes it is necessary to sew a piece of material so that it extends one inch beyond the eyes if the eyes are sewed on the extreme edge of the finished garment. This piece is called the fly piece.

III

GATHERING, SEWING ON BANDS, A PRACTICAL SEWING APRON, HEMMED PATCHES, GUSSETS AND TUCKS

Though I know you don't like making samples, I am going to ask you to make a little apron for a doll, as a model, before we make a real big one.

Get a piece of muslin five by nine inches and a No. 9 sewing needle. Thread it with a piece of No. 70 cotton. Baste an eighth of an inch hem on both of the five-inch sides, and a three-quarter of an inch hem on one of the nine-inch sides.

The basting of the three sides being finished we will now start to gather the fourth side. Thread a No. 8 needle with No. 50 thread. Use a thread a trifle longer than nine inches. Make a good-sized knot in the thread so that the end cannot slip through the material. Start from the right-hand side of the piece and insert the needle on the under side. Let the knot come on top of the narrow hem about one quarter of an inch from the raw edge.

The needle is now in position on the right side of the material. Take up several stitches on the needle before pulling it through (Figure 30). The stitches are nothing more than running stitches. When the running has been worked across the nine inches of the material, take the needle out and make a knot in the thread.

Put a pin, vertically, close to the last stitch. Take up only a few threads of the material on the pin. Draw up the running thread so that you have about three and a half inches of gathering. Wind the thread that extends beyond the gathering over the top and under the point of the pin a number of times, crossing the thread at the middle of the pin so that it forms an eight (Figure 31).

To allow the gathering to fall evenly, it will be necessary to stroke it. Use a No. 2 needle for this purpose. With the right side of the work toward you begin at the left-hand edge. Hold the work between the left thumb and forefinger, keeping the thumb below the gathering thread. Put the point of the No. 2 needle under the gathering thread, holding it obliquely. Press the needle toward the thumb, bringing the little plait under the thumb and drawing the needle downward. Pinch the little plait down lightly with your thumb. Continue in this way, putting the needle under each stitch (Figure 32).

Let us now put a band and strings on our apron. Cut two strips of material ten inches long by two inches wide. These are for the strings. Baste an eighth of an inch hem on the two long sides of each strip. Make a three-quarter of an inch hem on each string.

Over-hand the ends of the broad hem. All the hems that are basted on the strings and the material itself should be hemmed with fine stitches.

Cut another strip two and a half inches wide by five inches long. This is the band. Turn down one eighth of an inch of the material all around the band. Crease the band in half, lengthwise, so that the edges, just folded, are inside.

Find the centre of the gathered material and the centre of the opened band. Holding the wrong side of the apron toward you, pin the middle of the apron to the middle of the band. Pin the gathered side of the apron to the band, three quarters of an inch from each end of it.

Wind the gathering thread around the left-hand pin, drawing the thread up to fit the band. With the point of the needle adjust the gathers so that the fullness is evenly distributed along the band. Holding the gathers toward you, baste with small stitches a little above the gathering thread.

Turn up the band and on the right side of the apron hem the band in it, catching up a gather with each stitch. Some people prefer to stitch along the basting line instead of hemming (Figure 33).

Baste the other side of the band down, and hem as on the right side. Insert the strings in the band. Hem in the same way as on the band, first the right side and then the left side, and now your little apron is completed (Figure 34).

Would you not like to have a sewing apron that you can use as a bag when you are not wearing it? It is such an easy thing to make that after you have one for yourself you will be making them for your friends for Christmas.

Get mother to measure you from the waist to the knees. The material for the apron should be one and a half this measurement. Turn one third of the material back. Baste the double edges together and sew with fine combination stitches.

Turn this piece inside out. Crease back one eighth of an inch edge of this pocket, as it were. Baste a piece of beading over this raw edge right around the back of the apron. Be careful not to sew up the pocket.

The beading on the back must be the same distance from the bottom as the beading in front; that is, we must keep a straight line. Sew on the extreme edges of the beading with fine running stitches, to connect it to the material. Now as the ribbon we are to run in the beading must serve as a draw string, as well as for decoration, it will be necessary to put two pieces in. So get a narrow ribbon about one half the width of the openings in the beading. Each piece of ribbon must be long enough to go once around the apron and enough of the ends left to tie double bows--one for each side. Start one piece of the ribbon at the right-hand side of the apron and the other at the left.

The top of the apron or single piece is finished with a piece of beading which is sewed on, as on the pocket. A ribbon long enough to go around your waist and to tie a bow in the back is run through the beading (Figure 35).

When the apron is not being worn your work can be placed in the large pocket and the single section folded within the pocket. The ribbons are then drawn up tight and "bravo!" you have a work bag fit for a queen (Figure 36).

There are so many kinds of rents or holes that may happen to your clothes that it is worth the while to know how to mend the various kinds. There is an old adage that says, "Waste makes want," and we would spend a small fortune in clothes if every time a wee hole made its appearance we discarded the garment.

If it is a circular hole in a dress or underbody, as often happens, under the arms, we will use the square patch. Cut a piece of the same kind of material, three inches square, or larger if necessary. Turn a fold of one eighth of an inch on the four edges of this square. Crease it lengthwise and crosswise.

Crease the material on which the patch is to be laid lengthwise and crosswise through the tear. Pin the small piece or patch on the wrong side of the large piece, or garment, so that the creases run in the same direction. The warp must run the same way in both pieces. One sixteenth of an inch from the edges run a basting thread. Hem the four sides on the patch to the material (Figure 37).

On the garment side make a crease half an inch wide, from the hemming, on the four sides. Four little squares will be formed in the corners. Crease along the diagonal of each square. Place a pin one eighth of an inch from each corner, within the patch (Figure 38). Cut the garment from the centre of the tear to the pins. Repeat this on each side, cutting along the crease which you made, one half inch from the hemming.

Turn in one eighth of an inch and baste. Hem all around (Figure 39).

In patching material such as checked or striped ginghams, percales, or other materials, the stripes or the checks must match so that the patch is not too apparent (Figure 40).

Have you ever noticed how the slit or placket of a petticoat or side opening of drawers is finished? A piece of material is put in of an odd shape to strengthen the openings. This is called a gusset. Suppose that you were making a petticoat. Join the skirt up the back from the bottom, but leave eight inches open at the top. This top opening is the placket. But let us take a small piece of material and practise making the back of a skirt. We will put a hem and a few tucks at the bottom of the material first.

Make a measuring card of a straight strip with an eighth, three eighths, and three quarters of an inch notches.

Crease and fold a wide hem (three quarters of an inch), using the measuring card as a guide.

Over-hand each end of the hem. Now baste along the hem. The over-handing must be done before the basting. Now hem this wide hem.

Again, using the cardboard measure, on the right side of the model fold a crease three quarters of an inch above the hem. Begin at the right-hand side to crease and baste (Figure 41).

With a fine, even, running stitch, an eighth of an inch below the crease, make the tuck (Figure 42). Measure every few stitches to keep the seam straight.

If a second tuck is desired, measure from the tuck instead of the hem.

Now we are ready for the slit which is in the centre top. On the wrong side start at the top with an eighth of an inch hem, but decrease it to almost nothing right to the bottom (Figure 43). Fold the other side in the same manner. In hemming the two sides, start at the top.

Now let us practise making gussets on a piece of paper. Cut a piece of paper three inches square. Fold it from corner to corner and cut (Figure 44). Turn the straight or short edges of the paper one eighth of an inch and fold along the two shorter edges (Figure 45).

Hold the paper with the straight edge down, measure it from the two points one quarter of an inch. Now cut a piece of material the size of the paper and fold like model.

Cut off the two points one quarter inch from each corner on the thread of the goods (Figure 46). Turn these two straight ends and the bias edge of paper one eighth of an inch (Figure 47). Turn point of paper down one eighth of an inch from bias hem and crease (Figure 48).

Now cut the muslin gusset and fold just like the paper one.

Hold the model or skirt with right side toward you, and turn up point of gusset. Holding the wrong side of the skirt toward you, twist left side of gusset to left side of placket and over-hand to creased line, half way up the gusset (Figure 49).

Over-hand right side. Turn bias edge of gusset over to right side, pin, having straight edges parallel to warp and woof threads and then hem (Figure 50).

Gather the top of the skirt and put on a band on each side of opening about the same width as the one used on the apron (Figure 51).

IV

A DOLL'S SKIRT AND SEWING CASE, BINDINGS, DOLL'S BED LINEN AND A PIN CASE

Let us suppose that Sally Ann measures twelve inches from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet and that you would like to make her a gored skirt like mother's. Would you not feel happier if you made the pattern and then cut the skirt yourself?

Take a piece of paper twelve by nine inches wide, mark every inch on both the long sides of the paper. Lay a ruler so that it touches the centre of the space between the first and second dots on the upper edge, and between the second and third dots on the lower edge. This will form the half of the front gore of the skirt. Mark it, "half of front."

Now draw a line from the second dot on the upper edge to the centre of the space between the fourth and fifth dots of the lower edge. Connect the sixth dot on the upper and lower edges, mark this section "side gore." Connect the eleventh dot on lower and upper edges and mark this section "back." The remaining inch mark "belt." (Figure 52).

Cut the pattern apart along the lines drawn.

Take a piece of muslin twenty-four by nine inches. Tear off two inches of the muslin on the length for the band and then ten inches for the back of the skirt.

Fold the remaining piece of muslin with the two short edges together so that the doubled piece measures six inches by nine. Place the straight edge of front of skirt pattern on the fold of the material and the edge of the side gore on the other edge. Pin the pattern down securely and cut through both thicknesses of the material (Figure 53).

Pin the skirt together, placing a straight edge of a gore to a bias. Baste a quarter-inch seam along the finished edges of each gore, holding the bias edge toward you. Sew the seams up with combination stitches. Press open the seams and over-cast each one to keep it from fraying.

Fold a hem at the bottom of the skirt an inch and a quarter wide. Baste the hem so that seam comes to seam. On the front gore there will be a fullness. Gather this fullness in with fine running stitches and baste. Use a separate thread for the gathering. Now hem around the whole skirt.

Cut the placket two inches down through the centre back. Turn a hem on the right side one half inch wide and on the left one eighth inch. Sew the hem.

Lap the wide hem over the narrow at the bottom of the placket and stitch across the wide hem two rows of stitching one eighth of an inch apart.

Turn in the strip you cut off at first for the band one quarter of an inch on the two short sides and on one of the long sides.

Fold lengthwise, find centre of band and crease; one inch from this, crease again.

Place and pin band in the same way as for the gusset described in the last chapter, placing the middle crease at the middle of front of skirt. Then pin the band also at the creases on either side of centre. Gather each side of the skirt that is left. Draw in the thread to fit belt. Spread the gathers so that most of the fullness is in the back.

Over-hand the ends and hem second side of the placket. This finishes the skirt (Figure 54).

A basket or box of some sort is very nice to have, as we have said above, for your sewing, but suppose you were going to sew with another friend and you wanted a handy case in which to carry your sewing implements? A cloth case that can be folded or rolled is very much more convenient and may be carried in the large pocket of your apron. One made of denim is inexpensive, wears well, and is highly practicable. One yard will make you a case.

Cut a piece of green denim sixteen by fifteen inches long. Turn up four inches of the material, baste down both sides. Baste a four-inch pocket on the left-hand corner of your case. The rest of the case divide in two. This will hold your darning cotton that comes on cards.

We have a pretty way of finishing this case, which is not only ornamental but strong, and that is to bind it. Get a piece of tape long enough to go around the whole case. Crease it lengthwise so that one edge comes slightly below the other. Open it and lay it on denim and then neatly back-stitch the right side and hem the wrong. The hemming should be just below the back-stitching, and must not be seen on the right side. Allow enough tape at the corners to make a good angle. Both sides of the corner must be treated alike.

It will be well to have a needle case to match the sewing case. Cut a strip of material thirteen inches long by three and a half inches wide. Cut this strip in four parts. Get a piece of cardboard that is not too thick or of such kind that will break easily, as some of the cheaper grades of brown cardboard are apt to do. Cut four pieces, three inches wide by three and a half inches long. Thread your needle with a piece of No. 40 cotton and put a big knot at the end. Take one of the pieces of denim and a piece of the cardboard. Catch the material from side to side with stitches about one quarter of an inch apart (Figure 55). After sewing these two sides sew the third and fourth in the same manner. Cover each piece of the cardboard in this way (Figure 56). Take two of the covered pieces and over-cast them carefully together.

You should have leaves of flannel to stick your needles in. Pink the edges of the flannel. Pinking is snipping out the edge in little points and can be done with scissors. Connect the two pieces of the needle case with two tiny bows, or a heavy thread can be made to answer the purpose. The flannel sheets are tacked through the centre like the pages in a book (Figure 57).

The third or middle compartment between the spool case and darning thread can be used for a miscellaneous pocket to hold the tape-measure, emery-bag, small scissors and other necessary articles.

A piece of tape stretched down on the denim with just enough spring for the package of needles to pass through is a handy way to carry them (Figure 58).

It is rather dangerous to travel with a pair of scissors with the points unprotected. In Canada and the states that border it the Indians sell the little sweet grass protectors. A cork, however, that comes in small bottles such as you get from drug stores will protect the points of the scissors as well as the sweet grass protectors, if not as elegantly. If the scissors are too large to put in the pocket a piece of tape could be stitched down to slip them in lengthwise. The case should be folded in three parts when it is not in use and a piece of tape the same colour as the binding tied around it (Figure 59).

Now that you have your sewing apron and a work box, you will love to be sewing every chance you get. Suppose we plan a set of bed things for Sally Ann. First let us make a mattress. The mattress on your bed is covered, probably, with ticking, but this is too harsh for your fingers to sew, so let us select percale or zephyr, and half-inch tape for the binding; the filling can be cotton, hair, or feathers. If it is impossible to get any of these three, newspapers chipped up very fine will make an excellent padding. Many people use newspaper chippings to fill pillows for summer use.

Measure the bedstead and cut two pieces of percale or zephyr exactly the same size. Now cut a stripe of the material, one inch wide, long enough to go around the four sides of one of the pieces of the material that you have just cut.

Baste the long narrow strip around one large piece. Lay the wrong side of the strip to the wrong side of the material (Figure 60). The edges must be even. Use the combination stitch of one running stitch and one back-stitch just below the basting. When the strip has been securely sewed to the four sides of the material, join the two ends together on the wrong side.

Now take your tape, which may be white or the colour of the figure in your material, and bind the edges by first running one side down and then the other (Figure 61).

The other piece of material is sewed in the same manner--the wrong side of the strip to the wrong side of the material. Do not sew, however, around the entire four sides but leave about six inches open through which the filling may be passed. After basting the strip with combination stitching fill with cotton or whatever material you have on hand. Do not fill the mattress so that it will be bumpy. Put a little stick in and flatten the filling at the top. Now sew the opening up and we are ready to quilt the mattress.

Thread a large needle with two pieces of heavy cotton floss or wool. Push your needle through to the other side, letting a short end extend above the mattress. Bring your needle back again close to where it came out (Figure 62). Unthread the needle and tie the ends tightly. Cut off what is left and repeat again two and a half inches over. It is best to quilt in rows; that is, to start two inches in from the long side and make a row parallel with the tape. The next row is made two and a half inches farther over and the next row of knots should come in between the first row of dots.

This mattress is made just like yours and the pillow is the next article we will make. The pillow should be half the width of your mattress, as we will use two on the bed. Take a piece of material twice the length desired for the pillow. Use the same kind of material as that used for the mattress. Fold the piece in two with the wrong side out. Join the two long edges and one of the short sides with the combination stitch (Figure 63). Make the stitches one quarter inch from the edge. Now turn the case inside out and fill with cotton. Turn in the edges of the open end and over-cast them together (Figure 64). As I have said before, it will be necessary to make two pillows.

The pillowcases can be made of lawn, cambric or muslin. Cut the material a little larger both in length and width than the pieces used for the pillow. The seams of the pillowcases will have to be felled. Along the one short side and the long side make fine running stitches, one quarter of an inch from the edge. Cut the raw edge from one side so that the other is about an eighth of an inch wider. Now fold the wider edge over like a hem so that it completely covers the cut edge and hem neatly to the material. The open end has a wide hem of say three quarters of an inch. When the hem is finished turn the case with the work inside.

For the sheets cut two pieces of muslin or lawn large enough to cover the mattress and to turn under. The selvage edge of the material should run the length of the sheet. Turn in a quarter-inch hem on the two long sides of each sheet and hem. Now turn a one-inch hem at the top and bottom of each sheet. This completes the sheet (Figure 65).

A blanket is of course very necessary to have and it can be made of a piece of an old blanket or of canton flannel, cashmere, or plain flannel. If a piece of blanket is used, finish the edges with the blanket stitch which is described in Chapter twelve of the book.

The flannel, cashmere, or canton flannel is finished by turning the edges over a quarter of an inch and herring boning or cat-stitching them to the material (Figure 66). For cat-stitching see diagram in Chapter nine.

No bed is complete without a counterpane of some sort and this can be made as fancy as you desire. A pretty one is made of strips of insertion joined together by fine over-casting or fagotting. Fagotting is explained in Chapter twenty. A row of edging will have to be sewed like a ruffle around the two long and one short sides to complete the counterpane.

If a very fancy counterpane is desired get a piece of checked gingham of some light colour. The check should be a quarter of an inch square. With your needle threaded with white or a shade deeper than the darkest check make spiders on the dark squares and crow's feet on the light. Directions for making a spider are given in the chapter on "Lace Stitches."

A crow's foot is made by taking one stitch on the diagonal of the square and two on each side of it, the stitches on each side of the first one being a trifle shorter than the previous ones (Figure 67). A counterpane like this is very attractive and does not require a great deal of time to make.

A dainty little pin case that will make an acceptable little gift for a friend that is going to travel is the envelope pin case. Take a piece of material such as linen, cretonne, or silk and another piece of different coloured material for lining and shape one end as shown like the flap of an envelope (Figure 68). A good size is nine inches long by four inches wide.

Cut a piece of stiff paper a half inch smaller than the pieces of material. Baste the material which will be outside over the paper so that the edges are folded back one quarter on the paper. Turn a similar fold on the lining and hem it to the material as shown on the flap of the envelope opened.

Now take two papers of pins and place them in the case so that they look like leaves of a book. Be careful to see that the heads of the pins are on top. Now catch the pins to the case with several long stitches which are taken below the points of the pins. Stitch a ribbon to flap of envelope and one at the bottom. Close the case and tie the ribbons and you have a handy pin case (Figure 69).

V

MAKING BUTTONHOLES, CUTTING FROM A PATTERN, A DOLL DRESS

To make a good buttonhole is an accomplishment that any girl can be proud of, as it is the hardest thing in sewing. The thread should be almost double in length to that you usually take, as a joining is very clumsy in a buttonhole.

A buttonhole is a worked opening in a piece of material or garment through which a button is to be slipped. The friction caused by buttoning and unbuttoning necessitates that the worked edges should be firmly and well sewed.

Before we make a real buttonhole, let us see how the stitch is worked. Draw a line one inch in length with the straight of the material. Take two stitches one inch long over this line. At the extreme right of the stitches insert your needle, threaded with No. 40 cotton. Take a stitch about a sixteenth of an inch below the line. While the needle is still in the material--you are working from left to right--(Figure 70), carry the thread under its point from the left, to the right side of the needle. The enlarged cut showing this stitch is very plain. The needle is then drawn through the material toward the chest and then straight from it. The next stitch and every other stitch must be identical with the first, the difference being that each stitch is then a little farther to the left. Every stitch must be the same length.

Now let us prepare to make the stitch on a fold. Fold a band in three equal parts. Pass the needle between the folds and bring it out on the edge. Hold the end of the thread with the left thumb. Carry the needle to the back of the fold and insert the point through the fifth thread of the material from the edge. The double thread at the edge of the needle is brought around the point of the needle from left to right and drawn out. (Figure 71).

A tailor's buttonhole is made slightly different. The needle is placed in the same position as in the ordinary buttonhole. The thread is brought from the top of the stitch and the doubled thread is brought around under the point of the needle from right to left (Figure 72).

The corners of the buttonhole are worked in two ways, either barred or rounded. The round corners are worked in the same buttonhole stitch, only it is twice the depth of the buttonholing along the two edges. Five or seven stitches will be sufficient for a corner or the ridge of the buttonholing will be too crowded.

The bar or braced end of the buttonhole is a little more difficult. It is necessary to bar a buttonhole for heavy woollen materials such as men's coats, or your own cloak, or outer wraps (Figure 72). Generally the first end of the buttonhole is rounded and the last end barred (Figure 73).

Work around the buttonhole end when the last stitch has been made, turn the material so that the work lies across your forefinger. Pass the needle over the extreme left of the stitch, (Figure 74). Work four stitches the same length as those of the two sides of the buttonhole, and then insert the needle through the ridge of the first buttonhole stitch. The ridge of the bar faces the buttonhole. This bar should be just the width of the buttonhole. Nine stitches are usually sufficient for it.