CHAPTER II
THE GIRLS OF PLEASANT VALLEY SCHOOL LEARN TO MAKE SIMPLE GARMENTS
This year the girls of the Sewing League of Pleasant Valley will receive credit for the garments they make. Miss James will help the girls to start the garments at school and will give full credit if the work is completed neatly. A nightdress, a petticoat, corset cover, or under slip, and perhaps a white summer dress skirt will be made. The school board has just furnished a machine, so Miss James is planning to teach the girls to use it. Many of them can practice at home too. Mrs. Stark, who has two machines, told Mollie she might bring the girls at any time for practice. Can you plan to learn to stitch at your school? There are many things one does not wish to sew by hand, and does not have time to make in that way. Not long ago Miss Travers, who came from the State Agricultural College to speak to the Mothers' Club at Pleasant Valley, told them that often people do not use good common sense about this question. She said there are times when one wishes to make garments and articles by hand, but it is foolish to do so when one has other duties in life to perform which are more important. Handmade garments are very beautiful to look at, but when they mean the sacrifice of health, because one has remained indoors to make them, they appear less beautiful. Miss Travers and the mothers had a long discussion about the wages paid in large cities to women who do this fine work. Miss Travers said the wage paid is usually very low.
Lesson 1
SOME COTTON MATERIALS SUITABLE FOR UNDERWEAR
Suppose you order the muslin for your nightdress and, while waiting for it to arrive, learn about the cotton materials which can be used for underwear. Can you add a whole page of white materials to your textile books?
Suppose you open the surprise box on your teacher's desk. It is quite full. Let us sort the samples and examine the white ones, especially, to-day; for your underwear is to be made of white cotton material. Let us look also at the ones which are almost white. They are unbleached white; the others have been bleached with a chemical to make them look so snowy white. They have been dipped in a bath of chloride of lime, and then in another bath of water and sulphuric acid, until the material has become white.
Do you know how our grandmothers used to bleach sheets and other unbleached articles which they wished to have white? Grandmother Allen used to bleach those she made on her hand loom. Why did they place them on the grass in the sun? What bleached them? This unbleached sample is muslin; it is for sheets. Here is some white which is of the same plain weave. The unbleached is cheaper. It comes one yard wide and can be bought for 5 cents and, in better qualities, up to 15 cents per yard. It wears very well—better than bleached muslin. Can you tell why? It is used for sheets and pillowcases. We may later make a pair of pillowcases from this unbleached muslin. The white muslin can be bought in a cheap quality for 7 cents a yard; and it may also be bought in finer qualities. Here is a piece of Alpine rose muslin from our sample box. Isn't that a pretty name for it? It is soft and much finer, and costs 30 cents a yard. Bleached muslins come in width from 36 to 72 inches. The wide width is used for sheetings and is woven that width that no seam may be necessary through the center of the sheet.