Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-03-24
Labor-saving Ideas for
the home dressmaker
How to freshen and
make over hats, and
parasOls.

i II Sou do any dresSmak;ng at ali
j some kind OF a dress form will save
hours Of worry over fitting and trim
{! ming. There are several kinds OF
inexpensive forms to be found in the
: stores. any one Of which will answ er
! the purpose. A pneumatic form. OF
course. is the most useful. as it can
, be changed to suit each member OF
the, family, but when there is only
one person to sew for II is not neces-
sary to have this kind. Next in i'm
portance is Il good pattern, and the
best is the cheapest in the end. In
the past few years there have been
wonderful Improvements in patterns.
always tending to be more and more
helpful to the home dressmaker.
The Best Way to Work.
If you are not sure how to make
any part of garment YOU will save
time not by experimenting, but b.
looking at a similar old garment.
When joining the seams of garments.
either when basting or when doing
final stitching by hand or by machine,
always hold the bias edge OF the
material on top of the straight edge,
that is nearest to you. In that way
you will avoid stretching the bias
edge. Have a board and sn iron
ready for pressing seams. hens and
turned-down edges. Do not wait
You can do it all at once. Better re-
suits follow when you press each
small part of the work as you go
along. Press open every seam and
overcast or bind each seam. The
finish will be more accurate and have
re
besides wearing better and prevent
ing stretching. Save and use left
over odd colors Of sewing silk for
basting silk fabrics. such as satin.
chiffon. crepe. velvet and materials
of that sort.
tcrial as will cotton thread. Cut bast-
ing threads at rather short intervals
before YOU attempt to remove them.
To pull the length Of a long basting
thread from garment is to risk
tearing the material or separating
lem use a very fine needle and thread
appropriately fine for the material.
The right-side stitches will be much
smaller than when the hemming is
done with medium coarse needle.
and the nervous effort to keep the
be greatly reduced. When you haste
be sure and use a long milliner's
needle 1t is a habit a little hard to
acquire. but one tfat will be very
helpful when once established. Do
not use any kind Of pins except those
mark the material to be pinned.
When you work on black or dark
materials wear white apron. The
reflected light will be very helpful
whom eyes are not strong. Save all
selvages of georgette crepe, chiffon
fn l. a
a novel and attractive finish to a
garment by applying them as a tiny
ruffie or by leaving them on the
material in the original cutting:
To Freshen and Remodel Hats.
Making over hats offers many
chances to practice economy. Sur
prisingly good results in remodeling
last seasons hat to conform to the
prevailing style can often be attained
by exercising little patience and
cars. Good millinery Is almost iEde-
structible If you know how to trea:
sir First, all materials that need rem
drating- should be ripped and care
,fully brushed" and the threads should
Be removed. Scrubbing and bleach
ing will restore the freshness Of soil
ed and sun-darkened straw. Large
pieces Of double buckram sewed un-
der the straw will close holes in the
crown made by hatpins. A handful
Of stiff muslin crumpled and basted
on top of the crown will make 1t a
proper height.
You can freshen black chip hats BY
rubbing them with sweet oil or olive
OIL or in five minutes one of the pre-
pared dressings will turn a faded
red or blue straw into a very respect
able black one. White straw or white
chip hats you can restore by rubbing
them with soap and water. If the
hat is slightly sunburned, bleach it