The times., 1898-11-20

the kimono a relic of the past This fad
Tor western fashions is eve=y year los
ing its hold on the feminine mind in ia
pan. and the women are very wisely CO.
ing back to their own simple comfortable
and beautiful mode of dress
When you want a sewing woman in Ia
pan you do not advertise for her or look
out for sign on house walls She is
found by requesting her address of a
friend. The friend is sure to know of an
expert who will come to your house with
all her utensils and sew from sunrise to
sunset Tor twenty-five cents. The twen-
ty-five cents is asked for making cotton
dresses. while somewhat higher price
is demanded for sewing on silk Among
the tools of her profession the seamstress
carries book of fashion plates, which is
Just as explicit in details OF cut and COL
or combinations as the plates published
IN Paris or New York From an artistic
standpoint these Japanese fashion plates
are far ahead of anything one sees even
IN France. just as the designs on their
cotton crepes are little masterpieces. and
their dyes are absolutely clear after the
fabric has been washed and worn to rags.
contrary to the American custom there
Is no matching of samples in Japan.
When the seamstress comes she spreads
out her fashion book to its fullest extent
ana then when selection is made some
pody goes off and shops, for cotton
Unread, sewing silk and the like and the
sewing woman measures her EMPLOYERS
ior gowns by means of a queer little rule
cutting out goes on on the floor and it
taxes from one to three days TO make a
gown One fitting only is exacted, and
III Japan there are rarely any scraps left
over. II requires exactly twelve Yards of
thlrteen-inch wide goods to make a lady
complete suit, SO with exquisite thrift
the manufacturer of fabrics cuts his cloth
INTO dress patterns of just that amount.
and by using straight lengths everywhere
the dressmaker contrives not TO waste
an inch.
This sensible ARRANGEMENT. OF cot,rsa
would be impossible. If, as with us. the
cut OF garments varied every season. In
Japan no such tickle and foolish extraya-
gance Is countenanced. The shane of
womens garments scarcely varies by a
nalr breadth from year to year. but the
patterns used in decorating cotton and
SIX goods changes with nearly every
Dolt. After few dress lengths have been
printed off in the factory. a new design
Is made. a new combination of coiors
Drought about, and in consequence any
woman has actually hundreds of exouIs-
ite designs to choose from without the
ieast rear of wearing the same pattern
as that chosen by dozen other feminine
friends
The same rule holds good with regard
TO the embroidered silks and crepes. and.
moreover, there is an opportunity to dis
| play deal of good taste and lnov-Iedra
| OF etiquette in your choice of a patter1
designs IN Japan are made and especially
| approved for the sole benefit OF vouny
! ana unmarried women, and by no means
| DO they assume to appear in cottons or
| silks decorated for young married vvo-
men or for elderly ladies.
80 subtle are these distinctions in nat
terms that foreigners rarely or never
learn all the ramifications of this branch
Oh etlquette In dress, but the fact Is new
ertheiess that actors don't presume To
adopt the same pattern as lay folk Tba
GeisIa girls adopt especially ornamented
.aoflcs as their very own. As nearly as
II Is possible to define the differences ~
cdn De safely assumed that very vonne
laoies dont pretend to wear stripes and
uots- Gay Hover patterns are made fo-
@ .heIr use, While on the actors robes an
pear "hole scenes, animals tableaux and
landscapes The Geisha wear ffoy,-s--,i
dresses, too, but the distribution and COL
ors OF the blooms are quite different frnr,
the same blossoms on a youna, Isd,--s
gown Elderly persons generally affect
sohd coiors, unrelieyed by printed or en,-
oroidered frivolities, and in Japan the
most important factor in good dressr,,I-
ing is the stitching.
The little seamstress who owl.
| comfortably on the floor in the rnidst ~
| her work, is just as faithful a dissemina-
| tor OF gossip as her American p-ototvp.
her needle Is an unusually long steel az
| ialr, with round eye in the end. and her
| stitches are not so varied as ours she
does not fill. backstitch. or overland
| Because of the exceeding looseness of tha
| feminine garments in Japan close strcno
| stitching is not necessary. for no strain
falls on any of the seams. and in running
and hemming, a long and rather loosa
| stitch is taken.
Quite coarse thread is used in al gen.
| eral sewing, and the object is to make
stitches almost invisible on the exterior
| OF a garment or to make them boldly Or
namentaL OF the ornamental stitches
| done with gaily colored silks there is sim
| ply an infinite variety. for n capabe
| seamstress will often invent them a sae
| gees along For example on blue and
white cotton crepe kimOno the s.eave
| seam will be run up on the outside, with
| ineh-long stitches done with six or ten
| scarlet silk threads, all put at onca
| through the big eye of very fat needle.
| Wherever the needle enters the goods by
a dexterous movement a knot Is tied in
| the silk, and at the end of the seam a
| jaunty tassel of silk finishes the job. JUST
| as often as not the dressmaker will use
two needles and two separate threads
simultaneously on a seam and execute
intricaeies in stitches that would fill an
embroidery machine with envy, and then,
| if it is wished, she will fancifully en-
broider the whole costume with stitches
| that are as finished on one side OF the
goods as on the other, and that show ne
knots or ragged ends