Sewing circle

“ The free edge of the facing should be turned
under a seam's width and, if necessary, stretched to fit the edge of the garment. If an invisible sewing is desired the turned-under edge of the facing is stitched close to the turning, not to the garment. It simply lies flat against the garment. It does away with the second sewing of the facing to the garment, a thing that few amateurs can do invisibly. ”

“ There are several methods of getting the patterns to match in the sewing, but one of the best and surest we have seen, is to turn in the back just to the mark, and then lay it on the top of the sidebody, and so get it to exactly match every bar and cross bar, and when in that position, fell baste it from the outside, which will then leave a row of straight stitches on the wrong side, and which will clearly indicate the place where the seam must be sewn. ”

“ To make this ruche perky, catch the material to the cord, along the back of the cordings, tacking it to the cordings. The sewing should be made by putting the needle in the material a little to one side of the tuck sewing, catching the cord and bringing it out on the opposite side. Take these stitches from one-quarter to one-half an inch apart. Very soft materials require less tacking than those having more weight and body. ”

“ With a needle make a hole through the center of the fold, and another near each end of the fold (from one-half an inch to an inch and a half from the end) according to the size of the booklet, as shown in Plate III. With thread or raffia sew through the center hole, from the inside out, back to the inside through an end hole, outside through the center hole, inside through the other end hole, and tie the ends in a square knot (see illustration, Plate IV) near the center of the fold. Other equally satisfactory methods of sewing may be worked out. ”

“ It is also possible to make a lap felled seam with regular sewing machine foot, although it means turning the edge by hand. For the first stitching, lay the two pieces to be joined with the right sides of the goods together, letting the under piece extend one-quarter of an inch beyond the edge of the upper piece. Stitch the length of the seam, running the stitching one-quarter of an inch from the edge of the upper piece. ”

“ She was seated on the broad window-sill: before her stood her work-table, covered with reels of cotton, a needle-case, a pincushion, scissors of all sizes, and bundles of tapes; near to her was a large basket of new ready-basted household linen, at which she was sewing. Just now she was hemming a fine Flanders tablecloth; four that she had finished were lying folded on the little table. She sewed deliberately, with a harmonious precision of movement. Whenever she cut her thread with her scissors, she turned to the road for a moment to see if any one was coming. ”

“ Fit into the hole, tack lightly in four places, turn, sew the cut edges together, taking stitches close and barely deep enough to hold. Turn every little while, smooth seam, and look for puckers; if any rip, sew over. Sewing done, press seam hard with the thimble on something flat, then turn and press on right side with the end of the thumb. Manipulate until the skin edges lie one against the other. Fur garments can be remodeled at home with just such sewing. ”

“ Fasten thread by several small stitches.
NOTE.―If thread is too short to finish button-holing, fasten it on wrong side of material. Enter the new thread on wrong side and bring thread through last button-hole purl, or twisted edge.
Aunt Maria gave Mary Frances these directions very slowly, making the little girl do each step as she explained.
[Pg 169]
“My,
that’s the
hardest
thing yet”
“No, not that way, child,” she would say. “Sit up straight; place both feet firmly on the floor; hold your sewing high; do not stoop over. That is the correct position while sewing. ”

“ The British sewers, with only a very few exceptions, have always joined plaits together by means of an overlap, that is, the head of one row covering the foot of another, thus, the needle passing through the plait just under the head, to make the stitch as little visible as possible, and through the foot close to the edge, so as to lay the plait as thinly as firm sewing would permit. ”

“ Point needle downward through hole to the right of hole from which the cotton hangs; under three threads: pull through.
4. Repeat to end of row. Fasten.”
“There!” said Mary Frances, finishing the row. “That seems like ‘two steps backward and one forward,’ or rather, ‘two forward and one backward.’”
“That’s about the way it is!” said Sewing Bird. “But half back-stitching and back-stitching are both very strong stitches. Why, when your grandma was little, she stitched all seams by hand. Sewing machines were a great cu-cur―”
“Curiosity,” smiled Mary Frances. ”

“ They were sewing at machines, and at hand-work, but not as women are accustomed to sew, with leisurely stitches, stopping to pat a seam here, to run a calculating eye along hem or ruffle. It was a dreadful, mechanical motion, that sewing, a machine-like, relentless motion, with no waste in it, no pause. ”

“ A regular workshop it is. Boxes of thread, beads, scraps of fur, whole otter skins, paper patterns, shears, bits of hair and fur scattered upon the floor, and the walls covered with hanging fur garments; this is the sewing-room of the captain's wife as it is now each day when I go there. The room contains two large windows, one on the north side and one on the west, at which hang calico curtains tied back with blue ribbons in daytime. These women work very rapidly, with the thimble upon the first finger and by pushing the three-cornered skin needle deftly through skins they are sewing. ”

“ After the design has been selected make a pencil copy of it. It is better to restrict yourself at first to just two colours. [291] Fasten your sewing thread securely to the threads of the material. Use carpet thread for the weaving. Let us suppose that you have selected a pattern that is seven rows of beads deep and you have chosen tan as the background and red and chalk white beads for the decoration:
First row—Thread one red bead, six white, one red, six white. As we will only work a section at a time, let us secure the beads. Slip your thread under the hemstitching. ”

“ Smooth the seam underneath with the forefinger as you go, to make it lie quite flat. Beginners should flatten down the seam with their thimbles, or with the handle of the scissors, before they begin to hem, as the outer and wider edge is very apt to get pushed up and bulge over, in the sewing, which hides the stitches. ”

“ Your seams will not hold if the stitch is not perfect. Try your machine stitch on a double piece of cloth. Stitch on the bias and the straight. Does the stitch look the same on both sides? If not, have your leader adjust the tension while you watch to see how she does it.
For a review of what you learned about the sewing machine in your other projects, practice sewing on a sample of your fabric until you get the feel of the machine. When you can run the machine smoothly, make one of the following articles for practice—scarf, draw-string bag, apron, or swimming robe. ”

“ When we begin to sew we do not wrap the grasses as we wrapped the strands of raffia, but simply use as a sewing thread raffia of a contrasting or blending color. To form the button, wrap the threads three or four times around the root ends of the bunch, fasten tightly, then coil to form the center. Take the needle through the center and over the coil as many times as you think necessary to make the button firm. These stitches are the beginning of the spiral rays which radiate to the edge of the basket. ”

“ We shall sew ours by machine. The French seam is used on some garments made by hand. The first sewing (Fig. 54) , then, is a tiny row of running stitches, close to the basting. After the first sewing, the basting should be removed and the edges trimmed to a 1⁄8 inch seam. This must be done carefully. Then, turn the garment to the wrong side. Press and pinch the seams evenly so that the sewing of [88] the seam is exactly on top of the fold as you pinch it. Next, baste again 1⁄4 inch from edge, and sew the second time, by machine. This seam is often used on dainty handmade underwear. ”

“ Tucks are folds made on thin material for ornament, to shorten or to provide for lengthening a garment. If done by hand, a card measure is preferable to a tape measure for marking the space and width of the tucks. The folds should be creased to a thread, basted and sewed with a running stitch showing but little on the face, or stitched on the machine. Fine thread should be used.
SEAMS
A seam is the line of sewing that joins material; it may be plain or ornamental. The most important are the overhand, felled, French, slot, lapped, flannel, and beaded. ”

“ Hooks are sometimes caught into loops, but they are made directly on the material instead of sewed on the edge. The strands of thread, however, are not as loose as the buttonloops. The diagram (Figure 75) of the two loops will convey a clear idea of how the threads are spanned and covered.
The last step in sewing is cutting from a given pattern. An old garment that fits well, ripped apart makes an excellent pattern and requires very little fitting. Press the pieces before using them as a pattern. Lay the material so that the selvage runs lengthwise, that is, from head to foot. ”

“ A ROLLED SEAM is used in sheer materials where an unusually narrow joining is required, and the material is likely to ravel or fray. Hold the seam edges together and trim off all the ravelings. Begin at the right end and roll the edges tightly between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand keeping the edges rolled for about 11⁄2 inch ahead of the sewing. Whip the roll very close together making the stitches come under the roll and not through it. ”

“ The system is as follows:—W D half neck, D F, 1 inch, draw curve of sewing on edge from W to F, W to V and F to 1⁄2 is the stand, below which, as from V to I, is the fall. In making, the sewing to edge must be well stretched in the hollow. In style this much resembles the Panteen Collar, but is not so deep in the stand at front, and is cut all in one piece, though it is nothing unusual to find the under collar arranged with the stand and fall cut separate. ”

“ The thread must not be drawn too tight in making the chain, or the thread will break in backing; but still a proper tension must be kept or the sheets will wear loose. The last sheet should be fastened with a double knot round the kettle stitch two or three sections down, and that section must be sewn all along. The next style of sewing, and most generally used throughout the trade, is the ordinary method.
Ordinary Sewing is somewhat different, inasmuch as the thread is not twisted round the cord, as in flexible work, when the cord is outside the section. ”

“ But the sewing that is worth while cultivating now is the kind that can't be done by the machine but by the fingers of an artist. Embroidery and specialized dressmaking like that we've been talking about—those are the kinds of sewing that make you a craftswoman and an artist and not a drudge."
"You've stowed away all that your teacher has told you, I see." ”

“ For gathering, the cloth is held in the same manner as for running. The needle, ordinarily, need not be taken out of the work, the stitches being pushed back over the eye as they are made; but for running long skirt seams in delicate material which would crinkle at the line of sewing and roughen the seam, the needle should be drawn through and the line of sewing smoothed on the thread at each needleful of stitches. ”

“ With these they not only sew their canoes, and make their clothes, but also very curious embroidery. Instead of thread they use the fibres of sinews, which they split to the thickness which each sort of work requires. All sewing is performed by the women. They are the tailors, shoe-makers, and boat-builders, or boat-coverers; for the men, most probably, construct the frame of wood over which the skins are sewed. They make mats and baskets of grass, that are both beautiful and strong. ”

“ When the threads are woven or laced together into cloth, the stronger threads run the length of the goods―they are the warp threads. The weaker, or woof threads, run crosswise of the goods.
“Good, now everything is prepared”
[Pg 93]
Chapter XIII
Making a Doll’s Apron “IN cutting any garment, wherever there will be a pull upon the goods, what threads should bear the strain?”
“The warp
threads”
“The warp threads,” answered Mary Frances, deeply interested.
“Good,” said Sewing Bird Fairy Lady, “the warp threads, or lengthwise of the goods. Now, we are ready for
Pattern 2.―Doll’s Apron
1. ”

“ A soft finish is much used on silk and wool materials and on velvet. For this soft finish turn under the seam allowance on the neck edge and cover it with seam-binding sewed on flat like a facing. No sewing should show on the outside. In silk and wool materials if there are seams or closing edges or embroidery or trimming of any sort, the inner edge of the seam binding may be tacked to the seam, closing edge, etc. ”

“ After the sewing-press is properly regulated and the end-paper sewn as previously described, the sheets should then be taken, one at a time, in their regular order, and sewn all along, from one end of the sheet to the other, or, more properly, from one kettle-stitch to the other, taking especial pains to observe that in sewing each sheet, after the first kettle-stitch has been caught, the needle must be passed to the farthest side of the nearest band, then passed to the other side of the band, and so on for each successive band. ”