by Butterick Pattern Company

“ CUTTING DIAGONALS. Diagonals should not be cut with two bias edges meeting as the lines will come together at entirely different angles. (See illustration 68.) This difficulty can be overcome if you have wide enough material. A diagonal rarely has a perceptible nap and the lengthwise and crosswise of the material are so alike that there is no dissimilarity either in appearance or in wearing qualities between them. So if you want the diagonal to run the same way in both sides of your garment cut one-half lengthwise of the material and the other half crosswise. ”

“ SLIP-STITCHING is used when invisible sewing is required for holding hems, facings, trimmings, etc. It is not a strong sewing, but it is one of the most valuable stitches for finishing work in silk or wool. In this stitch it is necessary to take up only part of the thread in the material. This is what makes it invisible on the right side. The stitches should be taken as far apart as will hold the edge in place. Let the needle slip through the under side of the fold of the hem between the stitches and bring it out through the crease of the fold. ”

“ Butterick patterns for ladies' skirts do not allow for a hem and the quantities given on pattern envelope do not include enough material for a hem. In some cases a facing can be made from pieces that are left over. As a rule a skirt can be cut from less material if a facing is used but in some cases a hem is preferable while in other cases a facing is better.
For a sheer material a hem should be used, if possible, as the seam joining a facing to the lower edge of a skirt will show through a transparent fabric. ”

“ A waist, for example, will often have two sleeves, and you must choose before cutting which sleeve pattern you prefer. You must also decide whether you will use a body lining, a collar for the high neck, etc. Always put the pieces that you are not going to use out of the way so that you will not make the mistake of cutting out things you do not need, and wasting your material. ”

“ All perforations and notches should be followed faithfully. They are the work of experts who have gone to an immense amount of labor and study to show you the absolutely correct way of putting together your garment. It takes a little time to mark them all carefully in the beginning, but you save that time over and over again before you are finished.
All the working perforations should be marked with tailors' tacks, using different colored cotton to mark the different sizes and kinds of perforations, so that you won't confuse them after you have removed the pattern from the material. ”

“ A STRICTLY TAILORED COAT for a man or boy is made in very much the same way as a strictly tailored coat for women except that the effect is even more tailored. The best tailors in New York give a well-tailored and mannish look to a coat by the methods given below.
For this style of coat it is very important to know how to baste in the canvas, face the front of the coat and put in the lining before joining the shoulder seam. Not until this has been done should the collar be basted to the coat. These are the fine points of tailoring and should be followed closely in coat-making. ”

“ A skirt pattern should never be ordered with a hip measure smaller than that of the figure to be fitted. If a plaited skirt is too large or too small at the waist, the plaits should be made either deeper or shallower to fit the belt.
If the skirt is gathered at the top, the gathers simply need to be drawn a little closer or let out as much as Ills.7 and 8. Measuring a Child's Bust Waist and Hip needed. If the skirt is plain at the top and gored, each seam should be taken in so as to make the alteration as small as possible in each place, sloping it gradually to nothing at the hipline. ”

“ A skirt stretches because its own weight and the weight of the hem or facing draw it down. If you hang it up for two or three days properly weighted at the bottom, it will stretch as much as it can stretch and you can then hang it safely. Every woman who sews accumulates a lot of useless material which can be used to weight the lower part of the skirt. ”

“ The outside of a double collar should be sewed to the neck edge of the blouse. The edge of the inside collar or collar lining should be turned in and felled over the sewing.
The single collar can be put on with machine hemstitching or seaming.
It is advisable to avoid a seam in the edge of either single or double collars in a transparent material, if possible. In the case of a single collar a hem is the best finish for the outside edge when it is plain. ”

“ To Shorten the Trousers considerable care is needed in determining just where the alteration should be made. The length of the underwaist to which they fasten has a great deal to do with their length when worn. It is well to measure an old pair of trousers on the child, taking the measure from the waist to the crotch and then to just below the knee, allowing for the extra fulness to fall over the knee in knickerbockers. Any alteration in length above the crotch should be made across the pattern below the extension for the pocket opening, changing the seam edges as little as possible. ”

“ If you are a woman of average height, you will have to make an allowance for tile hem in cutting. Ladies' patterns do not allow for hems except in special instances. If you are shorter than the average, the skirt pattern may be sufficiently long to allow for the hem. Misses' patterns give a three-inch-hem allowance. In the case of a tall girl, or of a small woman who is using a misses' pattern, it may he necessary to make an additional hem allowance if a hem is used. ”

“ WHAT THEY ARE. The Butterick Pattern gives you the actual shape of every new fashion and for every type of garment tor women, young girls, children, boys and babies, and for every kind of garment that a woman should undertake to make for the men in her family. The Butterick Patterns give the professional dressmaker patterns that she can not afford to make herself. If she is sufficiently expert to be able to draft a good pattern her time is worth several hundred times the small amount which she pays for the Butterick pattern. ”

“ If the waistline needs to be made larger it can be done by raising the skirt a trifle on the belt all the way around. A very little will increase the waist size a good deal.
MISSES PATTERNS for dresses, blouses, coats and underwear, except drawers and petticoats, should be bought by the ageunless the girl is large or small for her age in which case the pattern should be bought by her bust measure. Skirt, drawers and petticoat patterns should also be bought by the age if the girl is of normal size. If she is large or small buy her drawers or petticoat patterns by her hip measure. ”

“ AN IRREGULAR PLAID can rarely be used on the bias, consequently the ways of making it up are limited. A dress made of irregular plaid requires more material than one made of regular plaid. The darkest stripes should run across the bottom with the lighter tones up, as the shading in this direction is better.
It must always be borne in mind throughout the cutting, that all pieces of the pattern must be placed with the upper part in the same direction on the material. An amateur had better use an even plaid. ”

“ For molds which have a hole in the center and which are covered with material which is not too heavy, the covering may be just large enough to cover the mold with only as much material in the back as can be forced into the hole with one's needle.
SEWING ON PATENT FASTENERS—Patent fasteners are used where an especially flat closing is desired and where there is no strain on the closing. Where there is a strain, as at the center back of a waistline or at the closing of a close fitting skirt, patent fasteners don't hold as securely as hooks and eyes. ”

“ UNDERWEAR is the easiest type of sewing. There is practically no fitting to be done and the construction is of the simplest possible kind. It is a very good idea, therefore, for a beginner to start with an underwear garment before she undertakes a blouse or dress. ”

“ A PATCH may also be set in with mendiog tissue in cases where it is undesirable to have any stitches showing. The hole is trimmed to a square or oblong shape, and a piece cut the same shape, but a seam's width wider all around. Lay the garment over an ironing-board, as directed above, and, between the edges of the hole and the lapped edge of the patch lay strips of the mending tissue. Be careful not to have any of the tissue extending beyond the torn edge on the right side, as it will make an ugly mark after being pressed. ”

“ The facing is generally used when the outline of the lower edge is curved or pointed so that it can not be turned up in a straight hem.
Draw the pull-thread in the lace where a curve requires a slight gathering to make it lie flat. The facing is cut to fit the outline of the lower edge and applied as a false hem, as shown in Illustration 314. When edging is used, it is basted to the bottom before the facing is added and all stitched in a seam together. Turn under the facing at the line of sewing, baste in position and stitch insertion from the right side. ”

“ Repeat the stitches until the button is securely fastened. Remove the pin, draw the button away from the material as far as possible and wind the working thread tightly several times around the threads between the button and the material, thus forming a thread shank for the button. If a button is too closely sewed to the garment, it will not have room to rest easily in the buttonhole and will crowd the latter out of shape and make the spacing seem irregular. The loose sewing and the winding increase the durability of the work and lessen the strain on the button. ”

“ Remember that a sewing cotton requires a looser tension than silk.
The hemming and tucking attachments are great time-savers, but many women prefer to gather ruffles, puffs, etc., by hand and stroke them.
IN MAKING underwear it is important that there should be no raw edges. This not only makes it neater and daintier, but it makes it stronger and better able to stand frequent laundering. It is washing that wears out underwear more than the actual use.
Ill. 112. Binding the Bloomer Seam SEAMS. In sheer materials it is necessary to make the seams as invisible as possible. ”

“ ALTERING LENGTH OF BOYS' PATTERNS—When a boy of five or six years has the breast and waist measure of a nine-year-old size, even though he has the height of a six-year-old, it is better to get a nine-year-old pattern and shorten the coat, the sleeves and trousers. ”

“ JOINING A WAIST AND SKIRT TO MAKE A ONE-PIECE DRESS. When a waist and skirt are to be put together, they are made separately and completely finished before they are joined. The inside belt of the waist, if there is one, however, should only be basted to the waist, and the inside belt of the skirt should be basted to the skirt but not sewed fast. When the waist and skirt are finished, put them on with the skirt over the waist and pin them together. ”

“ One should be very careful in deciding on the style of seam used on a tailored garment. Tweeds, homespuns, friezes, and all other rather loosely woven woolen materials should be finished with bound seams. In linens, pongees and crashes one should use the cord, bound or lapped seam. Broadcloth, meltons, kerseys, covert, and other heavy driving cloths can be pinked, as they are so closely woven that they will not ravel. To have a good tailored look the machine-stitchings on any seam must not be too fine. ”

“ A plaid waist should be cut with as few pieces as possible. It can be made either on the straight or the bias of the material. Before you cut out your material decide which stripe, plaid or figure will look best at the center front and center back. In considering the position of the lines of the stripes and plaids you must consider the crosswise as well as the lengthwise lines of the material so that it will look well on the figure. In a plaid waist match the heavy lines of the plaid where the waist is joined at the underarm seam. ”

“ Embroidery Facing EMBROIDERY EDGING USED AS A FACING is shown in Illustration 305. The plain material above the embroidery is applied as the facing. Crease the edging off at the depth it is to extend beyond the garment. Baste the material along the crease so that the seam will come toward the inside of the garment. Then stitch the seam. Now turn the edging down, fold in the raw edge at the top, and hem down as a facing. The facing should be no wider than necessary to make a neat joining. ”

“ In cutting drawers for a prominent abdomen allow an extra inch or two at the top, tapering the allowance away to nothing over the hip. In circular drawers the upper edge of the drawer pattern must he slashed and spread to give the drawers the original waistline, which is made smaller in making this allowance. This alteration is practically the same as altering the top of a circular skirt for this type of figure. ”

“ SMOCKING is a trimming much used on the better class of children's clothes here and abroad. It is used for dresses, rompers, coals and little boys' suits. It is very pretty in colors on dresses of fine white batiste, nainsook, plain lawn, handkerchief linen, cotton voile, very fine cotton crêpe and silk mull. ”

“ CORDING is a very useful trimming and is made with bias strips and Germantown or eider-down wool. The bias strips should be about an inch and a quarter wide. Fold the strips lengthwise through the center and run a seam a quarter of an inch from the fold edge. With the strips still wrong side out, slip the ends of several strands of Germantown or eider-down wool far enough into one end of the tube-like covering so that you can sew them securely to it. ”

“ DOLLS' PATTERNS. When you measure a doll measure its length from the top of its head to the sole of its foot. (Ill. 12.)
HOW TO BUY YOUR MATERIALS. The effect of a dress depends very largely on choosing the material that is suitable for it. For example, you would never choose chiffon for a circular skirt on account of the fact that chiffon would stretch badly when cut on the bias, and that it is so soft that it would not give the flare at the bottom which is characteristic of the circular skirt. ”

“ Covering the Raw Edge of a Circular Hem with Seam Binding The piece of muslin need not be the full width or size of the garment or hem. It can be a comparatively short piece and can be moved as the pressing is done.
After the hem has been pressed in this manner, hem the upper edge of the seam binding to the garment with invisible stitches.
A HEM FOR A SLIGHTLY GORED OR STRAIGHT SKIRT. The hem edge is turned under in the usual way. If an invisible sewing is desired, the turned-under edge of the hem is stitched close to the turning and then blind-stitched neatly and carefully to the garment. ”

“ In so many cases women's shoulders are not exactly even or there are some slight variations from the average at one point or another of the figure. These outlet seams give you a chance to alter the garment in an easy, simple way.
ORDINARY SEAMS. A 3⁄8 of an inch seam allowance is made on all edges not cut on the fold of the goods, or finished with a hem. In basting, the seam lines must be followed exactly. (Ill. 24.) If you make them deeper or narrower you will alter the size of the garment.
DARTS are marked by V-shaped lines of perforations. ”

“ Be careful to complete each stitch with uniform movements. When the eyelet is reached, the work is adjusted so that the stitches may be made at the proper slant. The stitches should radiate from the eyelet as the spokes do in a wheel. (Ill. 230.)
The inner end of an eyelet buttonhole may be bar-tacked. Sometimes the bars are simply worked with an over-and-over stitch. This is done by passing the needle up through the fabric at one side of the bar and down through it at the other side until the bars are entirely covered with these stitches and the stays look like a fine cord. ”