St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-10-20
STITCHES ~ TIME.

!: STITCHES ~ TIME.
3Aey Go Far - Lssssai.e sAs Wsrk - ~
H0asewife.
One Of the most distasteful of house
keeping duties is the weekly mending,
and still worse the monthly mending-
for the inch darn that would have been
all-sufIicient three weeks earlier now
/ demands . full half hour Of steady
work that raises strong doubts ~ to
whether thu game In worth the candle,
while toes and heels have come through
stockings that needed only few
stitches when first noticed. The wom-
IN who hesitates about mending ut the
outset, nipping decay in the bud, as It
| were, is assuredly lost so far IS any
| further satisfaction in the neglected
| garments is concerned, and every time
they are washed fresh gaps are sure 70
| appear.
The smallest thin place should be
darned a. evenly as though It were en-
broidery, and the darning-stitch il
often used for this purpose. When
fine and regular, the work il really
beautiful, and imparting this fact TO .
child will greatly mitigate the woes Of
her first lesson in darning. The even
ness and regularity of . darn give it
dignity and elevate it into . work of
| art.
Itisimportant.h however. to knoWwhen
| to darn and when not to darn, as most
women's time in these busy days il Of
| far moro value than ordinary material
in . half-worn condition; and unless
the darn or patch is well surrounded
with healthy fabric it will not pay for
the trouble, ~ the least strain on .
thin part makes it worse than il was
| before. A great deal of mending which
would have been in high esteem Afty
years ago is now simply preposterous;
| but il done at all, it should be done In
| the best possible manner.
DarninG thin places rather than
mending holes is true economy both OF
time and material; and whether thick
or thin, cotton or wooden, . small loop
of the thread should always be left. ut
each end. Many workers treat only
woolen material in this way, to allow
for the shrinking Of the new thread;
but all new material shrinks more or
less, and the fresh threads introduced
into the many times washed garment
will soon be so drawn as to pull it into
fresh dilapidation all around the orig
inal darn. The extra trouble in this
kind of darning will more than pay for
itself in the end, and it is the invariable
method of q gifted expert with the
needle who looks well to the ways Of
her household, and has many occupa-
tions besides that of mending.
The mending thread should be ~
near rs possible in size to that of the
material rs the darn will not only look
better but wear better; and it is deair-
able to have the needle as fine as tho
thread or silk will carry. II the sur
rounding parts are thin or the tear
jagged, = piece of thinner material
should be neatly basted ON the wrong
side and hemmed down afterwards
Silk answers very nicely on woolen
goods.
With wash goods mending should IL
then be done more easily and neatly,
and the tear or thin place will spread
no further, whereas one laundering
may tear it from end to end. 1t is also
well to put away clothing for the sea-
SON in perfect order, to be ready for
the sudden emergency which so rarely
comes when one is ready for it.
Mems fiannels are prominent in the
list of articles that show very little
consideration in their sudden style of
going to pieces; and the accomplished
needle woman already quoted heads
them OF. 50 to speak, by cutting out
ly down to sound material that will
bear two rows OF machine stitching,
and then sewing in new flannel care
fully basted and matching the run
of the threads A new lease Of
life is thus insured, and they enter |
upon . fresh career Of usefulness
Sometimes m entire arm is amputated
and new one inserted; but whatever
the heroic measure happens to be, IL II
very thorough and works admirably.
Darns and temporary repairs make lit
tie impression where reconstruction isl
needed, and catching together" il the
most unsatisfactory Of subterfugeA
II is not particularly interesting
work to patch tablecloths, bat It can
be done so neatly rs to make IL difficult
for any one not acquainted with the |
geography of the article to find the |
patch. Miss Alice, in the Wide, Wide |
World, did all her patching on thread
with invisible stitches, which means |
that needle and cotton wcre Of the dn- |
est, and the eyesight of the seamstress
ditto. Also her organ of neatness and
order. A pattern should always be
matched; and after basting ON the |
wrong side q patch large enough to |
cover all the thin part. the edges Of |
the hole should be trimmed on even
and hemmed to the patch with tiny
stitches as undrawn as possible. It is |
then hemmed on the wrong side and
ironed perfectly fiat.
Sheets which threaten to become
thin in the middle-not hare become 20
should be summarily dealt with by
splitting them 1t once and sewing the |
two outer edges together. This brings
the stronger portion where there 10
most wear, and the work is finished
with hemming the sides. BY doing this
in time twice the ordinary amount Of |
wear can be secured.
Some ingenious members Of wooden
and Balbriggan articles use . crotehet-
needle with good effect IS soon - . |
moderate-sized hole becomes visible,
catching up the stitches that seem dis
posed to make<the most of their lib
erty. and filing the aperture with
fresh ones. This method has the ad- |
vantage Of not proclaiming itself - . |
darn, and il very satisfactory to care
ful worker.
There are deeper devices in mending
than are dreamed of in ordinary philos-
ophy.-Harper's Bazaar.
Two HeoAs Worss Than Ooo
Spencer-Did you know that Muss. |
leigh is being tried for bigsmy?
Ferguson-Good gracious, mo-! Why,
he married . museum freak . week or |
two a0o: you don't mean Ia eav he In /