If you are going to set to work to make some of the pretty articles described in this little book, the little work apron shown in the picture on this page is just the very thing you will need to put on while you are sewing.

It has two deep pockets and two small ones, and you will be able to put the silks and cottons necessary, for whatever it is you are making, into these, so that they will be ready as you want to use them.

You will find it is so handy, too, to have a pocket to slip your scissors into after cutting your thread. You know what a nasty way they have of slipping off your lap on to the floor. And then, when you pick them up, it is quite likely that you get a little dust on your hands, and this gets on to your pretty work and makes it look soiled.

Then, when your sewing time is ended for the day, how convenient it is to be able to fold your work away in your little work apron, so that it is kept well protected from any stray specks of dust, and will be quite ready for you when next you want it.

So you see how this little apron is going to help you to keep your work nice and clean, and I am sure you will want to make yourself one as quickly as ever you can, so let us see how it is done.

You will only need 1 yard of material to make the apron, and this can be white or coloured as you prefer. A soft linen or sateen would make up well. For the featherstitching use coloured “Star Sylko” thread, as this will wash without the colour running.

To cut out the apron, first measure off 4 inches of the material, and cut across from selvedge to selvedge; this will form the band. The piece used for the apron itself is 32 inches long and 20 inches wide, and when you have cut this you will have a strip left for making the small pockets, which should each be 6 inches square. To make the points at the bottom of the pockets, fold each square right down the centre, measure 1½ inches up the double cut edges, and cut off the corners on the cross to the edge of the centre fold.

Now take the piece you have cut for the apron, and turn a quarter-inch hem along both the sides and one of the ends of this strip, tack these along carefully, and hem neatly. We give directions for tacking and hemming on page 18.

To form the large double pocket, fold the hemmed end of the strip up 11 inches, and oversew the edges of the side hems together. Directions for oversewing are given on page page 28. Now place a tacking line right down the centre of the pocket The small patch pockets should then be added. Turn a quarter-inch hem along the top of each of these, and a single narrow turning round the other edges. Hem one of these on to each side of the large pocket, placing them about 3½ inches down from the top of the large pocket, and 3 inches in from the side edges of the apron.

Now take the band strip, tack a single turning round all edges and fold right along the centre. Gather the top of the apron, draw the gathers up tightly (winding the thread round a pin so that it will be ready when you want to let them out again), and carefully stroke down each gathered stitch with your needle to make them set nicely. Now let out the gathers until the apron is 13 inches wide, place the gathered edge between the folded band, taking care that you get the centre of the band and the centre of the apron together, and hem along each side of the work. You will see that you have a little picture showing you exactly how this should be done.

The open edges of the ends of the band should be oversewn together.

When you have finished sewing on your band you will need to put a button on one end and to make a buttonhole in the other end. If you are not quite sure how to make a buttonhole nicely you had better look carefully at the illustrations showing how to do this.

First fold the end of the band, and cut your buttonhole through the fold and exactly in a line with a thread of the material; the buttonhole should be cut just large enough for you to put your button through easily. Before you commence to work the buttonholes make a line of running or “barring” stitches quite close to the edges, to hold them evenly together, as shown in the first part of the little diagram; the second part of the diagram shows another way of holding the edges together by working overcasting stitches over the hole, but this way is more often used when working on thicker materials. The third part of the diagram shows a finished buttonhole, and you will see that one end is worked round and the other square; the outside should be the round one, and the inner end the square one.

Now you are ready to commence to work the buttonhole. Thread a sewing needle with white cotton (say No. 40), make a knot, and just to fasten your thread to your work put your needle in on the wrong side just below the running stitches, at the inner end of the buttonhole, picking up one thickness of material only, and bring it out on the right side of your work between the edges of the buttonhole.

Buttonholes are always worked on the right side of the work, and are worked from left to right. To make the first stitch (after fastening your cotton on as above), place the needle downwards through the buttonhole, and put it in just where you put it at first, only this time right through both thicknesses of material.

When you have your needle in this position, place your cotton round it exactly as the little illustration shows it placed, pull your needle out, and you will find that you have made a knotted stitch, which must be pulled up so that the knot comes right at the edge of the buttonhole; this completes one stitch, and you must work a row of these stitches right along, making the ends of the stitches even to a thread.

The round end is made in the same way that you do oversewing, and each stitch must be made the same length as the buttonhole stitches, and taken round to form a half-circle at the end of the hole; the lower part of the little illustration shows how the needle is placed for this.

Work the second side in the same way as the first, then for the square end take a couple of ordinary back stitches right over the entire width of the worked buttonhole (from the lower edge of the stitches on one side to the lower edge of the stitches on the other), and work a row of buttonhole stitches across the end of the buttonhole, bringing the knots just over the bar of stitches you have just made across. This completes your buttonhole.

All that now remains to be done is the feather-stitching, and for the little girl who has not attempted this stitch before, we are giving an illustration showing exactly how it should be made.

This is worked from right to left. If you look carefully at the illustration you will see that the thread is always brought round to the front of the needle before making a stitch, and for the upper part a small stitch is taken downwards towards you, and for the lower part a stitch of the same length is taken turning upwards towards you. The feather-stitching should be worked just over the hemming line, and this will serve as a guide for keeping it straight; the bottom of the top stitch should come just above the hemming line, and the top of the lower stitch just below it. The illustration clearly shows where the feather-stitching should be added.