Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-12-18
HOW TO GUT A DRESS.
Aunt Mary's Directions to an Amateur
DreSSmater.

DreSsmal1cr.
"To begin WITH" said Aunt Mary,
taking the front piece of the paper pat
tern and folding it over carefully at the
waist line, ~"sclect a thread that runs
from sclvcdge to selvcdge and place this
crease l have made at the waist line
upon it. When you are sure the waist
line OF your pattern is perfectly even
with the grain of the cloth, smooth out
the pattern top and bottom, and after
securing it firmly to the cloth at the
waist line pin it firmly to the cloth and
cut it out. Do not mind if the pattern
slopes a little on the front from the
bust to the neck; the waste of material
will be very slight. See that your
waist line is straight, then 90 ahead;
and l would advise you to cut one piece
at a time until you have more expert
ence. .
''From the second bias to the first
seam the waist line shows a slight up-
ward tendency" said Aunt Mary; :per-
haps you have not noticed that your own
waist shows this tendency as you APP
proach the hips; but as the line from the
hem to the first bias and from the first
to the second bias is straight on the
cloth, that part from the second bias to
the first seam must be straight, as it is
not a separate piece.
"You see, I notch and mark carefully
Just as 1 am instructed to do by my pat
tern, and across from notch to notch on
the waist line l run u thread for fear OF
losing sight of this very important
line"
Aunt Mary proceeded to cut piece af-
ter piece in this am careful manner
When all was ready, she said: sNow,
Sally, there is a great deal to learn about
basting a waist. You can not haste it
any way. BY that I mean you can not
properly begin to haste every seam at
the top OF bottom of the waist. There
are a few rules which, if followed, will
surely insure good seams, and onse-
quently well-titting dresses.
''Here we have the front and back Of
the waist. BY that I mean the right
and the wrong side of the calico. So
hereafter in Speaking of the front YOU
will know / mean the right side, and in
speaking Of the back you will know 1
mean the wrong side of the calico. The
biasses are the first to be basted. Sc
cure them by pinning the waist line,
then evenly up and down so that they
will not slip when you haste them; then
with the front toward you haste finely,
remembering that the finer the
hastings the nicer the seam
when stitched. The next two
seams pin and haste with the front to-
ward you, remembering to secure at the
waist-line first, and be very care
full not to stretch the cloth. The next
seam you will secure as usual at the
waist line, then pin about an inch above
that, and from there toward the bottom
of the waist with the 'front.' toward you.
Now turn it so that the back will be to-
ward you, and pin from above the waist
line toward the top. Basic in the same
way and you will have no trouble in
making this set nicely back of the hip.
The rounding piece that setsin the curve
OF the back-piece must be put in very
carefully. Hold the back toward YOU,
and in basting from the top to the bot
tom be very careful not TO draw it in
any way. Let Tire rounding seam fall
easily into the curved back. The backs
are sloped a little as the waist line is APP
preached, and you will haveno difficulty
in getting them, even if you secure them
at the waist line first. Now the shoul-
der-seams look rs though they intended
to trouble us. The backs seem too wide
for the fronts. But see here; you pin
the ends firmly. The back still looks
too full; give it q gentle pull; not too
much, but just enough to show you it
will fall in place easily, and pin and
haste as you have seen me pin and haste
every seam.
"Now VIC will examine it," said Aunt
Mary, as she spread the waist out Oh the
lap-board, and called my attention to
the thread which ran in Il continuous
line around the waist.-Good Househeep-
ina.