dressing the small boy

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 899, 17 February 1930, Page 5

dressing the small boy

SENSIBLE SUGGESTIONS Nothing is easier than to dress tin> bo ys attractively tor ordinary everyday occasions. They can have onepiece rompers for indoors, and delightful gaiter suits for out ot doors. The trouble arises when the small boy goes to parties, because rompers seem scarcely "dressy” enough, and trousers are difficult at the toddler stage, which does not permit of a manly belt. Most mothers think the only solution is to have braces of the same material as the trousers, but they And that tight braces press on the shoulders, while loose ones slip over the arms, and look untidy. If braces are used, the best way to cut a double yoke to the shirt, aud to leave a gap when stitching the shoulder seams, so that the braces can slip through under the top “layer” of the yoke. They cf , n then be comfortably loose without slipping an inch. There are, however, two other solutions. The one is to cut the trousers to come up, Kate Greenaway style, into a square bib, back and front, fastening at the corners to large decorative buttons on the shirt—two on the ,-hest and two on the back just below the shoulders. All the shaping is done in a deep curve under the arms, almost down to the waist, and tucks in centre back and front are sometimes an improvement. The other way is to have a liberty bodice, or a plain flannel one, with one row of buttons round the bottom edge and another row an inch and ahalf higher. The buttons should be four inches apart. Buttonholes are cut in the blouse to allow a good pouch, and in the band of the trousers to (It on the same buttons. This method is ideal for the growing child, for the use of the lower row of buttons lengthens the trousers without a stitch of alteration, and does away with the "baby” style of the blouse, os the pouch is less pronounced.