ON SEWING, CUTTING, AND MENDING.

A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School by Catharine Esther Beecher, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. ON SEWING, CUTTING, AND MENDING.

CHAPTER XXXIII. 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.

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