The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-02-22
STITCHES IN TIME.

They Go Far to Lessening the Work OF tn
Housewife.
One of the most distasteful of house
keeping duties is the weekly mending,
and still worse the monthly merding-
for the inch darn that would have been
Bll-sufficient three weeks earlier now
demands full half hour of steady
work that raises strong doubts as to
whether the game is worth the candle.
while toes a nd heels have come through
stockings that needed only few
stitches when first noticed. The wom-
an who hesitates about mending at the
outset, nipping decay in the bud, as it
were, is assuredly lost SO far as any
further satisfaction in the neglected
garments is concerned. and every time
they are washed fresh gaps are sure to
appear.
The smallest thin place should be
darned as evenly as though it were en-
broidery, and the dsrning-stitch is
often used for this purpose. When
fine and regular. the work is really
beat tiful. and impartin. this fact to a
child will greatly mitigate the woes OF
her first lesson in darning. The even
ness and regularity of o darn give it
art
Itisimportant,h however. to know when
to darn and when not to darn, as most
women's time in these busy days is OF
far more value than ordinary material
in half-woru condition.: and unless
the darn or patch is well surrounded
with healthy fabric it will not pay for
the trouble. as the least strain on a
thin part makes il worse than it was
before. A great deal of mending which
would have been in high esteem fifty
years ago is now simply preposterous:
but if 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. a small loop
of the thread should always be left at
each end. Many workers treat only
wooden 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 il into
fresh dilapidation all around the orig
iual darn. The extra trouble in this
kind of darning will more than pay for
itself in the end. and IL is the invariabls
method of gifted expert with the
needle who looks well TO the ways OF
her household. and has many occupa.
tons besides that Of mending.
The mending thread should be as
near as possible in size to that of the
material as the darn will not only look
better but wear better; and IL Is desir-
able 70 have the needle as fine as the
thread or silk will carry. II the sur
rounding parts are thin or the tea,
jagged. a piece of thinner materia,
should oe neatly bassed on the wrong
side and hemmed down afterwards
SILK answers very nicely on wooieB
goods
With wash goods mending should al.
WAYS be done before washing, as it can
then be done more easily and neatly,
and the tear or thin place viii spread
no further, whereas one laundering
may tear it from end 10 end II is also
we'll 10 put avs clothing for the ss,a-
son in perfect order. 10 be ready for
the sudden emergency which so rarely
comes when one l. ready for Il
Mems f,annels are prominent "a tie
list OF articles tha, show VERY little
consideration in their sudden stvle at
going n pieces; and the complished
needle woman already quoted heads
them eff so 70 speak. by cutting oas
the affected parts. cutting remo-seisss-
" down "a sound material that viii
bear two rows % machine stitching,
and then sewing Ia new flannel care
fully basted and matching the run
o; the threads a new lease %