DRESSMAKING HINTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 444, 1 March 1909, Page 3

DRESSMAKING HINTS.

In 1 her recently published book, "Simple , Lesons in Dressmaking,'.' -Jime. Lofvalt, a teacher of dressmaking in English schools, '■ells "how to cut, fit, and finish' a dress." All tho mysteries of making skirts hailg properly, getting sleeves in right, of pressing clothes, of making all kinds of elective trimmings, aro elucidated in plain, straightforward .language. One of tho points, says the writer, on which most amateur dressmakers fall down is the lining at the bottom of the skirt. Here is the right way to put it in: "On no account put pleats in the lining at the bottom edge of a skirt. Tho best plan is to cut tho lining to fit the dtlge when you aro cutting out. the skirt itself;. then you will be able to cut it the exact shape. This being done, stitch and press upon each seam, and turn one-half an inch down at the , top edge of the lining with a neat tacking ono inch in length, and press it on tho wrong side. Then place the right sido of the skirt against tho right side of the lining, and allow the lining to go a little beyond the edge of the skirt, and with the skirt uppermost sew the lining-and material together about half-an-inch from the edgo either by hand or sewing machine. When you have dons this turn the lining over on to the inside of tho skirt and tack it neatly round the edgo to keep it in place. This is the simplest way to line up tho edgo of a dress skirt." Hero is some good advice for stoiit women, and for those below tho medium height: "For stout figures, arrange tho trimming on the gown from shoulder to waist, and trim tho sleeves up from the wrist, or from tho top of the sleeve down, according to fashion. Or they can be worn without trimming; in this caso the sleeve must bo a very good shape and perfect fit. Short women should never wear deep flounces or too many small ones. All their dress trimmings, to look well, must bo put on tho gown lengthways, and the bodice trimmed to correspond with the,skirt. Medium-sized women, if not'too stout or too slender, can wear almost any stylo of dress. At the same time they must be careful to avoid any fashion that will cause them to appear oither too stout or too short; and it is as well to understand that quite light and dark shades of material without a set pattern, when made up into dresses for short people, appear to add to the length of the person, while any gay light colours makothe figure look just the reverse; indeed, they too, often make a woman look both short and stout, and this also applies to broad dress trimmiuas," •

To keep one's garments weir pressed is half the secret of good dressing. A' newlymado garment, too, can bo spoiled by careless pressing. "Every attention," says tbc author, "should bo given to the pressing of seams in bodice, sleoves, and skirt. Tlicy often need to be pressed over two or three times. In order to do tho pressing in a businesslike way a good padded pressing board is necessary, and will be found most useful in the household whero there is a family going out to business daily, and who will often need their clothing repaired and pressed. The pressing board is quite easy to make. First securc an old table top or a large piece of board (or keep a special table for pressing), and firmly tack over it, using strong linen thread, an old,' well-washed blanket, two or moro folds in thickness, and over this a well-washed pieco of white sheet of the blanket make of goods, and keep laid away for use when wanted a large square of white-washed'twilled calico. This is to bo used when pressing any class of lifeht coloured goods, and for white or other light woollens keep a piece of thin white woollen material, or use when pressing a piece of the same stuff from which the garment is made. And see that you do not slide the iron'over tho seams as you would do in ironing laundry things. Put the iron down on tho part t-o be pressed and take it up again. Continue to do this along the whole length of the seam till it is finished. This mode of pressing applies to all work connected with dressmaking.