SOME HINTS ON DRESSMAKING.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2647, 30 September 1882, Page 3

SOME HINTS ON DRESSMAKING.

There is scarcely anybody who in the course of her life has not found the want of some slight knowledge of dressmaking, lam inclined to think that every girl should go through a course of lessons as part of her education, for a certain amount of insight into how drosses are made conduces to good dressing, and enables the wearer to point out to dressmakers or ladies’ maids the defects which the best of them fall into. Lessons may not make a proficient in the art, but they will teach a great deal* The first thing is, of course, to obtain a satisfactory pattern, to be kept and used a* required. To the uninitiated, the very way of setting to work about this is not easy. First cut two linings roughly in form for back and front. All that is really necessary in doing so is that they shall be of sufficient length from the neck to the edge of the basque, and wide enough across the bust—a most important matter. It ia utterly impossible to make any bodice sot unless it comes well up to the sleeve, that is, that the armhole bo not cut too large. A very common defect is for the sleeve to cover a part of the bodice. Bogin by folding over a piece down the edge of the front pattern about one and a half inches in depth, and attach this to the figure by pinning, soy an inch apart, down the whole length. There is a knack in placing these pins, viz., horizontally, with the head outwards. Next pass the hand across the bust, taking cure that the material from the front to immediately below the arm is straight by the thread j the front and side seams will all be wrong unless this is so, and no bodice will set well if the material and lining run different ways. Quite loosely, pin the back to the front under the arm, only just enough to keep them together, the same on the shoulder, and then pin the back down the centre exactly after the fashion of the front, always with the heads of the pins outside, without darning the pins in and out, which produces a pucker inevitably. Now comes one of the most difficult parts of taking a pattern, viz,, manipulating the shoulders. You must be careful to have the lining high enough in the neck, and notch it at intervals down to the required height, also round the armholes. It is somewhat the fashion now, or rather such a fashion is creeping in, to give a broad appearance to the back by making the shohlder seam on top of the shoulder ; but, as a narrow back is a beauty, this is a mistake. Bring the seam well over the shoulder ; keep the back piece firm by holding it between the first and second finger of the left hand, while with the thumb you draw the front to it very tightly, the material showing no crease. Begin from the top, as you always do in pinning, and place the pins in without darning them, so that the head of the one clears the point of the other; they re-

quire to bs particularly straight, and it is not so easy as it seems to accomplish all this properly. Next you have to form the side plaits called darts on the front of the bodioe, which keep quite low down; a high side plait makes the figure flat. Stout figures require a greater distance between the front and the first dart than thin ones. When these plaits are satisfactorily settled, pin the front and back beneath the arm, exactly as they go, to fit the figure closely. It is generally necessary, in pinning the material oelow the waist, to place some side plaitz in front in a slanting direction, thus disposing of the extra fullness. The waist line must bo most distinctly marked with pins. To recapitulate then, the great points to be carefnl of, in taking the pattern, is to cover the figure exactly, to place your pins in so that they cause no puckers, and to lay the material on by the thread.

Having made the pattern as perfect as possible, remove the pins which secure it to the figure, back and front, and take it off. Then place the finger between the pinnings on the shoulder, and stick another row of pins on the side whore the heads of the other pins are not, and through only one layer of the stuff, in such a way that when you take out each pin originally used, and replace it so that it goes through one piece of stuff only, it yet marks out the correct line ; the other piece has its row of pin* to define its shoulder line and seam under the arm. In this way you have the front and book distinct, and exactly fitting. For the next process a wooden board will be required, the cover of a deal dress box does admirably ; lay a sheet of brown paper (French dressmakers use blaok) upon it, with the pattern above; then with a stiletto or dressmaker’s piercer, which has a round top, and is more convenient for resting in the palm of the hand, pierce through the lining down the front, and exactly along the row of pins, so that a facsimile pattern is produced On the brown paper. With a sharp pair of scissors cut the paper by the pierce doles, and yon have a pattern which should fit you to perfection, and serve as a guide for all kinds of dresses. But to be quite sure that the pattern is correct, have the lining ironed, when the pins have been removed j lay the brown paper upon it, pierce round I the outline into the lining, tack with black thread by the pierce holes regularly, so that the tacking can be felt by the finger, and pin the back and front together. Having first pinned up the front plaits, try the lining on again ; very possibly you will find that the armhole is a little too much out out, the nsek a li;tle"too low. Make *the necessary alterations in the iuing, and then in the lining, and then in the brown paper, and your permanent pattern will be quite perfect. You may keep it by you in use fox years, adding a little to its breadth if you become stouter. The best dressmakers use silk for lining, but nothing ia so durable or preserves the material so well as a firm slate twill. This is sold double width ; lay it out thus, folded before you. iflaoe the pattern upon it, with the npper part towards the cut end, the selvedge for the fronts. The side pieces for the back will, most probably, be got out of the width, while the top of the back will fit in the interstice of the front, A good yard of stuff may be often saved by laying the pattern out, and well considering how one part outs into another. Prick the outline on to the lining. The brown paper pattern is the exact size, so, of course, turnings must be left beyond the perforated marks. These marks serve for a guide to the tacking. In forming the front side plaits you must be careful that you do not allow a fold or crease to be apparent on the bodioe beyond where the stitching commences; to avoid this, before beginning, stick a pin through what is to be the top of the plait 5 the head will be on the right side, and, bolding the point, you can begin pinning the seam without touching the upper part of the bodice. To ascertain the size of button holes, put a piece of card beneath the button to be used, and out it an eighth of an inch on either side beyond. Having turned down the piece in front, on the button hole side, run a thread a tenth of [an inch from the extreme edge, and again another the width of the card. Begin to out the first 'button-hole at the bottom of the bodice, and continue at equal distances. The other side of the bodice is left wide enough to come well under the button-holes, the but-ton-holes muse be laid upon it, and a pin put through the centre of each to mark where the button is to be placed. In sewing on the buttons, put the stitches in horizontally; if perpendicularly they are likely to pucker that side of the bodice so much that it will be quite drawn up, and the buttons will not match the button-holes. As to sleeves. Measure from the shoulder to the elbow, and again from elbow to wrist. Lay these measurements on any sleeve pattern you may have, and lengthen or shorten accordingly. The sleeve is cut in two pieces, the top of the arm and the under part, which ia about an inch narrower than the outside. In joining the two together, if the sleeve ia at all tight, the upper part is slightly fulled to the lower at the o.bow. The sleeve is sewn in to the armhole with no oordings now, and the front seam should be about two inches in front of the bodice seam beneath the arm, but you must bo guided in this by the form of the wearer.

It is toe difficult an experiment for amateurs, but bodices being now worn very tight-fitting, my readers may like to know that the French stretch the material well on the cross before beginning to out out, and in cutting allow the lining to bo slightly fulled, so that when on, the outside stretches to it, and ensures a better fit. An experienced eye can tell a French-cut bodice in a minute, the front side pieces being always on the cross. These hints are of a most elementary dessoription, but, strictly followed, will prove valuable. Stitching, pinning, button-hole making, are only to be acquired by practice. Beginners must not be discouraged; success fis only made up by many failure#, —W., “The Queen’# ” Correspondent,