DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXERCISES.
Review: One inch, one-half inch, one-fourth inch.
Teach: One-eighth inch, three-eighths inch, seven-eighths inch.
SEAM SAMPLER.
Materials: Plain percale 10" warp, 12" woof; white thread No. 50; needle No. 7.
Five exercises of the Second Year Sewing will consist of seam work on the Seam Sampler. Each stitch will be first taught on the Practice Piece. Make pupils perfectly familiar with the names and uses of the different stitches as they are taught. As the year's work progresses compare the different seams and teach when, where and why these various seams are used in garment making. See "Description of Seams," [page 85]. That the pupils may not lose interest in their sewing the seam work is alternated with miscellaneous exercises.
Fold the percale with the warp into three equal pieces. Cut off one piece. Have each pupil label her large piece with her name. Collect and put them away until ready for Seam B. Do not leave them in the boxes or they will be lost, or soiled with too much handling.
Exercise No. 11—Seam A—Combination Stitch.
See description of "Seam Sampler" given above.
Materials: First section of Seam Sampler.
Fold with the warp through the center, and cut on the fold. Baste these two edges together one-fourth of an inch from the edge. Sew with the Combination Stitch three-eighths of an inch from the edge.
Exercise No. 12—Emery Balls.[13]
Materials: Unbleached muslin, 6½" × 6½"; red cashmere 6½" × 6½" (this amount provides for four); thread, yellow, white and red; emery powder; needles No. 7 and No. 3; green luster cotton.
To cut the pattern of the strawberry emery ball: Draw a circle three inches in radius, and cut on the line.
Cut a circle from the unbleached muslin for the lining and one a quarter of an inch larger from the cashmere for the outside; cut both into quarters.
To make the case: Fold the two edges of the muslin together and sew in a seam with the combination stitch, rounding the point to give the strawberry shape. Turn in a good seam at the top and gather. Fill with the powdered emery and fasten the gathering thread by overhanding over the top.
THE COMPLETED SEAM SAMPLER ILLUSTRATING EXERCISES NOS. 11, 13, 15, 17, AND 19.
Before sewing up the outside put in the stitches, with yellow thread, to represent the seeds of the strawberry as follows: Hold the wrong side of the cloth toward you and put in a row of tiny stitches half an inch apart. One-fourth of an inch above these put in another row with the stitches midway between those of the last row, and so continue. If desired these may be omitted and the seeds represented by French knots when the strawberry is finished.
Seam up the outside, slip it over the case, arranging the seams on opposite sides to avoid the possibility of powder sifting through. Overhand the top and cover with the green luster cotton to represent the calyx, leaving a loop for the stem.
Exercise No. 13—Seam B—Stitching.
Materials: Second section of Seam Sampler.
Fold with the warp through the center and cut on the fold. Baste these two edges together one-fourth of an inch from the edge. Stitch three-eighths of an inch from the edge.
Exercise No. 14—Bags—Christmas Piece.[14]
The Christmas Piece will consist of bags of any size, shape or style for which the pupils wish to furnish their own materials. This gives the teacher an opportunity to exercise her own ingenuity and taste and to have some individuality in her work. There is a great variety, from the utility bag made of cheap, pretty material, costing only a few pennies, to the more elaborate ones made of dainty silk or ribbon. A little tact will easily adapt the style of bag to the home into which it is to go, for the purpose for which it is to be used, and the purse of the donor.
Following are the directions for a simple button-bag:
Materials: A soft washable fabric, 14" warp, 6" woof; thread; needles; narrow tape 26 inches.
BAGS TO ILLUSTRATE EXERCISE NO. 14.
Crease an inch hem at each end. Fold the cloth with the two hems right sides together and baste from the lower edge of the hems to the bottom of the bag. Stitch a quarter-inch seam. Turn in the ends of the hems even with the sides of the bag and overhand from the top five-eighths of an inch, leaving an opening for the tapes three-eighths of an inch wide at the bottom of the hem. Baste and hem the hems, fastening securely at each side of the tape openings, as there is considerable strain when the tapes are drawn. Put in a row of running stitches parallel to and five-eighths of an inch from the top of the bag, for the tape opening. With a tape needle draw in the two tapes, sew the ends of each together and draw out of opposite openings so that the place of joining will not show. Overcast the seams.
Exercise No. 15—Half-Back Stitching.
Materials: First and second sections of the Seam Sampler.
Baste the two sections together one-fourth of an inch from the edge. Sew with the half-back stitch three-eighths of an inch from the edge.
Exercise No. 16—A Doily—Blanket Stitch and the Kensington Outline Stitch.[15]
Materials: Imitation Butchers' Linen 9" × 9"; white luster cotton; needle No. 5.
An exercise in paper cutting for the doily design. Have pupils provide themselves with ten or twelve pieces of paper eight inches square for practice cutting. Fold the first paper three times and cut a convex, concave or compound curve from corner to corner. Open and study these curved lines and select the most graceful. Cut again making corrections. Cut a design in straight lines. Cut one composed of both straight and curved lines. Do not work haphazard, but criticise, compare and reject. The surface requires little decoration if the doily is pleasing in outline. That which is placed upon it should have some relation to the outline. Study the space to be decorated and how it can be divided or ornamented by lines, curved or straight, that may serve as a real decoration, but avoid too elaborate designs. Before beginning the doily have a finished pattern. The pattern may be transferred to the cloth by tracing the pattern with a hard pencil, using carbon paper between pattern and cloth, or the pattern may be pinned on and the outline drawn and the design put on freehand.
ORIGINAL DESIGNS FOR THE DOILY BY FOURTH GRADE GIRLS.
To work the Doily. Finish the edge with the blanket stitch. See "Blanket Stitch," [page 73]. Work the lines of the design with the Kensington Outline Stitch.
Exercise No. 17—French Seam.
Materials: Third section of the Seam Sampler.
Fold with the warp through the center and cut on the fold. Follow the directions for the French Seam.
Exercise No. 18—A Pair of Miniature Pillow Cases.[16]
Materials: Two pieces bleached muslin 7½" warp, 8½" woof; white thread No. 50; needle No. 7.
In a pillow case the warp threads should run lengthwise of the pillow. Crease a quarter-inch fold across one end and on both sides. Fold with the warp through the center so that the seam just turned comes on the inside, baste the folded edges together on the right side. Overhand on the right side, using no knot, but sewing over the end of the thread. Turn a three-quarter inch hem, baste and hem. Trim the seam and overcast.
Exercise No. 19—French Fell.
Materials: Seam Sampler.
Sew Section Three of the Seam Sampler to the others with the French Fell. Follow directions for the French Fell.
Exercise No. 20—Textile Fibers and Fabrics—Silk.
Under the heading "Textile Fibers and Fabrics," [page 90], will be found subject matter which can be used in correlation with the geography, language and history work. The fourth grade subject is silk. Secure if possible the silk cocoon and make a collection of silk fabrics. Language papers on the subject can be illustrated with pictures cut from papers and magazines.