HINTS FOR HOME DRESSMAKING.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1884, 8 March 1880, Page 3

HINTS FOR HOME DRESSMAKING.

We cannot impress to strongly upon the minds of those of our readers who live at a distance from cities, and who do their own dressmaking, the necessity for watching and studying closely the forms of clothing as they are pictured in our illustrations of models. The outline of the figure was at first followed at a respectful distance, in the beginning of the new departure which has ended in a complete revolution within twenty-five years of the standard of style and fashion. Every seasonable strictness with which the figure is defined has become more marked, and the tailor cut, which means short shoulder seams, sleeves rounded up on the top, and a straight narrow back, has become and more essential to the success of a design, nor is it likely that the old slouchy fashion will return, at least not at present. The change in this direction is not one of more fashion, but of actual advance and improvement. No man ever contemplates for a moment the possibility of wearing his coat cut low on the shoulder, or loose about the arms, or broad in the back, or unnaturally short in the waist. It has been discovered by women also that the “high” cutis not only the most stylish, but it is also the best fitting and most convenient for the use of the arms. The sleeves do not wrinkle wlea the waist is well cut in on the front, and )&• top brought well upon the shoulder; but it ia oitremely difficult not only to fit oneself properly, but to get other people who will do it for you.

There ie an unfortunate number of persons who never strike a happy medium in anythin*?. They must always exaggerate merits until they become defects, and defects until they become intolerable. Such persons will out the back of a dress out until the sleeves stretch halfway across it, and instead of putting the seam on the top of the shoulder, bring it halfway to the throat. Paper patterns are necessarily cut to fit well-rounded and fullyoutlined forms. Their gradations is size adapt them to the generality of figures with very slight alterations. But these alterations should be made by fitting so that the effect will be as true and artistic as possible. The great difficulty about ready-made clothing is, that it is made with so much of a margin that a small woman can never find anything to exactly fit her. This cannot be helped. All that can be done in generalising is to strike an average. The one here and there who is very short, or very thin, or has very long arms, or a very fat chest, or rounded shoulders, or any other natural defect, must either have her clothes made to order, or take the patterns cut for the better average form, and adapt them to her own physical peculiarities. The great obstacle to successful dressmaking at home is the looping and draping, the graceful irregularities in design, and the concealment of the means employed to produce effects which have become the essential part of the modern dressmaker’s art; nor will this difficulty be likely to lessen. Art in dress hr-s not come to an end, it is only in its beginning ; and there is no reason why its elaboration and development should not keep pace with other departments of modern arts and industry. What we need is that daughters should supplement their painting, their wood-carving, their study of geometrical and natural forms in drawing and modelling, with an industrial training in the actual art of making their clothes, and making them beautiful.

It is quite impossible that the majority of women, young or middle aged, should possess the means to employ the highest talent in the making of their dresses. Experience, skill, and knowledge are just so much capital, and those who require their exe-cise must pay for them. But the problem is solved at once, wherever skilful fingers are found in the household, and are rendered more skilful by actual knowledge and training. Mrs Glass’s famous recipe for cooking hare begins, “ First catch your hare j" our recipe for dressmaking at home would certainly begin, First secure your pattern, read the directions, cut out the material carefully by them, baste all together, and try it on the person for whom the dress or garment is intended. Occasionally shoulder seams will want taking up a little, or the side seams fitted closer under the arms, in which case the armholes must be cut out, and the sleeves properly fitted. Cording and piping are now rarely seen. Seams are made as unobstrusive as possible. The whole purpose is to produce an artistic arrangement of drapery showing as little as possible the means by which it is brought and held together. The inference is not to bo drawn, however, that the work is slightingly done. On the contrary, seams are stitched as finely as though they were shirt breasts, and the interior arrangement of looping, effected by means of tapes or elastics, is firmly stitched, and made so secure that it will not come apart by lifting and wearing. The work of second and third class dressmakers is always characterised by this lack of finish- and strength. The interior seams are never made flat or overhanded ; pockets are only rarely put in ; loops for hanging the drosses by, and inside belts are omitted, and bows drop off, and draperies collapse when least expected. Some persons consider a pattern necessary for a basque, jacket or overskirt, but unessential as regards the principal skirt; that can be cut at hazard “ gored” according to somebody’s formula, and put together in the happy-go-lucky way in which most women do cooking, a “ pinch” of this, a “ shake” of that, a “handful” of the other. Of course the results are not satisfactory, the front is thrown forward, the back will not fall into line, and the whole effect is marred. A good well-cut pattern of a walking or demi-trained skirt does not need renewal with each recurring season, but it is so necessary to start upon, and adds so much to the comfort and satisfaction with which the dress is worn, that it pays ten [times more than it* cost.

A hem o£ the material turned oyer on the facing and supplemented by a patent facing which takes all the wear from the edge of the skirt, now takes the place of the alpaca braid, so long used as a binding : and when the skirt is demi-trained, to this is added a double flounce {one placed above another at the back of ths skirt on the inside) of thin crinoline, black when the dress is dark, white when it is light. The long, square train is only used for dresses of extraordinary ceremony ; the small round train, into which the sinuous serpentine folds naturally flow, is more convenient, adaptable, and better suited to the requirements of the majority. The square bodice, and elbow sleeve have established themselves as a compromise with the low bodice and short sleeve, but their use should depend upon the habits of the wearer, and the society she frequents. The long sleeve shortened a little, and finished with a fine close interior and exterior plaiting, which leaves the wrist free to display a well-fitting four to six-buttoned glove, is sufficiently dressy for ladies whose busy lives have subdued their tastes, and the present fashion of delicate lace and muslin about the neck and throat is much more becoming to such than the slight exposure involved even in a neck square-cut without the relief of band, necklace, or ornament.