Evening star., 1927-05-06

II IL an old saying that when a
garment comes to the point Of mend
ing it is only half worn out. Mending
NAV be done in such a way that re.
pairs seem to be part Of the original
design.
Sunuose that the sleeve of a silk
dress or blouse has worn through
near the shoulder back seam. Darn
ing in this case, no matter how well
done. will be too evident, and will last
only q short time. Now recall what
YOU did when, in making the garment,
YOU placed your pattern on the mate
rial and found that the material was
not quite wide enough. You pieced it,
did YOU not, keeping the warp and the
woof threads in perfect alignment!
Well, do the same with your worn
sleeve. Cut away the worn spot, in
long triangle with one straight side,
and put i'm a piece of the fabric care
fully matched as to the weft. The
sleeve will appear to he perfect
sleeve, only made out of material not
quite wide enough.
The body OF a linen blouse wore
away under one arm. 1t had orig
inally been cut with front and back
sections only. After the blouse was
mended, ii had also two perfectly cor
rect under-arm cores. The lining Of a
long coat was frayed around the arm
seam. including the body and the seam
lining A fourinCh strip of very sim
liar lining material, cut on true bias,
was placed on top of the seam, and
the edges were turned under and hem
med in place. The result was an eff
feet, not of mendng, but Of something
that had been planned from the begin
ming. When a sleeve lining begins to
show wear under the arm, the mend
ing may take the form of a dress
shield, similar to the shields that are
attached as final finish to all wraps
OF good quality. If the worn place
extends too far downward for the
shield to cover It, use a long triangu-
lar-shaped gore instead. 1t is easy to
invent other practical ways. This
form OF mending is also very useful
for repairing childrens clothes.
Darning is used to repair the worn
parts of many materials by the inser-
tion of new threads. Darning differs
from patching because the worn part
is woven back. while in patching n
piece of the material is inserted into
the hole. The thread used in darning
a material must always match it as
ClOS6iN as poSSlDl6 III uudutH. tSAluIe
and size. For woven material the
travelled warp threads Of the material
are the best to use, this method MAX
ing pra ctically invisible. darn. Wool
en- material is often darned with its
own warp threads by strengthening
the threads with wax. or by twisting
a fine cotton thread with the raveling.
When the wool raveling cannot be
obtained use silk at least one shade
darker than the material. When darn
Ing very fine wooden materials or silks,
divide the silk into thirds, using one
third at time. This is necessary to
make a fine, fiat darn of the same
texture and weight as the material.
Sometimes a human hair is drawn
from the head. matching in color. for
exceedingly fine silk or lace darn
ing.
In shape. darn is usually square,
diamond, or oval, the shape chosen de-
pending upon the weight and texture
of the material. For heavy, firm ma
terials use a square darn. For thin,
light materials, the diamond or an ir-
regular oval-shaped darn is better, AS
II Is necessary to distribute the weight
of the stitches more unevenly. If a
large space that is very thinly worn
is to be darned, begin the interlacing
of the stitches in the center of the
worn place instead of at the ends, as
this makes 1t far easier to keep the
darned place in a better shape. Small
loops of the thread should be left at
each end of every row of stitches.
This is necessary to allow for the
stretching or shrinking Of the thread
in washing. When using this darn in
fine cotton materials, these loops can
be cut after the darn is completed and
allowed to work into the material.
Damask darns are simple darns IL
made on plain twilled damasks, but
most household linens have a design
of some sort. The twilled damasks
have the appearance of being woven
diagonally, so in darning take up one
thread and pass oyer three to four,
working each row with this thread
one to two threads to the right or
left Of the preceding stitch. This
varies according to the weave. Work
these darns on the wrong side, using
a fine needle and very fine linen
be more satisfactory to insert a patch
than to attempt darning.
To Fit Sleeve Properly.
This suggestion will save the home
dessmaker the trouble of boasting in
a sleeve a number Of time before it
is found to be right. When putting in
a sleeve there are two points to be
considered. namely, the location Of the
center Of the top of the sleeve. which
should be Joined to the garment at the
shoulder seam. and the point at which
the inside seam of the sleeve should
be attached to the garment, which
should be about at the bust line. The
frat noint in lIsua1ly indicated on the
paper patterns by a cross or a notch,
but 1t is often ignored by a worker.
The second point is also INDICATED on
paper patterns. but owing to altera-
tions at the shoulder and under-arm
seams. this point is sometimes thrown
out of place. The following rule will
prove successful in almost every case:
Measure back from the shoulder
beam one inch, fold the edges of the