LEARNING TO MAKE SOME ATTRACTIVE GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS OR FOR A BIRTHDAY PRESENT Perhaps you would like to surprise mother or father at Christmas time or to make a birthday gift for grandmother or auntie. All the Pleasant Valley School girls have made plans for Christmas. Making gifts is not difficult, if one gives thought and time, and need not be a great expense, if one is careful to use scraps of cloth. Look in the attic or in the piece bag to see if there are any scraps of silk. If you are making a gift for mother, I am sure grandmother will help you to find something. Giving is much fun when one can make the gift a surprise. Grandmother Allen and Grandmother Stark are helping the Pleasant Valley girls with their surprises. It is not the cost of a gift which counts, but the loving thought which one puts into it. A surprise birthday pudding or cake, a surprise apron or work bag, are all things into which we can put loving thought. Who said the "gift without the giver is bare"? What does that mean? Have you ever given a gift or received one into which no loving thought had been put? See how much happier you will feel when you give thought, too. The girls of the Pleasant Valley Sewing League think they will make something for their fair. Miss James has a box full of samples of silk from a wholesale house, which were given to her. She says the girls may have them. Some of the pieces are very large and can be used for many things. Next lesson you might do as they did, and all bring any pieces you may have and see what can be made from them.
Lesson 1 THE STORY OF HOW SILK IS PRODUCED Do you know that a tiny little worm gives us our silk dresses, hair ribbons, neckties, gloves, stockings, and many other useful things? Do you know how the worm makes the silk? It is a very wonderful story. Let us study about silk to-day.
In the picture (Fig. 63) you will see one of the silkworms full-grown. The mother and father were beautiful moths. The mother moth lays the little eggs on the leaves of the mulberry tree because they are good food for her baby worms. The sunshine and warmth hatch the little eggs. The eggs are like pinheads, and are smaller than tiny grains of chopped corn which you feed your chickens. Your mother hen sets on the eggs until the warmth makes the chicks grow, but the sunshine starts the tiny moth eggs. Soon a little baby worm comes out and is as small as a tiny thread. It grows and grows and eats and eats, until it is about three inches long and nearly as thick around as one of your fingers, as the picture shows (Fig. 63). It takes about a month for the worm to grow so large. It must be tended very carefully and given the right food, or it will die. The food must be chopped fine. It is like preparing milk for baby; is it not? They must, also, be kept very clean in order to grow. Cleanliness always helps animals, as well as people, to grow. Courtesy of Corticelli Silk Co. Copyright, 1896, Nonotuck Silk Co. Fig. 63.—Corticelli silkworm, eating. Have you heard that there are some countries where the silkworm grows better than in others? Can you name the countries producing the most silk? You have learned that in your geography. Yes, Japan and China and Italy. Yes, and France and Asia Minor, too. Do you think the United States produces very much silk? Why not? In the countries named, labor is not so expensive. Silkworms require much care and labor. Courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture. Fig. 64.—The houses or cocoons built by the worms in the branches. Silk is the most beautiful and the strongest of the common fibers. It also costs the most. The silk fiber produced by these tiny worms is often four thousand feet in length. Let us learn how the tiny worm does such a wonderful thing. He must work as hard as the busy bee. After the worm is full-grown he begins his busy work. This is like boys and girls; they, too, begin to work when they are grown. If well fed and clean, the worm will work well. This is apt to be true of girls and boys, too. The worm begins by making a house for himself called a cocoon (Fig. 64). Have you ever seen the cocoons of any moth? If you will look, you will find them on the trees. Miss James has some cocoons of the lovely green Luna moth. She put the green worm in the box, and it has spun a cocoon. We do not find the mulberry worm growing wild in the United States. In some countries it grows wild, just as our Luna moth. When the worm is ready to spin, she throws out two tiny little threads one from each side of her head. This is a secretion and is a kind of jellylike fluid. As the air touches it, it hardens. She works her head back and forth, and the tiny filaments, or threads, as they are called, are joined together into one. She works and works until she has built a house of silk threads all glued together so that it seems like a mass of parchment paper. These houses are about 1½ inches in length, and are white or yellow in color. In China and Japan these cocoons are grown and tended very carefully. The outside of the cocoon is covered with the loose fluffy silk which the worm uses to attach his home to a leaf or twig. It takes the worm three weeks to make this long, continuous thread called a cocoon. During that time a wonderful thing happens. The worm inside the cocoon is changed to a moth like her mother and father and is ready to leave her home by eating her way out. What would happen to the long silk thread if she did that? Yes, it would be broken into small pieces and not be one continuous piece. Some moths are permitted to come out (see Fig. 65). They then find a mate and soon more tiny eggs are laid by the mother moth; and all the story begins again. A sad thing happens when cocoons are grown for the silk. The moths are not allowed to come out and break the thread; but are put in a very hot place so they die inside. The cocoons are then ready to be reeled or wound off. They are placed in basins of hot water because the gummy secretion of the worm must be softened. The ends from four or five cocoons are caught together and reeled, or wound, off together. This makes a strand of raw silk. Courtesy of Corticelli Silk Co. Copyright, 1895, by Nonotuck Silk Co. Fig. 65.—Corticelli cocoons from which the moths have emerged. John Alden told the following story. He said his father read it aloud the night before when the family gathered about the big open fire. Once upon a time, long ago, people did not know how to use the beautiful fibers of the silkworm. We are told that a Chinese empress discovered how to use it as long ago as 2700 years before the birth of Christ. Every year, in April, the Chinese people have a celebration in her honor, because of her valuable discovery. Think of all the riches she added to her country because of this secret. It is said that for many years this secret was kept; but later some monks traveling east to India and Constantinople told others how to reel the silk fiber. Then the use of silk fiber spread to Greece and Italy and Spain, and by the fourteenth century was common in France. Since then, silk manufacture has grown rapidly in importance. John traced the journey on the map. Will you see if you can trace this journey of silk manufacture. Where do you think the secret was carried from France? Courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture. Fig. 66.—Silk reeling. The cocoons are in the basins before the women. Can you send for some cocoons and raw silk? Your teacher will tell you where to write. Raw silk, as it is wound from cocoons, is made up into hanks like the worsted which you buy at the store. It is sold in hanks by the pound and costs from $7.00 to $10.00 a pound. It takes three thousand silkworms to spin a pound of raw silk. Do you know that for grandmother's dress about two pounds of raw silk were necessary? Can you tell how many worms were kept busy? In another lesson we shall learn how the manufacturer of silk ribbons or silk material takes the raw silk and makes it into beautiful fabrics. Now we know about a useful little animal as well as about a plant which gives us clothing. Silk, however, is more expensive than cotton. Cotton is sometimes made to look like silk. The cotton fiber is mercerized, which means soaked in certain chemicals and stretched to make it look silky. Lisle thread looks somewhat like silk. It is cotton twisted hard to give it a luster. Another day we shall learn more about these. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Do you know where silk is grown? Write a story of 100 words telling about it. 2. Why is not more silk grown in the United States? 3. Find on your map of the world the principal countries where silk is grown. 4. Name some articles made of silk which you use every day; which you see used. 5. What are some of the other uses which we have for silk?
Lesson 2 SIMPLE ARTICLES EASILY MADE FROM SILK SCRAPS There are so many things which can be made from silks. Suppose you start with something easy. Miss James had some good suggestions. The little pin-case or the sewing-case are both useful (Figs. 68 and 69). You know the overhanding stitch; so you can make them quickly. Several of the Pleasant Valley girls will make them for Christmas gifts as well as for the fair. Which will you make?
Here are the directions for making both the pin-case and the sewing-case. They are not difficult if the directions are followed carefully. For the Pincase. Cut two circles of stiff cardboard from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, if your silk pieces will permit. The circles must be exact. Cut two pieces of silk 3 or 4 inches in diameter, so the silk pieces will be ½ inch larger all around than the cardboard. ¼ inch from the edge, with double thread, make a row of gathering stitches; slip cardboard within and draw up the silk around the card. Now crisscross with your thread through the edges of material until all is held firmly (Fig. 67). Cover both cards. Then hold the two together, and very neatly overhand with silk thread of a color to match. Tiny stitches should be taken. Put in a row of pins around the edges close together. A pretty decoration can be made by working a design or an initial on the silk if it is a plain color. This can be done with chain stitch or featherstitch, before the cover is put over the cardboard.
Fig. 67.—This shows how to cover the circle, and draw the silk neatly at the edges.
In the picture (Fig. 68) notice the other cases. They are made exactly like the pin-case but of circles or of pieces of different shape. Fig. 68.—Several useful cases: A, pin-case; B, oval pin-case; C, spool-case; D, darning-case; E, needle-book. Cases for doilies can be made of two large circles of 12 in. in diameter. The circles can be tied together with ribbon and the doilies lie flat between. The case for darning thread is also very useful. Fig. 69.—The sewing case made of three elliptical disks sewed together. For the sewing case. This is more difficult. It is three-sided and is made of three elliptical disks covered as we did the round ones for the pincase. How many cardboards will you need? Thin cardboard is necessary. What does elliptical mean? A good size is 4 inches the long way and 2½ inches across. All the girls know how to draw an ellipse. Cut the six pieces of silk ½ inch larger all around than the ellipses, and cover in same way as you did the round disks. If there are not enough scraps of one color, use a contrasting color for the lining. After the six pieces have been covered and joined together to make three ellipses, then the three are to be overhanded together very neatly, leaving open the third edge, which is the opening of the case where the spools, etc. are put inside. The case naturally closes itself; but, when pressed at the ends, it opens easily.
What are some pretty stitches that may be used for decorating? If one wishes, the sewing case can also be decorated with a good design like the one in the picture (Fig. 69). Would you like to make the chain stitch and the featherstitch? They are both useful for decoration on bags, aprons, dresses for baby, underwear, and many things. Mollie Stark learned this stitch and used it on a dress for her baby brother. Mrs. Stark is very happy to think Mollie is learning how to sew. These are the directions for making several pretty stitches: The chain stitch is easy to learn. Begin with a knot. Pass the thread from the under side up. Throw the thread so as to make an O (see Fig. 70). Put the needle into the hole where thread came through, and make a stitch about 1/8 inch long. Hold the cloth over the fingers with the thumb on top. The needle should be pointed towards the worker, and the point of the needle should be brought up through the little round O. Care must be taken in pulling the thread through to have the loop of thread lying flat on the cloth. The length of stitch should be uniform. What does uniform mean? The outline of an initial or any drawn design can be followed with this stitch.
Fig. 70.—The chain stitch. The featherstitch is very beautiful, when made small and even (Fig. 71). It can be varied by making one or two stitches on each side of a center line. The length of the stitches and the slant always affect the appearance. In practicing the featherstitch draw a pencil line on your cloth as a guide. The stitches are slanting and are taken towards this line. This stitch is used for decoration in the same way as the chain stitch.
Fig. 71.—A, the single featherstitch; B, the double featherstitch. The single featherstitch. Hold the work over the finger with thumb on top of cloth. Work towards you. Start with knot on under side of pencil line. Draw thread through to right side. Lay thread on the pencil line and hold with thumb. To right of thread near beginning, take a small 1/8 inch slanting stitch towards the line of thread. Draw needle through over the loop of thread. Have it loose and lying flat. For the second stitch, hold thread again on the pencil mark. Throw thread for next stitch on the left of the line. Take slanting stitch towards center line. Draw needle up through the loop, which should lie flat. The next stitch is taken to the right of the center line directly under the stitch above it, and should be the same length and slant. The beauty of this stitch depends on its evenness. A striped material makes a good practice piece. After the stitch is learned, it is easy to make it on plain cloth; but one must then keep constantly in mind an imaginary center line. This is a very useful stitch for finishing hems instead of using the hemming stitch. The lawn ruffles on our petticoats were finished with this stitch. The featherstitch is sometimes a straight stitch instead of slanting. It is taken each side of the imaginary center line as the slanting one, but the needle is held straight.
Fig. 72.—The outline stitch. The outline stitch. This is another easy stitch (Fig. 72) which every girl should learn. It can be used instead of the chain or featherstitch, as decoration. It outlines, or follows, the design, and so gets its name. The stitch is taken on the line and is worked from left to right. Care must be taken to have the stitches all the same length and to throw the thread in one direction either away from or towards the worker. The pretty effect will be spoiled if there is a variation. Away from the worker makes a neat effect. Begin with knot. Draw needle to right side on the line. Throw thread away from worker; take a small back stitch on the line, needle pointing towards the worker. This will make a long thread on the surface and the short stitch beneath. The effect is much prettier when the stitches are taken close together.
EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Name some other articles on which the featherstitch or chain stitch can be used; some on which the outline stitch may be used. 2. Draw a picture on the blackboard of the featherstitch, chain stitch, and outline stitch. Can you show how the needle looks in position, without looking at your textbook?
Lesson 3 THE NAMES AND USES OF SEVERAL SILKS ARE DISCUSSED To-day we shall study again about silks. Let us look at those in Miss James' piece bag; and, also, see how many different kinds we have for our gifts. Perhaps your teacher has some too.
Such a variety of kinds and colors! Some are soft and light, and others are heavy and stiff. Do they have names just as the cotton materials? Can any one tell the names of any of these silks? Yes, the plain one is a taffeta. It is plain in color; and the weave is plain, the same on both sides. Sometimes it comes with printed and woven figures. What is the difference between a woven and a printed design? Here is a piece with a printed design. It is a foulard silk. How does this design differ from the taffeta with the design? Foulard silk is used for dresses. Taffeta is also; as well as for linings and for petticoats. A cheap quality of taffeta does not wear well. It costs from 75 cents to $2.00 a yard, and is woven 21 inches and wider. Foulards are about 24 inches wide and can be bought for the same price as the taffetas. Mollie's mother had a foulard silk dress last summer; so did Grandmother Allen. Here is a soft crinkling white piece and a dark blue just like it; and also a black piece. These are called crÊpe de chine and are used for dresses, also; and sometimes for underwear. It is soft and lustrous, and comes in plain colors and sometimes printed. It costs from 75 cents up and is woven 22 inches and sometimes wider. Shall we start another book of materials, and see how many silks we can learn about? The piece Barbara Oakes brought is smooth and shiny on the right side. Does anyone know the name? It is woven in such a way that the filling thread goes over several threads and under one. Try it on your school loom. This weave brings most of the filling thread on the surface of the cloth. The material is called satin, and the weave is the satin weave. Some cottons are woven with the satin weave, and often in table linen or damask we see the smooth satin weave. Here is a bit of damask table linen. Let us compare this smooth part with the satin. Courtesy of Crompton and Knowles. Fig. 73.—The Jacquard loom. Notice the cards with punched holes above it. They affect the pattern. Can you find the cloth which is being woven? Satins are used for dresses, linings, trimmings, boxes, and for many other purposes. They cost $1 to $20 per yard, if very beautiful, and are woven from 21 to 54 inches wide. Satin is sometimes made of a combination of linen or cotton, with the silk. It is then less expensive. The woof, or filling thread, which gives the smooth finish is silk; and it is that which shows in the finished cloth. This piece of silk, which looks figured like table linen, only it is made of silk, is called a brocaded satin. This satin is used for dresses and trimmings, and often for furniture covering and for hangings in beautiful rooms. It is made on a loom called a Jacquard. Table damask is made on the same kind of loom. This wonderful loom (Fig. 73) is able to produce very beautiful patterns, because of the management of the perforated cards above the loom which affect the pattern. The soft white piece is china silk. Little Alice Allen had a dress made of it last summer. It is a plain weave, and many of such silks are still woven by hand in China. It is very durable and is used for dresses, waists, and underwear. It costs $1 for a fairly good quality, and is woven 24 inches wide. This piece of silk, also, originated in China. It is called pongee. Mary Jones had a coat of this last year. It is ecru in color and is soft. The real Chinese pongee is hand-woven and is made from the silk of wild silkworms. It is woven 27 inches wide and costs $1 per yard up. This piece was $1.50 per yard. This is a queer-looking piece. It is marked in a watery pattern. The silk has been pressed between hot rollers which are stamped with a pattern to give that effect. It is called moirÉ silk, and is used for trimmings and dresses. It is quite expensive. A good piece will cost at least $2 per yard and is 22 inches in width. We shall learn about two more of the most common silk materials. One is thick, and the other is thin. The thin piece is called chiffon. Who has ever seen it used? Yes, for veils. It is used for dresses, too, and for hats and trimmings. Isn't it light and thin and gauzy? It is made in plain colors generally; sometimes figured. It is 46 inches wide and costs from $.75 to $2 per yard. Yes, every one knows this one! It is called velvet. This piece is all silk, and was a part of Marjorie's great-grandmother's dress. Some velvets are made of linen and silk, or of cotton and silk. All silk velvet is very expensive. It often costs $10 a yard and more. Some silk velvet can be bought for $4 or $5 a yard. It is woven from 18 to 42 inches wide. Isn't it thick? Do you notice the tiny ends standing up? It is woven just like some carpet, and the thickness is called the pile. In weaving, little loops of the filling thread are made, and after weaving, these are cut to form the pile. Such weaving looks very difficult. The warp is sometimes linen or cotton. This other thick piece with a pile is called plush. It has a longer pile than velvet. There are also cotton plushes. Did your mother ever have a winter coat of plush? Mrs. Alden had one which lasted for years. Let us mount our silk samples. Another day we shall study how they are woven from the raw silk. Isn't it interesting to feel acquainted with this new family of materials? Notice before next lesson how many things you see which are made of silk. Have you any in your schoolroom? EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Bring to school all the samples of different kinds of silks which you can collect. Can you tell their names? 2. Name an expensive silk suitable for a dress, and give its approximate cost. Name an inexpensive silk suitable for a summer dress; give its approximate cost. 3. What is plush used for? What is chiffon made of? 4. Start a book of silk samples.
Lesson 4 MORE USEFUL GIFTS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM Two more useful gifts: a workbag of silk, and a sewing apron. Which will you chose to make?
The workbag. Barbara Oakes has a very complete little workbag (Fig. 74) which grandmother made for her last Christmas. The girls think they would like to copy it. It is made of a piece of yellow flowered ribbon which was 8 inches wide; ½ a yard is enough. If you have scraps of silk, use a strip 8 inches wide × 14 inches long. With the other 4 inches, if ribbon is used, the circular disks for the bottom are to be covered. To make: Fig. 74.—A, a very useful bag. B, the sewing apron. 1. Cut two circles of cardboard 3 inches in diameter. Cut the silk for covering four inches in diameter. Cover in the same way as you covered the pin disk. This is the bottom of the bag. 2. Seam the two ends of the 14 inch strip together with two runs and backstitch (see page 35). Open seams flat. Turn along one long edge, ½ inch if selvedge of ribbon; if silk, make two turns: first 1/8 inch, second ½ inch. Baste and hold with featherstitch (see page 120), or cross-stitch (see page 145) At seam of bag open seam carefully ½ inch on the right side for casing hole for ribbon. At the opposite side, work a small buttonhole (see page 43) 3/8 inch in length. This will be the top of the bag; and the two ribbons are to be run through the casing so it will draw up. 3. At the other edge of the long strip, fold to the wrong side: first 2 inches of the strip, and then the 2 inches folded over itself. Baste carefully. This fold is to form pockets on the inside of the bag. Every two inches along length of strip, mark with a pin; and on the right side of bag, featherstitch or cross-stitch in rows two inches deep, to form pockets on the inside of the strip. 4. Gather the edge of the strip to be sewed to the covered disks. Divide gathers in half. Pin to disk. Overhand to disk with close stitches on the inside of bag.
This workbag makes a very useful gift. It can be filled with a pair of small scissors, emery, needles, and spools of silk placed in the pockets. The ribbon for drawing top is in two pieces, ½ yard in each. Start one piece from one side and run around casing until it comes out at the same place it started. Tie in bow. Start other ribbon at opposite side, and run it all around casing, until it returns to the same side it started from. Tie in bow. The sewing apron.—Another useful gift is a small sewing apron (Fig. 74). It can be made of silk or of dimity at 12½ cents a yard, and need not then cost more than 15 cents. Dimity is one yard wide; and 7/8 of a yard is enough. To make: 1. From one selvedge cut a strip 2½ inches wide, lengthwise of the piece. This is for the band and is cut off before the apron is made. Remove other selvedge. 2. Turn 3/8 inch hem to right side of apron at the lengthwise edges of cloth; baste carefully. 3. At one cross wise end turn, hem 1¼ inches wide to right side. Baste and hem with featherstitching on reverse or wrong side.
Fig. 75.—Four useful aprons. 4. Turn up at bottom 8 inches to form pocket, so featherstitching will be on the upper or right side. Baste and overhand edges the depth of pocket. 5. Featherstitch side hems, catching the pocket to hold securely. 6. Divide large pocket in three by making two rows of featherstitching like picture.
7. Put on band. Divide gathered top of apron. Divide band. Allow band to extend each side of gathers. A space of 12 inches in center of band is enough to contain the gathers. Put on as you put on the band of petticoat, but overhand edges of the band extending beyond gathers. 8. A buttonhole and button can be used to finish, or ribbon may be sewed to ends of band. This makes a very useful gift.
Fig. 76.—Two cases on which the featherstitch can be used. A, needle case and bag. B, linen traveling case for overshoes. Look at the sketches (Fig. 75) of other aprons: A is made from a square of figured lawn; ½ yard is enough. It is shaped at one corner for a bib. A hem is turned at the edge and featherstitched. A few small tucks make it fit the waist, and ribbon trims it. B is made from 2/3 of a yard of lawn, as shown in the diagram. Place pattern economically. C is made of a width of lawn or silk with a hem at the bottom and casing at the top. D is made of glass toweling trimmed with finishing braid and featherstitching. Figure 76 shows some useful cases with decorations of featherstitch. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Plan a gift and surprise mother at her birthday anniversary. Your teacher will help you. 2. See if you can plan an original gift. Draw a sketch of it. 3. Bring all the suggestions for gifts you can find in clippings from old magazines.
Lesson 5 COUSIN ANN TELLS HOW SILK IS MADE INTO CLOTH Last summer Marjorie Allen's Cousin Ann visited her. She lives at Paterson, New Jersey, where there are many silk mills. She told the girls of the Sewing League about the way silk is made into cloth. Shall we too learn how?
Where is silk manufactured? We know that very little silk is grown in the United States; but we also know that our country leads in the manufacture of silks and uses more raw silk than any other country in the world. France is next and produces very beautiful materials. Most of our silk factories are in the East: in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. People have tried to raise silkworms here. In 1624 some Frenchmen living in Virginia tried, but were not very successful. Such experiments have usually failed because it costs so much for labor. In 1747 the governor of Connecticut wore a coat and stockings made of silk produced on his place. We use about 85 per cent of the silk manufactured here. What per cent is, then, exported? In 1876, at the great Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Marjorie's grandmother saw wonderful exhibits of silk woven in many colors, and even beautiful woven pictures of silk. Has any one ever seen a woven picture of silk? Have you ever seen one tiny fiber of silk as it looks under the microscope? What do you notice? Fig. 77.—Silk fibers magnified. This is what Marjorie's cousin from Paterson told the girls. They went to one room at the mill where there were great bales of silk, weighing about 100 or 150 pounds, but not quite so heavy or large as a bale of cotton. When opened there were many hanks in each bale; tied up, five or ten in a bundle. These hanks were taken first to a man called a throwster. Silk throwing means soaking the skeins to remove more of the gum, and winding the silk from the skein to a spool. This is done by soaking in warm water, drying, and then placing the silk on swifts, or reels. Have you ever seen a reel for winding? (See Fig. 78.) It holds the skein of silk. The ends are taken, and the machine unwinds from the skein and winds the silk on spools. In one skein there are from 75,000 to 200,000 yards of silk. The spools are then placed in a machine which cleans and twists two of these spool threads together to form one, and then winds it off on new spools. This twisted silk is called "organzine." Isn't that a queer name? It means the thread used in a loom for the warp or strong threads. Why are twisted threads stronger? Try, and see if they are. Silk is a most perfect fiber; and does not have to be prepared as much as cotton or wool. Sometimes it is twisted a very little for the warp. The filling thread has a queer name, too. It is called the "tram," and need not be of so good a quality of silk as the strong warp, nor so tightly twisted. Cotton spinning is different from silk throwing; but both mean getting the fibers ready for weaving. Courtesy of Cheney Bros. Fig. 79.—Silk dyeing. There are many beautiful colored silks. Silk is usually dyed (Fig. 79) in the yarn in hanks. The poor qualities, however, are dyed after the silk is woven into the piece. Silk is dyed by dipping the skeins or yards of silk in great vats of dye. For dyeing, the coal-tar products (aniline dyes) are used. Did you know that coal could produce such beautiful colors? That is a long story of the many wonderful things which can be made from tar. Do you know that 25 per cent of the weight of the raw silk is made up of the gummy substance? The dyer boils out some of the gum; and, if he wishes to produce cheap silks and make much money, he makes up for the weight of gum boiled out, by using tin. The silk is dipped in bichloride of tin or other substances; and it takes up, or absorbs, until sometimes it weighs twice or even four times as much as the boiled-off silks. This tin is bought for silk. Women who do not know think they are buying heavy silk and are getting a good quality because it is so heavy. This solution of tin rots the silk, and, when the silk comes in contact with light and air, it crumbles away. Perhaps you have at home a sample of silk which has done this. Marjorie's Cousin Ann saw some petticoats of silk which went to pieces just hanging in a closet. Sometimes that happens when store keepers keep the petticoats for some time. One can see the holes by holding the silk up to the light. In order to know what one is buying one must study about materials and about how they are made. Courtesy of Cheney Bros. Fig. 80.—Warping or preparing silk for the loom. Have you ever seen a picture of silk being dyed in the skein? Marjorie's cousin says it is done by machinery. See how many skeins are on the big wheel, or drum as it is called. As it turns, the skeins are dipped in the vat of dye. Courtesy of Cheney Bros. Fig. 81.—Silk weaving on a hand loom in Japan. After the warp threads are twisted and wound on spools, the workman places the spools in racks (see Fig. 80). They are then unwound again on to a very large roller, as you can see in the picture. The large roller is then put into the back of the loom, and the warp threads are drawn through and prepared so they are attached to the roller where the cloth is to be rolled after it is woven. Do you remember how we found the cloth and the warp rollers when we were studying about how cotton cloth is made? For plain silks a loom is used very much like the looms for weaving cotton cloth (see page 69); but, for fancy silks and beautiful patterns and designs, the Jacquard loom like the picture (see page 124) is necessary. This wonderful machine was invented by a Frenchman, Joseph Marie Jacquard, in 1801. The cards are cut in tiny holes which regulate the pattern and make beautiful designs. The cards control the warp threads and regulate which threads are to be up and which down, as the shuttle passes over and under. The shuttle is lined with soft seal skin to protect the silk fibers of the filling thread on the bobbin as they unroll. Would you too not like to visit a silk factory? Perhaps come day you may be able to go to Paterson or to some large city, and may see all the wonderful things which Marjorie's cousin saw. The book pictures will give you a good idea of how a mill or factory looks inside. It is a very busy place. Perhaps your teacher may be able to get some stereopticon or motion picture views to show you, as Miss James showed the Pleasant Valley children. She used the church lantern. Some of the mothers and fathers came, too, to hear the story about silk. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Find on your map the most important city in the United States for the manufacture of silk. 2. Write a story about the silk "throwing." 3. If there is a silk mill in your neighborhood, plan to visit it with your teacher. 4. Look up the story of Jacquard, the inventor of the loom devices for making beautiful patterns.
Lesson 6 THE BLANKET STITCH CAN BE USED IN MANY WAYS Did you ever hear of a stitch called the blanket stitch? It is very useful for decoration. We can make some attractive gifts if we know how to make it. Would you like to try to-day?
Fig. 82.—The blanket stitch. Did you ever notice how pretty some verandas look in summer time? Mrs. Stark of Pleasant Valley has a very attractive, cosy porch. Yours can look pretty, too, if you will give thought and a little time to it. You can plant some pretty vines as the girls did at the Ellen H. Richards house. The cucumber grows wild and can be transplanted. Perhaps in the attic you can find an old table, which will do to hold your sewing things. Can you make a cover for it? Perhaps you can make a porch cushion, too. The blanket stitch (Fig. 82) will be useful for both. Did you ever see a material called Russian crash? It is made in Russia, of coarse linen, and is often woven in the fields. It is not very wide, 16 or 18 inches only. It is light brown in color. If you cannot get the crash, perhaps you have some grain or feed bags which will do. You can dip them in coffee to stain them light brown, as Marjorie Allen did when she made a cover for the porch table. A piece 1½ yards long and from 16 to 20 inches wide will make a good-sized table runner to throw over the old table on the porch. If you use the old bags and the edges are not selvedges, turn them with one turning ½ inch wide all around the edges, and baste. How can you finish the edge of a table runner? You can make the blanket stitch close together around the edge. A heavy mercerized cotton thread can be used for the stitch, and will look well if it is brown in color to harmonize with the linen or bag. The blanket stitch is used generally for blanket edges which are not hemmed. It is a stitch to prevent material from fraying, and is taken on the edge of material. When the cloth is not very heavy, one turning can be made to give firmness to the edge. This is not necessary on blankets or on heavy materials. The stitch is worked from left to right. The edge of the cloth is held towards the worker. Start with a few running stitches and bring the needle up near the edge. Have the thread under the thumb. Insert the needle any depth desired and point needle at right angles to the edge of the cloth, towards the worker. The needle should come up under the edge and through the loop made by the thread. The thread will be carried along the edge as the stitches are made. In finishing a thread, take small tiny stitches on the wrong side. In starting a new thread, bring it up through the last loop at the edge. On some materials the stitches can be ¼ or ½ of an inch apart, or taken very close together as we do when we work on white linen and scallop the edges. The stitches can be ¼ or ½ or even an inch deep, and they can be arranged to form a pattern. In the picture you will see that the stitches are arranged in blocks—twelve low ones ¼ of an inch, and 12 of ¾ of an inch. They can also be arranged to form stairs ascending and descending with a difference of 1/8 of an inch in the depth of each stitch. Suppose you plan to make the block pattern of the blanket stitch all around the edge of the table runner. Fig. 83.—The porch cushion, showing the blanket stitch in block pattern, and the opening near one end. Now, can you make a porch cushion? The porch cushion (Fig. 83) can be made of a strip of crash or of a piece of bagging, 1 yard long and 16 inches wide. Hem one end with a 1 inch hem and the other with a ½ inch hem, turning both to wrong side. Fold so that the 1 inch hem overlaps the ½ inch hem. Pin carefully. This makes a kind of envelope and it can be filled later with a cushion of bran or excelsior or feathers. Fold so that the overlapping of hems comes about 4 inches from one end of the cushion. After folding and pinning, baste carefully through the two thicknesses of material. Work the blanket stitch all around four sides with the heavy brown linen or cotton thread. Use the same block pattern as for the table cover. The cushion is kept closed with three or four snaps sewed on the hems. These cushions can be made any size for hammock or for porch use. Mrs. Stark liked Mollie's so well that she made a whole set for her porch, and used old bags for this purpose. Can you think of any pretty articles to make for the fair or for surprise gifts on which the blanket stitch can be used? Have you ever scalloped the edges of doilies with plain scallop? The white linen can be cut in circles to fit the size of the plates and the edge marked in scallops by using a spool. The stitch is exactly the same, but the stitches are taken very close together and cover the two lines of the marked scallop which indicate the depth. Doilies are very useful instead of a tablecloth. They are easily laundered and save the heavy washing. A bare wooden table which is kept clean and oiled is very attractive when set with doilies. (See Food and Health, page 73). Can you make a set sometime as a surprise for mother's Christmas gift? Fig. 84.—Blanket stitch made close together for a scalloped edge. Pincushion tops, bureau covers, table covers, tray covers, centerpieces, can all be made with this useful stitch. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Draw a picture on the blackboard of the blanket stitch. 2. Bring to school some article on which the blanket stitch is used in some way. Have an exhibit of all the articles brought.
Lesson 7 LEARNING TO MAKE THE CROSS-STITCH Did your grandmother ever tell you how she learned to sew when she was a girl? Have you seen her sewing sampler? Shall we learn the stitch she used on her sampler?
Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fig. 85.—Two samplers of long ago. Before the days of sewing machines, the family sewing was all done at home and by hand. To-day we have factories and shops, and we can buy many articles of clothing ready-made. All little girls were taught to sew at home in those days. Sewing was not generally taught at school. Many long seams were given to the girls to sew. The girls had much practice and learned to sew very well. Every little girl was supposed to make a sampler. The picture shows two samplers (Fig. 85). Barbara Oakes has two samplers which she values very much because her great-grandmother and grandmother made them. Perhaps you may have one which your grandmother made. The stitch used for the samplers was usually the cross-stitch (Fig. 87). Would you like to learn to make it, too? It is a decorative stitch and is often used for marking linen. Grandmother and great-grandmother used to mark their sheets, pillowcases, and other household linens with tiny initials of cross-stitch. It is possible, also, to make quaint designs of the same stitch. Perhaps you would like to learn to make such a pattern. It is necessary to have squared paper and to make the crosses conform to the figures or initials wished. The picture (Fig. 86) shows how to make the crosses fit the squares. Fig. 86.—Cross-stitch designs can be easily made on squared paper. A, initials for towel; B, design for repetition on table cover or scarf. Will you try to make a design for the cross-stitch? As the design is made on the squares, it is necessary to use squared canvas called Penelope canvas in working this cross-stitch. The canvas is basted in place and the stitches made over the squares of the canvas, following the design of the pattern. There are some coarse materials which can be followed without using canvas. The canvas is woven so loosely that after the cross-stitch design is finished, the threads are drawn out. How to make the stitch: Fig. 87.—The cross-stitch. Baste the canvas carefully so that the warp of the canvas lies on the warp of the cloth. The canvas comes in several sizes, some finer than others, and this makes a difference in the size of the design when finished. The stitch consists of two slanting lines crossed. On the wrong side all the stitches may be either vertical or horizontal, but should be one or the other. Do you know the difference? The canvas is so woven that one makes the cross over two threads high and two wide. Bring needle up to right side at lower left corner of the square that the stitch would form if inclosed (Fig. 87). Pass thread slanting across warp threads, and take stitch on line with warp, pointing needle towards the worker. When thread is drawn through, a slanting line of half the cross is made. This can be repeated across a whole row according to design, and the cross finished by returning from right to left with the same vertical stitches. It is necessary to have all the stitches of the design crossing one way: the ground stitches, or first half, one way; the other half, or upper stitches, all the other. What pretty gifts can be made from the cross-stitch? Towels hemstitched across the ends and marked with cross-stitch make attractive gifts for mother or grandmother. A pretty set for a baby is made by marking bath towel, face towel, and wash cloths with a pretty wreath design with baby's initial. Bureau covers, table scarfs, pincushions can be made. Here is a picture (Fig. 88) of a simple hand towel with cross-stitch initials. The towel is made of huckaback, all linen. You remember it can be bought in all cotton, too, or a combination. Which is more expensive? The width varies. The picture shows a small guest towel 18 inches wide. It is easy to learn to hemstitch linen. Shall we try next lesson? The picture (Fig. 88) shows fancy hemstitching and drawn work. We shall learn the plain hemstitching. Fig. 88.—A guest towel marked with cross-stitch. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. If any one in your town has an old sampler, try to get it for a loan exhibit, while the girls are making their cross-stitching.
2. Make a design for cross-stitch work suitable for an end of a towel or for any article you wish.
Lesson 8 HOW TO MAKE THE HEMSTITCH Do you know that some girls are often confused and call the hemstitch, the hemming stitch? Barbara Oakes used to, but understands now. You have learned the hemming stitch; now you will try the hemstitch.
See if you can discover the difference between the hemming stitch and the hemstitch? Both are used at the top of the hem to hold it in place, but often the hemstitch is used in other places, too. It is necessary to draw out some threads of the cloth or linen, before the stitch can be made. For the hemstitched towel, measure for your hem. From the raw edge, it will be twice the width of the finished hem plus one turning of ¼ inch. How much, then, will you measure for a hem one inch when finished? At the point measured, place a pin. Draw out three or four of the woof threads very carefully. Be sure to pull out the whole thread all the way across, when it breaks. Remember how the filling thread passes at the selvedge, and remove it there as it turns. Then baste the hem very carefully, turning to wrong side. Baste close to first drawn thread. Hold work over fingers of left hand in vertical position. Place needle in edge of hem, and draw thread without a knot under the edge of hem just exactly as plain hemming is started (Fig. 89). Throw thread away from the worker; take up a bundle of the threads by passing the needle under them and pointing it towards the worker along the edge of the hem. Again pass the needle under the same bundle of threads, but this time pass the needle through the under cloth and also through the edge of the turned hem, just beyond the bundle. This stitch should come between two bundles of thread. Make the next stitch by taking up a second bundle of threads. At first, one should count the number of threads so as to have the bundles uniform; but with practice this is not necessary. As a rule, the coarser the material, the fewer the number of threads taken up. This is a simple way of hemstitching. There are other ways. Double hemstitching means to hemstitch the other side opposite the hem, by taking up the same bundles. Marjorie Allen made Grandmother Allen a lovely hemstitched towel for Christmas. She was very much surprised and delighted to have some of Marjorie's own work. Marjorie tied it up very daintily in white tissue paper and used some Christmas seals to hold it fast. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Now that you know the hemstitch, you can use it in many places. Can you tell how it differs from the hemming stitch? 2. Think of some useful things on which this stitch can be made besides those mentioned below:—
- Collars
- Bags
- Handkerchiefs
- Cuffs
- Covers
- Doilies
Lesson 9 ANOTHER USEFUL GIFT AND A NEW STITCH Have you ever noticed how convenient it is to have a place for the clothespins, on wash day? Would you like to learn to make a clothespin bag?
How to make another gift. A very useful clothespin bag (Fig. 90) for mother can be easily made with a hammock hook and some ticking. Mrs. Allen says she cannot keep house without hers. Did you learn about ticking when you studied cotton materials? Pillow covers and mattresses are made of it, as it is heavy and strong and wears very well. Put a piece in your cotton sample book. It is woven 36 inches wide and costs from 12½ cents up. Notice the weave. It is twilled or striped or herringbone weave. Denim or any heavy material can be used. A square piece is necessary, 28 × 28 inches. Fig. 90.—The clothespin bag. Hem. First turning, ¼ inch; second turning, one inch. Stitch on machine. Miter the corners. The corners are to be sewed securely with heavy linen thread to the four corners of the hammock hook (Fig. 90). The hook is hung on the clothesline, and it is very easy and handy to push along as the clothes are hung up. If one wishes, the bag can be decorated with a catch stitch. How to make the catch stitch or herringbone stitch. This stitch can be used for decoration or for catching the edges of a seam or hem. Grandmother Allen used to use it on her own flannel petticoats and on baby Alice's flannel skirts. After the plain seam is made, it is opened flat and the edges are caught with the loose catch stitch. It is really a flannel stitch, because, as the flannel may shrink a little, the stitch allows for this, and holds the hem flat. Flannel hems do not have the first turning as it is so thick. The catch stitch is then used to hold the hem. Can you bring one of baby's petticoats to show the class how it looks? The same stitch is used for decoration too. We shall use it for that purpose on the clothespin bag, before we sew the corners to the hook. Fig. 91.—The catch stitch. The stitch is made from left to right. We can use the machine stitching for a guide. We shall use the stitch on the right side. It resembles cross-stitch. It is really a series of back stitches placed alternately above and below the guide line. The spaces between stitches should be the same and the stitches below the guide line opposite the spaces above (Fig. 91). This causes the thread to slant and makes the cross, as it is worked from left to right. To start, draw needle to right side about 1/8 inch below the line of machine stitch. The first back stitch is taken 1/8 inch above the machine stitching. This will make the slanting line, as the stitch is ¼ inch beyond the starting place. The second stitch is taken below the line; and the directions as above are followed so that stitches come opposite the spaces, above and below. In finishing an old thread, take two or three small stitches on wrong side. In beginning a new thread, draw up as at the start, so as to form the correct cross on the right side. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. This herringbone or catch stitch can be used in many places. Can you suggest any? 2. Draw a picture of this stitch on the blackboard. 3. Show some neighbor how to make this stitch.
Lesson 10 THE DARNING STITCH Did you know that sometimes darning is used for decoration instead of just on the stocking? Let us make a gift using it.
Fig. 92.—The darning stitches make the initials stand out. The darning stitch is nothing but fine running stitches placed alternately under one another so as to fill a space. Miss James has asked the girls to make linen covers for their cooking notebooks. They decide to put their two initials on the cover and to work them in outline stitch. The sketch (Fig. 92) shows how they will make them within an oblong which is also to be outlined. The darning stitch will be used as a background to make the initials stand out. It is a fine running stitch. Any design can be made to stand out by arranging the darning back of the outlined design. The notebooks will be covered so that the covers may slip off. This is done by overhanding the edges and slipping the cover of the book into the pocket formed by the overhanding. The cover is all in one: a straight piece folded back inside the cover of book and overhanded at the folds, to hold the book. The picture (Fig. 93) of baby's bib also shows the use of the darning stitch to make a design stand out. This is a bib used by little Alice Allen. Marjorie made it for her, when she was two years old and had a birthday party. Fig. 93.—The darning stitch makes the design of the rabbits stand out. EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Make a design for your notebook cover. 2. Calculate size of piece of material needed, if both covers are 9 X 6. Allow ½ inch turnings all around. 3. Try to plan a design with a background of darning stitches. Perhaps you can use it on a Christmas gift for brother.
REVIEW PROBLEMS I. Plan a gift for father's Christmas on which the darning or cross-stitch is used. II. Look up the story of the history of silk culture and write a story to be read in school. Perhaps it may be as good as the one Barbara Oakes wrote. Her story was printed in the "Pleasant Valley News."
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