Sewing room

“ Fairly considered, the sewing-room was the most inconvenient study a man could possibly have, but it was the one place in the house where he could get isolation, insulation from the engaging drama of domestic life. ”

“ A sewing table and lamp at center. A sewing machine near window [43] at left. A wall cupboard on the wall right of the doors to the dining room. An old sofa down left, two chairs at right. When the door at left, in vestibule, is opened, one may see a path up to the door, between two walls of snow.
Discovered: Ella sits right at sewing machine, hemming some rough towels. Orin and Nettie are by fireplace. Sadie sits right of center. Sadie and Orin are dressed for outdoors. Nettie’s coat, hat and overshoes are on a hat-rack by door at left. ”

“ Some people keep a sewing table in the laundry but it is easier to have the sewing done in the sewing room and away from the laundry work. Because the different maids might much better stay in their own territory and failing maids its easier to keep your threads any place but in a laundry. ”

“ The industrial classes take a good share of my time. I am much pleased with the progress the girls have made in sewing. They have a deal of pride in doing their work nicely, and are always willing to take it out if not well done. They have made ladies' and children's aprons, undergarments, children's dresses, etc. Whenever they enter the sewing room with torn or ragged garments I have them mend them the first thing, trying to teach them that a stitch in time saves nine, and that a penny saved is the same as a penny earned—two things hard for them to learn. ”

“ We worked under her during a great part of the day, either in the still-room, or at our sewing in a chamber that opened out of the great hall. My lady despised every kind of work that would now be called Fancy-work. She considered that the use of coloured threads or worsted was only fit to amuse children; but that grown women ought not to be taken with mere blues and reds, but to restrict their pleasure in sewing to making small and delicate stitches. ”

“ After this the pieces go to the sewing-room, where they are sewed together by a woman, on a sewing-machine, in what is called a “pudding-bag” seam. The sewing-machine woman must have the machine-tension just right or the thread of the seam will break when the cover is stretched over the frame.
SEWING “PUDDING-BAG” SEAMS.
The next step in the work is to fasten the cover to 52 the frame, which is done by a woman. ”

“ The pattern should be one that extends well over the hips and heavy unbleached muslin may be used. After padding firmly, the front opening should be oversewed. Special care should be taken with shoulders and neck and the neck band should be carefully adjusted on the figure.
A padded sleeve lining is also very useful in making sleeves.
Dressmaking never should be begun until each needed article required for the work has been purchased. The sewing room should be in order; the machine well oiled and wiped before any work is undertaken. ”

“ Daniels called her, this was no sewing girl’s room into which I now stepped. Plain as was the furniture in comparison with the elaborate richness of the walls and ceiling, there were still scattered through the room, which was large even for a thirty foot house, articles of sufficient elegance to make the supposition that it was the abode of an ordinary seamstress open to suspicion, if no more.
Mrs. Daniels, seeing my look of surprise, hastened to provide some explanation. “It is the room which has always been devoted to sewing,” said she ”

“ Sewing-schools are established in which girls are taught not merely how to sew well, but how to cut and make garments for themselves and fathers and brothers. Kitchen-garden has been quite generally introduced for teaching all kinds of laundry, kitchen and dining-room work, care of bed-rooms and bedding, polite attention to guests, with all amenities of home life. ”

“ The second floor is devoted to the finishing department, while the knitting room is located on the third floor. There are in use one hundred and fifty-five knitting machines, one hundred and twenty sewing machines, eight looping machines, and twenty winders, operated by a force of over three hundred hands and producing five hundred and fifty dozen articles daily. ”

“ Miss West is never idle. Below, in the big after-room, she does her own laundering. Nor will she let the steward touch her father’s fine linen. In the main cabin she has installed a sewing-machine. All hand-stitching, and embroidering, and fancy work she does in the deck-chair beside me. She avers that she loves the sea and the atmosphere of sea-life, yet, verily, she has brought her home-things and land-things along with her—even to her pretty china for afternoon tea. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Pearl Rug-maker. Price $1; for $1.10 in new subscriptions. Postage 6 cents.
A sort of sewing-machine attachment; not strictly that; for it is not attached; may be used with any machine, or without a machine, the sewing done by hand.
With it a woman of taste and aptness with colors can get out of her rag-bag beautiful rugs with almost no expense beyond sewing-cotton and dyes [see Diamond Dyes, page 23 of this list.]
The rug-maker is simply a nickeled steel-wire frame on which to wind cut rags or yarns preparatory to sewing them on a substantial foundation. Not hard to learn the use of. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The equipment of the workroom should at all times be fully adequate to the demands upon it, and the very smallest of workrooms should have at least: A good sewing machine, capable of performing fine or coarse work; a cutting table approximately 5—0 by 12—0; a work table 5—0 by 9—0; a pressing table 3—0 by 6—0; a draping board, a test pole, a steamer and a cupboard for finished work.
As to the sewing machine, almost any reliable make of machine will do the necessary sewing for ordinary drapery work. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The operation is practically the same as that of tanning sealskins. The hair is, of course, left on the skin. When the skins are finally dry and worked to the required pliability, they are cut into shape for the various articles of apparel. The thread used in sewing is simply a strip of sinew of the proper size. The fibers are separated by splitting off a sufficient amount, and with the finger nail the strip is freed from all knots or smaller strands which would prevent drawing through the needle holes. ”

“ Coffee or 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. 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. ”

“ Sewing Equipment enough to lay out a skirt or coat for cutting and sewing. If it is a regular sewing-table, you can keep your shears, pins, etc., in the drawer. (Ill. 1.) The table should have a smooth, hard, even surface and should be of comfortable height, so you can sit at it with your feet under it as you would sit at a writing-table. Never sew with your work on your lap. It makes you sit in a fatiguing position, strains your eyes and back, and stretches and crumples your work. Lay your sewing on the table, letting the table support its weight. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. [50] 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. ”

“ Every woman had to sew. There were well-trained seamstresses in every house; no “ready-mades,” no machines. Imagine the fine hand-sewing on shirt bosoms, collars and cuffs. I can hear my mother’s voice now, “Be careful in the stitching of that bosom; take up two and skip four,” which I early learned meant the threads of the linen. What a time there was when the boys grew to tailor-cut pantaloons! Cut by a tailor, sewed at home, what a to-do there was when Charley had his first tail-coat ”

“ The sewing done on wool, silk, and dresses of all kinds differs from that on underwear and white work. Muslin underwear requires frequent washing and ironing, hence the first essential is durability; close, small stitches, all raw edges carefully turned and stitched securely. Seams that are to come close to the body should lie perfectly flat. A round seam would wear out sooner by coming into frequent contact with the washboard and iron, besides irritating the skin. In dressmaking, unless the stitching is used for ornamental purposes, it should never show on the outside. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If the cloth pieces which are to be used for rags are not wide enough to sew on the sewing machine, they should be lapped and sewed by hand in the same way, unless [30] they happen to have selvedge ends, in which case they should by all means be strongly overhanded. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”