Evening star., 1927-05-06
Thrift in the Sewing Room
Practical Mending and Darnng-Raffia for Prac-
teal and Artistic Porch Furnishings.

, arms-eye double. and the point exactly
| opposite the inch mark will be the
| proper place for the inside seam Of the
| sleeve. The top should then be seWed
| into place.
The home dressmaker will find a
| supply of small safety pins to be a
! great help when fitting a dress, as
| the common pin is very apt to get out
| of place or be lost entirely in removing
! a dress that has been fitted. A trial
Of this method will convince one Of
the great advantages over the old
way
Strong tapes stretched along the
wall of the sewing room from con.
venicnt points, say from the door
frames to the window frames. will be
found to be a great convenience.
Paper patterns and partssof garments
may be pinned to the tapes. and YOU
will then be sure of finding them when
needed
The tucker attachment on the sew
ing machine is a great convenience
when one desires to make hand-run
tucls in baby clothes or underwear.
After attaching the tucks 10 the ma
chine. place the goods as IL the tucks
were to be SeWed on the machine, but
remove the thread, both upper and
under tension. The result will be a
clearly defined crease to show the
line of the tucks, and the holes made
by the machine needle will be so regu
lar that the hand stitches cannot be
irregular.
When making buttonholes in lace
or net material, one finds the need 6
solid background upon which to
work. This may be obtained by firmly
basting piece of cotton or silk on the
wrong side of the lace where the but
tonhole Is TO be made. After the but
tonhole is worked, the cotton or silk
may be cut away from the stitches
and will not be noticed. while the re-
suit will be Il firm huttonhole. In
material that is likely to raVel, it is
best TO work the edge of the button
hole before cutting. This is easily
done by placing a basting line the
proper size where the buttonhole is
to come and working round it, A
sharp knife may be used to cut the
opening, and IL little care is taken
there is no danger of cutting the
stitches.
When learning new patterns in
crochet work. always try them nrSt
with heavier yarn, and when you are
familiar with the pattern you may
use the finer cotton. In this way you
save your eyes while learning the
stitch easily.
A small magnet to keep in your
work basket is a useful article. If
YOU drop a needle in the basket, AS
one often does, run the magnet over
the basket and it will pick up the
needle. Also, when needles are droppd
on the floor, it will save the work OF
trying to pick them up and will keep
your fingers from being pricked.
1t is a good plan to keep small rem
nants of wash net in different sizes
Of mesh in your sewing basket or
bag. When the fine lace on any
choice piece of lingerie shows sign or
wear, the worn places may be rein
forced with a scrap of net, matching
the mesh as near AS possible, and the
garment thus made good for further
wear.
Watch the remnant counters Tor
short lengths Of lace insertions which
YOU can use to bind the seams or thin
fabrics, such as lawn, null, organdy,
hatiste, dimity and similar material.
Bought in this way the cost Of the lace
is little. as the pattern does not mat
ter. and it is much less clumsy as
binding than a strip of the fabric
would be.
Raffia Porch Furnishings.
There are many ways in which raf-
fla may be used in making practical
and artistic porch furnishings. A
porch table cover is easy to make and
will be found to be very useful. 1t
will take one-half a yard of Ferris
cloth. an improved sort of burlap, or
similar material, in the natural color.
with a very coarse mesh. The borders
are made by pulling out the horizontal
threads and weaving in and out, in
their place. bright-colored strands of
raffia. Any simple design may be
worked on the cover just above the
border in ordinary canvas cross stitch,
but any bold cross-stitch design in
vivid colors will do. Bright strands
Of the raffia, in the colors used in the
design, may be knotted in with the
fringe, one strand of each raffia knot
being strung with one or two glass
beads of various shades. The beads
will add to the gayety and novelty of
the table cover, and will also have a
practical value in weighing the cover,
which might otherwise be blown away
in a high breeze. Work of this kind
is also attractive for couch covers and
portieres.
1t is a good plan to keep the loose
raffia in a large empty cushion cover,
which may be thrust under the other
cushions when not in use. Raffia Is
| not injured by occasional pressure. It
makes a good filling for cushions, so 1t
is worth while to keep with your work
an empty paper bag. in which to store
the waste ends for that purpose.
A hammock pillow is attractive
made in natural-colored burlap, the
threads pulled, and orange and black
strands woven in their places. After
the woven strip has been stuffed with
waste raffia, the ends should be fas-
tened together and deep, thick fringe
of the orange and black strands
hooked in on both sides. The result
will be practical porch pillow which
is improved rather than injured by
cir K1al 1ox