Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-15
HELPFUL HINTS FOR
WOMEN WHO DO
THEIR OWN SEWING

A peplum blouse that can be worn with
different skirts has sleeves belonging to a
seperate guimpe or to match the skirt The
back Is like the front. with an opening on
the left shoulder and under the arm. 1t is
very pretty in shot taffeta over lingerie
frocks, or of plain gingham or cotton
wolfe. with sleeves and skirt of stripes
1t could be trimmed with knife plait-
ing of narrow satin ribbon. or ruff1e OF
lace or embroidery may be used, and
either plated or gathered.
Many extra pieces are used in gowning
just now. garment similar to jump
er offers excellent possibilities in COM
bining two fabrics, plain and striped, or
may be entirely Of lace. or embroidered
all over and held to the figure with black
velvet ribbon as a belt. Such a garment
has a most attractive manner OF FRESH
ening up a dress or of rendering 1t more
dressy for evening wear A simple one
piece frock of wolfe or silk. with one OF
these warehouses, in all-over lace. Will
acquire a festive air at once.
In making an article Of lace where
two thicknesses of lace are stitched to-
gether on the machine, haste a piece OF
newspaper under them to prevent any
drawing of the fimsy fabric. When
sewed, pull the paper away. The lace
ruff1es now worn in sleeves to fall over
the hands or wrists should be twice as
full as the plain space to be covered,
and about an inch will be used UP in
the seam where the ends are joined as
a bag seam. Ruffies of lace or embroid-
cry used elsewhere are not full; In fact,
they are quite scant; once and half as
full is considered very fluffy, but We are
coming to the fluffy ruffles again when
wards of lace and dress goods are. sold
for an ordinary gown on an ordinary
woman.
AS cotton materials will shrink, they
must either be shrunk in the piece or
made a size larger and luck trusted to
that the garment may not fit beyond all
ing water until thoroughly saturated, and
| then wiring out and dry. Sprinkle and
iron on the wrong side with a hot iron
| until the fabric is perfectly dry.
The skirt of all soft and light-weight
fabrics, such as crepe meteors. foulards,
voiles, ETC., should have a deep 1S-inch-
wide facing of cashmere or albatross OF
the same shade to give weight and firm
| ness to the edge OF the skirt To finish
the upper edge of the facing SO that there
will be no bulkiness, stitch a piece of silk
| binding to the facing edge. which covers
the raw edge of the facing Then tack
the upper edge of the binding In blind
stitch to the skirt. Soft skirts hang
much better when faced in this way.
| An excellent way to sew hooks and
| eyes on the placket of a lingerie dress,
so that the stitches will not show through
| the sheer material, is to first sew them
on to a straight piece Of material, then
| sew that on to the placket, being careful
| to take the stitches through the facing of
| the placket only. This straight piece also
keeps the bias cut of a placket from
stretching and pulling out Of shape.
| Seams Of lingerie dresses should be fin
| ished neatly and effectively by setting in
narrow lace insertion or hemstitched
beading. This carries out the sheer effect
of the gown and there are no ugly seams
showing through.
When a bias edge and straight edge
come together in a skirt, be sure and
hold the bias edge toward you while bast-
ing the seam. Hold it easily and do not
stretch or pull it in the least.
Set-in sleeves are finished at the large,
loose 'armhole with a fiat tailored seam
which looks more like a narrow tuck
taken in the material than a seam.
Dainty handkerchiefs are always needed
and are easily made. One woman makes
considerable money in spare time by do
ing such work. She says that fine sheer
handkerchiefs made at home cost much
less than when bought at store. In
stead of hemming, she rolls the edges
French fashion. To do this, first dampen
the thumb and first finger of the left
hand and roll as finely as possible, as you
continue to sew. The lace edging or in
sertion that one trims with should be
sewed on with the same stitch that sews
the roll. In other words, the roll and
edgng are sewed at the same time. 1t
makes a pretter, more delicate finish
than a hem, as 1t is almost invisible. Such
handkerchiefs may be trimmed as simply
or as deliberately as you wish.
To make one dozen gentlemen's hand
kerchiefs requires three yards of linen,
costing 60 cents a yard, one spool OF
thread and two skeins OF silk. One wom-
an hemstitches them by hand and works
an initial in one corner of each. She
buys the PAPER mache initials and works
over these, which serve as good founda-
ton and make the work easier to do.