A Practical Way to Teach Girls Dressmaking.
A GIRL WEARING THE FROCK SHE HAS MADE
Some of the ladies who have headed sewing parties, or collected garments for the soldiers and sailors, during the past few years, could a tale unfold of the mysterious articles that many very willing workers have produced in their anxiety to help. No sooner was war declared than hundreds of women, from every grade in society, stepped forward, ready to make something; but what of the shirts 6 ft. long, the neckbands made of flannel—not ones, nor twos, but dozens of them, calling forth a special warning from the daily Press?
And it must be borne in mind, that many of these needlewomen must have passed through our schools—elementary or secondary—and have spent a couple of hours every week, for six or seven years, “learning needlework”; likewise, the garments required were not novelties, they are worn by men in time of peace as well as war.
Such a result of “learning needlework” gives one “furiously to think.” Has the training in the schools fitted the girls for making and mending garments for themselves and others—remodelling old ones, and generally using the needle as a help towards comfort and economy in the home?
This brings us to a very pertinent question. Is it possible to give the girls at school such a training in the cutting out and making of garments that the work loses it terrors, and comes within the grasp of them all? Experience has proved that cutting out paper garments from elaborate diagrams, bristling with “inches in” and “inches down,” is of very small practical value. The secret of success lies in getting the girls to measure a real wearer, and then to make a pattern, which they can properly “try on” for themselves, from these measurements.
Take, for example, the making of a frock, such as the girl is wearing in the picture. This child of twelve or thirteen, was one of a class of thirty or forty, in which every girl made a similar dress for herself. All measuring, making of patterns, cutting out of the material, fixing and sewing—everything in fact, from beginning to end, was done by the girls themselves.
THE FIRST MEASUREMENT FOR THE YOKE.
To begin with, they arranged themselves in pairs, and each girl cut a yoke, cuff and sleeve pattern for her companion. It was not necessary to make a paper pattern of the skirt of the frock. No material was cut until the patterns were satisfactory.
A yoke is an exceedingly useful and necessary part of many garments, but it is not, as a rule, considered an easy thing to cut a pattern of one to fit a particular wearer; but these girls found it simple enough, by working on the following plan.
TESTING THE YOKE PATTERN.
The illustration shows one girl taking the neck measurement of her friend; this is the only one required for cutting the pattern. It should be found, by holding the tape loosely around the neck, so that the head moves easily with it in position.
GETTING THE WIDTH OF THE SLEEVE.
An oblong piece of paper—newspaper will serve quite well—measuring the neck length one way and one-and-a-half times the same the other, was then cut out. Thus, if the neck is 12 in., the paper will be 12 in. by 18 in. (See Fig. 1). The method adopted of getting the yoke from this, will be seen by following each step in the sketches. The two shorter sides were folded together as in Fig. 2, forming a double piece. The two top corners were brought over until they met in the middle, as in Fig. 3, and then the triangular pieces cut off, leaving a double piece, as in Fig. 4. Care must be taken in the next step to bring the slanting edge (A) next to the two open straight edges, over to the bottom edges D; thus A and D lie exactly over each other, and the second slanting edge B covers the fold C.
THE UNDER-ARM LENGTH OF THE SLEEVE.
Taking the Measurements.
The pattern begins now to look something like a yoke, and is soon complete. Two pieces must be cut off, one to form the neck and the other the shoulder. Fig. 6 shows clearly how this is done, and when it is finished a yoke pattern, as in Fig. 7, is the result. The illustration gives some idea of the “fit” of a yoke cut in this way. The girls were very critical about the neck and shoulder curves, and the width across the back and front; many little alterations were made before the pattern was considered satisfactory, and good enough to cut out the material from.
FINDING THE LENGTH OF THE SLEEVE.
Having made a satisfactory yoke pattern, the next thing to tackle was the sleeve. An oblong piece of paper was again necessary, and its dimensions were found in the manner shown in the two pictures. The measure was slipped loosely around the top of the arm, and three or four inches added to allow for the arm movement. This gave the width required, and the length was found by holding the measure on the top of the shoulder, as the girl is doing in the illustration, and then carrying it around the bent elbow to the wrist.
TAKING THE WRIST MEASUREMENT.
When this oblong was folded in half, lengthwise, it faintly resembled a sleeve, but, to shape it properly, two other dimensions were necessary. The next two photographs show the girls getting them. The length of the under-arm sleeve is about three quarters of the full length, and the wrist the same fraction of the width at the top of the arm. The girls discovered these things for themselves, and marked with the rounded end of the scissors, a slightly curved line from the wrist to the under-arm position. This double piece was then cut away.
The shaping of the top of the sleeve requires a little more judgment and care. The pattern was opened out flat, and a convex curve made from one side to the top, joining a slightly concave one starting from the other. Thus they obtained the foundation of any sleeve pattern. It can easily be made wider or narrower, longer or shorter, according to the dictates of fashion.
As the frock the girls made on this occasion had sleeves with cuffs, two or three inches deep, the pattern was shortened accordingly, before the material was cut.
The girls were only beginners, so they cut patterns of the collar and cuffs in paper, and fitted all the parts on the material before cutting out.
The cuff and waistband were straight pieces of material cut to the required sizes.
MAKING THE YOKE PATTERN.
Cutting out the Pattern.
For the collar pattern, the neck length was taken, as for the yoke pattern, and an oblong piece of paper cut out, this length one way and half of it the other. (See Fig. 1). This was folded in half to form a square, and creased across the middle, as in the diagram. One of the two open corners was folded over to the crease, and the triangular pieces thus formed were cut off, as in Fig. 3. A curved line was next marked, connecting one end of the slanting edge, A, with the bottom end, C, of the fold. By measuring the length of the slanting edge A, B, along the fold, a new point D was found, and a curve was made parallel to the first curve, connecting B and D (See Fig. 4). The double paper was cut along the curves, and thus the pattern of half the collar was obtained.
MAKING THE COLLAR PATTERN.
It was found that the collar for the frock fitted better when made in two parts and in double material. Thus, in cutting out the cloth, four pieces, the size and shape of the pattern, were required.
The length required for the skirt was found by fitting on the yoke pattern, and then measuring from the middle of the front straight down, adding two or three inches for the hem.
The frock in the illustration was made from double width serge, and it was found practicable to get the skirt from one-and-a-half widths, the other half serving for the yoke. The pair of sleeves came out of a full width. This planning and arranging involved no end of simple but interesting calculation, and the reality of it all made a strong appeal to the girls.
One point of supreme importance was most carefully impressed—that was—“the way of the cloth”; certainly, if this goes wrong, the garment is ruined, and just as certainly it is a thing that will never be mastered “theoretically”—it must be learnt by actually cutting out of material.
The cutting of the sleeves from one pattern is another bit of “practical politics” which arises when a garment such as this is being made. There is no reason why the pair should not be cut together, so long as the two right, or two wrong sides are placed together. The use of French chalk for marking out the pattern on the cloth was encouraged.
The making up of the frock afforded many opportunities for practice in neat, strong stitching, combined with beauty. Suitable cottons and needles were used, nothing finer than No. 40 cotton will stand the wear and tear of every-day life. Where possible, the sewing machine was used, but the parts sewn with it were first carefully tacked.
The question of decoration aroused no end of discussion and interest the whole time the frocks were being made, and urged many a slow worker on to greater efforts. The yokes, cuffs and collars were stitched with contrasting coloured thread, and the variety of decoration was delightful. Simple hand-worked stitches are generally more effective, as well as more economical, than bought trimmings.
Of course, any difficult stitch or piece of fixing—for example, the placing of the box pleats—was always practised on a piece of “scrap” material or paper, before the frock was tackled; but when the young needlewomen realised they were “trying” a stitch or a piece of fixing, because they needed to use it in the making of the frock, they put a good deal more zest into the work than if it was a mere “needlework exercise.” No new material was ever torn up for these practices—odd bits of any shape or size were used, and a bag of such pieces was always at hand, in sewing lesson, for this purpose.
On the score of both economy and efficiency, one would plead that the tearing up of good flannel and calico for the “sewing lesson” should be rigidly tabooed. Probably no other subject offers such unique opportunities in our schools for inculcating habits of thrift and economy, with increased efficiency in the teaching.
The distress of nations, with its awful promise of misery and poverty in the future, gives this branch of a girl’s education an added importance. Surely we must neglect no opportunity of improving it!
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By FLORA KLICKMANN
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