A DRESSMAKING CLUB

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 181, 21 October 1927, Page 5

A DRESSMAKING CLUB

MAKING CLOTHES IN PERFECTLY-EQUIPPED ROOM | Women are certainly becoming more clubable. There is even a dressmakj ing club nowadays, where the amateur ! dressmaker may find a room equipped with big cutting-out tables, ironing boards, long mirrors, sewing machines, dress stands and all the paraphernalia for which there is little room in the small flats of to-day, and yet which lighten her task so much, making it a joy instead of a toil. The club was the inspiration of an English woman, Miss M. C. Kingsford, who had had a number of years’ practical experience in dressmaking, as i well as in teaching in private schools- ! She realised how very difficult it is j to make clothes if everything has to be i cleared up off the dining room table | every time a meal is served, and how ; utterly impossible the task becomes for | the many women who are living in ; boardinghouses and hotels in these ! days. CLOSE TO THE SHOPS : So three years ago her dream of a j club came true, and she secured just ; the accommodation that she wanted in j a shopping centre right on the main : High Street, Kensington. There is an j annual subscription to the club, and ; members pay a small fee every time ; they use the club room, which is | open every day from 8.30 to 6. "I find that if people find their way (here once they come again and again." ; she said. "Members always bring their own material and cotton or silk to j match, and a pattern, if they have got one; if not, they can buy one here. "1 am always in another room ready to give advice and answer questions. As a rule, a member maps out her pattern and then comes and calls me to give a friendly eye to it before she

cuts it out, for which I keep a big pair of cutting-out scissors well sharpened. This advice is included in the fee. But in addition members very often have an odd lesson on some special thing, like making pockets. VARIETY IN DRESS “In these days, when so many checks and patterns and bright colours are worn, women require more changes of garments, and this is probably why an increasing number are making their own frocks. Also, there are so many excellent patterns to be had. And while it is true that the ready-made, machine-made frocks are extraordinarily cheap, the well-made model, done largely by hand, is still costly. "And,” said Miss Kingsford, “it takes an expert machinist to do good machining, but any woman who is keen on sewing does good handwork. She can. for instance, turn up a hem nicely and lightly. "One or two members have told me,” she went on, "that they can get three dresses for the price of one good one by making their own. They generally do simple things, little tennis or evening frocks, and they are very pleased i to be able to carry out their own in- ; dividual ideas.” The club atmosphere is a great help to many women who lack the confidence to make things quite by themselves. And sometimes when they have not been able to make a dress “go” on their own they will bring it to Miss Kingsford, and get her to help refit it and have a lesson on it. The clubwoman also finds the club invaluable at the change of seasons, when she wants to renovate last year’s things. She often brings a little pile of two or three different things, to ask [advice and have a lesson on how to bring them up to date. There are so many people, however, j wanting to know more, or take up , dressmaking as a living, that the club is now to be extended to include a j School of Dressmaking, not only for the ■ girl just left school to get a thorough [and practical training, but for the num-

! bers already started as dressmakers who know a good deal but not enough. These already come for sets of lessons ! on such advanced subjects as modelling on the stand and fitting all sized figures. It is very interesting to note that the club includes women from all parts of I the world. There are. for instance, some Japanese ladies who, accustomed to ma king their own simple national costumes, want to learn how to make the more complicated European clothing. And another lady from Czechoslovakia joined in order to know how to cut out garments made there and embroidered with their beautiful stitch* ' ery, but intended for sale in England.

BEAUTIFUL HOMES Which of England’s beautiful homes would you choose to live in were you so privileged? There is the exquisite Chequers, the official country residence of the Prime Minister, Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are simple people and find this marvellous home a little too stately for them, and much prefer the freedom and peace of their own home in Worcestershire. Then there is the Duke of Sutherland’s Guildford house, Sutton Place, which possesses a private swimming pool in addition to tennis courts and golf course. The Asquiths —as they are still universally called — have a cheery home Sutton Courtney, the unique feature of which is a special lean-to for visitors where they are never disturbed by their host and hostess. People say that ".Margot” is that wonder, the Perfect Hostess.” NOT FOR BRUNETTES Are you a blonde? If so, you must powder your hair with gold or silver dust. A well-known trench beauty has started the fashion, which is being copied everywhere. You cannot imagine anything lovelier than pale golden hair powered with silver dust, but the powder must only be applied very lightly; just enough to give one a delicate ethereal air of mystery.