Buttonhole stitch

“ After very large buttonholes are finished, their straight edges should be closely basted together by an over and over stitch and then pressed under a damp cloth. Before they are dry, a bodkin or stiletto should be pushed vigorously up through each eyelet until that opening becomes perfectly round and the stitches on its edges are regular and distinct. When the basting is removed, the buttonhole will be symmetrical in appearance.
Buttonholes which are to bear a strain are cut in the direction of the pull, but sometimes they are cut in the opposite direction, as for a shirt waist. ”

“ Overcasting the buttonhole. You have not all learned the overcasting stitch. Practice it on a scrap of cloth. Look at the picture (Fig. 28) carefully. The overcasting stitch is used on edges to prevent raveling. Hold the buttonhole along the top of the first finger. Begin without knot, and at the end farthest away from a finished edge; as at the end of skirt band or edge of waist. Work over end of thread. Point needle toward left shoulder to make a slanting stitch. Make about three or four stitches on each [42] side of the buttonhole (Fig. 29) . ”

“ The sheaf stitch (Figure 177) is made by pulling the threads for a space of a quarter of an inch or more. Decide the width that you desire and then cut the threads perpendicularly. Draw the first and last thread to the distance desired, and then cut opposite end to match the first slash. After the threads have been drawn out neatly buttonhole the cut edges with narrow buttonhole stitches. Now place your work in your embroidery hoops, or, better still, if it is possible, buy a pair of oval ones that are especially made for drawn work. Fasten thread in the centre of one of the buttonholed sides. ”

“ Always place the knot on the outside of the garment a short distance to the right of the buttonhole, leaving a long stitch underneath which can be cut off when the buttonhole is finished. A buttonhole should be completed with one thread if possible as it is difficult to mend the thread securely and neatly. ”

“ BUTTONHOLING AND WALLACHIAN EMBROIDERY Embroidery buttonholing is a little different from the buttonhole stitch used in sewing. It is a stitch that is most used to finish the edges of centre pieces, scarfs, and, in fact, any article where embroidery is wanted to finish the work. ”

“ Then, keeping it under the thumb to the left, put your needle, eye first, downwards, through the slanting stitch just made; draw the thread not too tight, and, keeping it as before under the thumb, put your needle, eye first, this time through the upper half only of the slanting stitch, making a kind of buttonhole-stitch round the last, and draw out your thread.
These knotted rope stitches, call them what you will, are rather ragged and fussy—not much more than fancy stitches—of no great importance. Knots used separately are of much more artistic account. ”

“ Make a buttonhole stitch and return in the same manner over the face of the loom, around to the top ring, where you make a buttonhole stitch and return, until the whole warp is strung. Care should be taken to make it firm and tight. Hold the string and ring firmly in the left hand while making the buttonhole stitch with the right. Cut the woof cords long enough to allow a fringe on each side of the hammock. Weave each cord separately, tying in pairs around the rods. Stripes of one or more colors can be woven at each end or at intervals through the hammock. ”

“ The next is fastened to the fabric only at the beginning and end of the row; between these points the loop stitches are caught into the loops of the first row, and so on with the succeeding rows, fastening through only where the rows terminate against the outline. It is necessary to keep the stitches very loose, as each row has a tendency to narrow. When the form is covered draw the last row in place and fasten it by a row of buttonhole stitches taken through the fabric like the first. It is possible to work back and forth. ”

“ This stitch is made by taking the thread toward the worker, and before the needle is drawn out of the cloth the thread is held by the thumb under the point of the needle, as in a buttonhole, making a loop. The needle is inserted in the last loop for the next stitch. The chain stitch is used in modern embroidery as an outline and for darning, but in old embroidery, the outline and chain stitches were used for filling as well. They are found in Persian, Indian, and Italian Renaissance work. Like the feather stitch, the chain stitch is worked towards the worker. ”

“ By way of résumé, it may be added that for line [178] work, more or less fine, crewel, chain, back and rope stitches, and couched cord are most suitable; crewel for long lines especially, and rope stitch for both curved and straight lines; for a boundary line, buttonhole is most emphatic; for broader lines, herring-bone, feather, and Oriental stitches answer better; ladder-stitch has the advantage of a firm edge on both sides of it. Satin and chain stitches, couching and laying, and basket work make good bands, but are not peculiarly adapted to that purpose. ”

“ This will be seen clearly by the detail C, which is very much enlarged to show the working, but the rows of buttonholing are not usually much more than 1⁄16 of an inch deep. It combines admirably with chain-stitch for leaves, flowers, and even figures, the stems and small details being worked in chain, and the filling in this solid form of buttonhole, while features and the folds of garments may be clearly indicated by voided lines. ”

“ 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) .
[58]
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. ”

“ There is a third and much simpler type of open-work occasionally found on seventeenth-century samplers, which is carried out by piercing the linen with a stiletto and overcasting the resulting holes so as to produce a series of bird’s-eye or eyelet stitches. All three varieties of open-stitch are frequently seen in combination with that short, flat satin-stitch, which, when worked in a diaper pattern with white thread or silk on a white ground, is sometimes called damask-stitch. ”

“ Fig. 10A gives a corner for a border, which will also make a suitable finish or heading to the neck of a dress or blouse; it may be spaced in various ways, worked in slanting lines, or with stitches of equal lengths, worked over threads or narrow braids of a different colour or tone. When the heading forms a close line, it is usually considered as a button-hole stitch. Plate I. shows two lines of button-holing worked in groups of three, in orange wool, between two rows of chequered chain stitch, where they serve to connect the broad bands of orange which surround the border of the runner. ”

“ 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 cutting 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 round it near the eye. ”

“ The stitches are taken alternately from side to side, and the threads cross each other naturally, without any intervention of the needle or thumb of the worker. It is a stitch well known to the neat-fingered housewife for keeping flat the cut edges of a seam where a hem is considered too clumsy. As a decoration it is seldom used in its simplest form; but I have seen many beautiful pieces of embroidery executed entirely in other forms of the same stitch, such as Swiss or Close herring-bone or Fish-bone. ”

“ Commence by overcasting the threads from point D, and upon reaching the part where the pattern is widened out, change the stitch to an open buttonholing (as shown on line B) . It is worked openly in this way in order to leave space for another row of the same kind of stitching to be fitted in from the opposite side, which is the next thing to be done. ”

“ TAILORS' TACKS are used in cutting out garments to mark seams, perforations, etc. They are used to give a clean exact line for the sewing. When laying out the pattern on the material cut the pieces, and then with a double thread mark all the perforations as directed in the pattern instructions. Baste through both thicknesses of the cloth, alternating one long and one short stitch. Leave the long stitches loose enough to form a loop under which a finger can be passed. ”

“ Many ladies in working a pattern, copy on cards each row separately; this prevents confusing one row with another.
The stitches between the mark, thus (knit 2 together 3 times) are worked, knit 2 together, knit 2 together, knit 2 together; this prevents useless repetition.
The pins and meshes are all gauged by the standard or wire-drawer’s gauge.
To raise stitches—Put the pin in the selvedge or side of the knitting, put the wool round the pin as in knitting, and bring it through, so as to form a stitch. ”

“ The stitches required in the little garments are very simple. Join by seaming together the edges from D to E. Turn down a fold of about 1⁄2-inch round the curved portions, and herringbone or machine-stitch. At the top, turn down a hem of 1 inch, and stitch in the same way. Make two eyelet holes in the back of this, and insert a draw-string. A cosy little garment for baby is the result. ”

“ In this way stitches are also sometimes worked upon stitches, as shown on the sampler, Illustration 32. You will see, on referring to the back of it (33) , that only the white silk is worked into the stuff: the dark is surface work only. There is no end to such possible INTERLACINGS. Those on the sampler do not need much explanation; but it may be as well to say that A starts with crewel-stitching; B and C with back-stitching; D with chain-stitching; E with darning or running; F, G, and H with varieties of herring-bone-stitch; J with Oriental-stitch; and K with feather-stitch. ”

“ What the stitches are it is not easy to say. The mystery of many a stitch is to be unravelled only by literally picking out the threads, which one is not always at liberty to do, although, in the ardour of research, a keen embroidress will do it—not without remorse in the case of beautiful work, but relentlessly all the same.
The only piece of embroidery entirely in crewel-stitch which I could find for illustration (15) is worked, as it happens, in silk; nor was the worker aware that in so working she was doing anything out of the common. ”

“ A few years ago, while embroiderers here in America were counting the spaces on pieces of canvas, or carefully pushing needles in and out of the holes in perforated paper, pupils and teachers of the new English school were studying out the many stitches they could find in old embroidery, and were introducing them into their work. The so-called "Kensington" stitch is merely a form of stem stitch, taken always in a manner to fit the leaf or flower to be wrought. ”

“ A pretty and—in sampler embroidery—uncommon stitch is that in which the crowned lions in the samplers of Mary and Lydia Johnson (Figs. 35 and 36) are worked. This stitch is formed of two cross-stitches superimposed diagonally, and since its revival in the Berlin wool era has been known by the names of star-stitch and leviathan-stitch. ”

“ Feather-stitching In working a blanket-stitch do not use a knot but secure the thread by running one or two stitches toward the edge, holding the thread under the left thumb. Insert the needle the depth required, bringing it out under the edge, allowing the thread beneath to form an edge. ”

“ Running stitches for ordinary purposes are made usually about one-eighth of an inch long. However, an old rule which always holds true is "The finer the material, the shorter the stitch."
Keep in mind two things in practicing to make running stitches. Make them as evenly as possible and keep them in a straight line. A crooked seam is an acknowledgment of the lack of practice. ”

“ Peculiarities of Knitted Structure.—An examination of the photo-micrograph of the plain knitted fabric (back view) shown in Fig. 3 will demonstrate that the loops are intimately dependent on each other and that the slightest dislocation at any part will at once affect the adjacent area. The knitted fabric is extremely difficult to make absolutely perfect, because each stitch is worked on its own needle distinct from its neighbour, and the slightest irregularity of yarn delivery affects the whole stitch area concerned. ”