Harper's Household Handbook: A guide to easy ways of doing woman's work

by Martha McCulloch-Williams

Silk: Test silk three ways—by tearing, scraping with the thumb nail, and burning. Try to tear a raw edge across the filling. If it is easily done the filling is either artificial or so loaded it will give no wear. Weak warp is even worse—with warp and filling both easily rent, the stuff is wholly bad. Pull out a few threads both ways and test their strength separately. Easy breaking means that they are loaded with earthy or metal salts to give weight and firmness without wear. Scrape the surface diagonally with the thumb nail. If threads slip under the scraping, let that particular silk alone. Rub well between the fingers—pure silk feels smooth and soft; that which is loaded, crisp, even harsh. Some silks have the face pure, the back loaded—wherefore test both sides. End by burning a bit. Real silk does not burn readily, and leaves a black ash. Weighted or loaded silk flashes up, burns swiftly, and leaves behind a dull-red ash.

Woolens: Test by raveling out and burning. Untwist a raveled thread—fibers of even, moderate length show pure wool. If there are a few fibers with clots all along them the cloth is most shoddy—that is to say, old wool ground up and mixed before spinning with a little new. After-treatment makes it look well, but there is mighty little wear. Snap a raveling between the hands—the harder the breaking the better the goods. Soak a few threads in a little alcohol. This to test the color. A tinge in the alcohol is to be expected, but if it becomes deep-colored, and especially if it becomes muddy, the dyeing is bad. Cotton mixture before spinning betrays itself in burning. Light a few threads or a snippet—the smell will tell the truth.

Linen: Test linen in much the same fashion: ravel, untwist a thread, and draw gently till resolved into original fibers. Cotton will show soft, even a little fuzzy, in spite of mercerizing. Linen is woven from flax fibers, which are always straight and thready, no matter how fine. Burning gives out the smell of cotton where there is an appreciable mixture. Test for fading by wetting in white soapsuds and drying in sunshine or in front of a fire.

Cottons: Prints, muslin, lawns, sheeting, and so on, should be torn across and lengthwise to test strength, nail-scraped, and rubbed betwixt the fingers to discover if they are dressed too much, and dried in sunshine for fading. Use will soften the fastest colors. In buying for children get extra stuff and send it to wash each time with the frocks, so when needed for re-making there shall be no glaring contrast.

Forethought: Begin before the beginning if you would sew easily. Set a machine, well cleaned and oiled, where the light will fall over the operator’s shoulder. For dressmaking, cover the floor with a sheet of unbleached muslin tacked down smooth. Have a form for fitting, a tall mirror, a table, with drop leaves if possible, and two bentwood chairs, with a low rocker for basting and pressing in. At the right hand of it hang on the wall a thin board with wire nails driven from the back in treble row. Upon one row stick basting-spools, upon others spools of silk, cotton, and twist. Upon a shorter upper row put cheap thimbles. Have screw hooks at bottom for hanging shears, small scissors, tape measure, pencil, and needle book. A screw eye in each upper corner of the board slipped over nails or screw-hooks will hold it fast.

Hang a similar board on the wall back of the machine, and furnish the nails in it with spools of thread—all sorts the machine may require. Put a hook at bottom for special machine scissors, and hang upon another hook a small, flat, open pocket to hold wisps of absorbent cotton for wiping off oil, a tiny bottle of alcohol for removing spots of it, and a couple of finger stalls and two short bandages to save pricked fingers from making blood spots. A starch bag, very porous, for covering such spots instantly, is also advisable with fine light-colored work.

Tack against the wall over the table a square of denim holding three long pockets, set crosswise, for patterns. Keep patterns folded flat, not rolled. Press smooth before using, and let lie till cool, so they will not curl. Hang a small well-filled pincushion below the pattern pockets, also leaves of flannel filled with basting-needles. Set close by a firm-standing waste basket with a wide mouth. Throw into it all useless clippings as fast as made.

Cutting Out: Spread plain-surfaced things, as silk, linen, serge, and lighter woolens, double upon the table, which must be at full length. Lay on patterns, having regard to warp and woof threads. Let warp run up and down, woof around. In cutting a bodice the woof threads should make a sort of belt. Thus they pull true, and the seams are an easy bias. Lay on the whole pattern as nearly as space allows, and study economy of material in arranging the pieces, but not at the cost of getting threads wrong. Cut with sharp shears, taking care to allow for seams when requisite. Lay off pieces as cut out, but keep the cloth steady by means of light weights. Patterns are best pinned in place, but with long lines, as skirts or draperies, books laid on as weights are better, besides being easier.

Things with a nap, as broadcloth and corduroy, must not be cut with cloth double from each end. If the goods is double-fold, cutting double is desirable. Otherwise cut so the nap runs the same in each piece. This also applies in case of figured stuffs with a decided up and down. To make a waist or coat pattern smaller lay a crosswise plait from armhole to edge, and cross it with a lengthwise one of equal width. Enlarge a pattern by cutting it across instead of plaiting it and pasting in strips of paper. Alter skirt lengths usually at the bottom; either fold up or allow extra. If too wide, fold down along each edge to keep proportions.

Basting: Baste shoulder seams with the upper half of the fronts stretched tight, the back held a little full. Pressing heals the puckers, which give the smooth fit over the hollow of the shoulder not otherwise attainable. Use fine firm thread for basting, with a large-eyed needle. Take medium running stitches in seams to be fitted; with edges to be held for sewing together make the stitches very long, and set them so far back the stitching will not catch them.