165. 166. Velvet Joining. 167. Laced Joining.
Laced Joining (Fig. 167) consists in the uniting of torn edges of a slit accidentally made by a thorn, knife, or scissors. In every home it is constantly needed for the temporary repair of those well-known three-cornered rents caused by mischievous nails, knobs, spikes, &c. Laced joining is also the only way of stopping cracks in old silk dresses, umbrellas, and parasols; for the latter being neatly strengthened and concealed by a narrow galloon run on both right and wrong sides. To execute the seam, trim the torn edges, and draw them together, holding the work between the thumb and fourth finger of the left hand. Imitate a kind of lacing thus: point the needle from the chest, and pass it under the right edge; turn the needle in the contrary direction, and slip it beneath the left edge, and so on. Be sure to take in enough of the fabric to bear the stitches, which are to be as close as necessary for the material. Judgment is indispensable also for the placing of the stitches; a knife-cut in a delicate material has a sharply defined edge, and can be drawn together straight to a thread, but in a jagged or worn part the stitches enter more or less deeply into the worn part, according to the state of the piece.
Fine-drawing.—This is almost exclusively used by tailors in their beautiful repairs, and is suitable for all kinds of cloth and thick woollen textures. The method of working is as follows: Having, if possible, turned the article wrong side outwards, place the rent horizontally across the second and third fingers of the left hand. Thread the needle with very fine sewing silk, and slip it between the cloth nearly ¼ in. from one edge. Bring the needle out and take a tiny stitch on the top of the cloth, slip it through the fabric back to the edge again, then insert into the opposite side, repeat the small stitch, and return in the same manner. Continue thus to the end. If skilfully done the seam can scarcely be unripped, and completely defies detection, provided all the cloth be the right way of the grain. Fine-drawing comes in excellently for connecting stars, &c., in cloth patchwork. For more ordinary purposes an invisible, though not equally strong join, is by a flat sewing taken midway through the thickness of the stuff. In either case the repair needs careful pressing.
Darning
Darning.—The plain, or ordinary darn, was for a long time the only one employed in repairing any material, whether linen or woollen; the materials, soft darning cotton, merino, Angola worsted or Berlin wool, and filoselle, rather finer than the fabric to be mended.
In using filoselle for darning or for embroidery, it is necessary to feel for the right way of the thread, or the filoselle will become rough and work against the grain. Before threading your needle, draw the filoselle through your finger and thumb, and you will soon learn to know the difference between the smooth and the rough way. A great help in feeling anything is to shut the eyes. When you buy new stockings and socks, do not wear them until you have sewed them over heel and toe. There is an open bar in heels and toes that soon breaks, unless secured by sewing over. To do this, stretch the heel or toe very tightly over your left hand; this opens these little bars, and enables you to see holes top and bottom, when you can sew them over. You must not do it like herringboning, but straight, and from left to right. This plan prevents many a darn.
The Plain Darn is not limited to the repairing of house linen or garments; it is also applied to carpets, curtains, tapestry hangings, and even chair cushions and covers, which all need a close inspection after a periodical cleaning. For all these we mostly have recourse to the darn called point de reprise—the great distinction between this and the point de toile being that, instead of precisely taking up one and leaving down one, it consists in taking up and leaving down an irregular number of stitches, according to the value and strength of the material. The point de reprise is also used in lace-making, embroidery, wool and guipure work; besides, on account of its quick execution, it is generally chosen for the mending of stockings. Materials: A darning or egg-eyed needle, and either cotton, silk, merino, Angola, or linen thread. Method of working: When a hole has to be mended it may be prepared in two ways, either by drawing together all the broken threads as nearly as possible into their original position, and securing them with a needle and fine cotton, or by cutting off all irregularities, and carefully paring the edges; the latter method is undoubtedly the neater. Hold the part to be mended well stretched over the first and second fingers of the left hand, and for the foundation proceed as follows: Point the needle from the chest, and make an ascending row of regular perpendicular stitches, leaving a rather long loop to allow for stretching or shrinking in washing. For the descending row turn the needle towards the chest, and return in the same manner, taking up the thread left down in the preceding row, thus inverting the order of stitches; continue to do this till the hole is well covered by a series of long threads parallel to each other. Crossing: Place the work so that the threads run horizontally, and darn as before, commencing the same distance from the sides, as from the upper and lower edge, or else a hole will soon make its unwelcome appearance close to the new darn. A little judgment is necessary in deciding the closeness of the stitches, as it is evident that a worn-out material will not bear such close and heavy mending as a comparatively new one. The best mode of covering a plain darn is that which gives it the form of a cross; to this there are a few exceptions, such as the diagonal darn and the double square darn shown in Fig. 169.
168. Plain Darn. 169. Double Square Darn.