About the worst thing to do with old dresses is to carry them to an old clothes-shop, or to dispose of them at the door for something out of a basket.
Woollen garments, such as coats and trowsers, offer rather more of a puzzle as to how to dispose of them. They are, however, articles to be by no means despised, as a peep into the working-rooms of some old clothes establishment might soon convince our readers. Many a second-hand waistcoat, cap, and even child's complete suit, have been contrived from the refuse contents of an old clo'-man's bag. These old clothes-merchants, however, never cut up garments that can by any contrivance of piecing and cleaning be made suitable for wear, or to fetch a price in their original form. This a good home manager should also observe.
Cheap bought slop-clothes are scarcely worth the time and trouble of remaking into anything. But a bit of broadcloth that has been originally good may be brought into use over and over again, when its original purpose has been almost forgotten.
In a family of restricted means, where the father is obliged, by his line of life or connections to keep up what is called a respectable or genteel appearance, if the mother is a good contriver very little need be purchased for the clothing of her boys until they reach their teens. The clothes that the father is, for the sake of appearance, obliged to lay aside, will afford good material for clothing them. But how often pride, more than a want of knowledge, comes in here, and prevents the mother from doing what she might and could do. She is afraid that if she herself makes clothes for her boys, she may be laughed at as "a hen tailor." And if she should employ a needlewoman, who could do such things well and inexpensively for her, she is afraid the woman will speak of it, and think her mean for using old clothes; and she will in preference buy cheap, ready-made clothes, which will not last so long, and perhaps not look any better than what she might have obtained for a tithe of the cost by using the materials laid by at home.
To keep up a genteel appearance with only a small income, is a very trying situation to be placed in; nevertheless, it is the lot of very many; and a wise woman will feel sure that she is not acting meanly, while she acts in accordance with the limits of her husband's purse. Nothing can be more mean than to increase his anxieties by indulging in any needless expenses in dress.
When it is designed to make any cloth garment into a smaller one, it is generally best to look upon it merely as a piece of material, and not to attempt to bring any of the old seams into use. If it has been previously worn in the same family, and not much soiled, a good dry brushing may be all that is required for cleanliness. But if it has been long worn and made dirty, it had better be picked to pieces and thoroughly washed. Good broadcloth will bear washing just as well as a bit of calico; and so will very many other articles that are frequently considered unwashable.
Supposing the garment unpicked and brushed, or washed, it should be well examined as to the thicker and thinner parts, and the smaller pattern laid on and cut accordingly, always observing to keep the nap of the cloth all one way, from the top to the bottom of the garment. Much of the secret of the neat appearance of clothes made by tailors is in their flatly placing and pressing down all their seams by means of heated irons. The seams should be opened out—that is, each side of the seam should be folded back, and damped and smoothed by a hot iron before the lining is put in. As to a pattern, the best way to obtain one is from a tailor; and great assistance in the making up may be obtained by observing how the article picked to pieces was made. All visible button-holes should be made with silk, and not thread; and a strip for strengthening laid where buttons and button-holes are to be. There is no reason why clothes of this description, made by women, should either be bad fitting, or the work clumsy looking. This is not always the case; and any woman who has learned the use of her needle, and uses her powers of observation, might as well rival the tailor as not.
Odd cuttings of cloth are serviceable for mending or remaking the tops of boots. Foot-stools also may be covered with remaining pieces, and if braided with a lively-colored braid, have a neat and ornamental appearance. We have also seen made from the tails of a coat, a work-bag, which had a pattern with colored wools worked on each side, and really had a handsome appearance. Girls in a family might just as well use such materials to exercise their fancy and ingenuity upon, and so often save a good many wasted shillings.
Hearth-rugs are sometimes made by cutting cloth into strips half an inch wide and two inches long, and knitting them together with string. This is done by inserting the piece of cloth exactly at the middle, in the loop of the knitting and drawing it in very tight; it is rather hard finger-work, and some make the rug by sewing the strips of cloth on to a piece of old carpet or any other strong material that may be at hand. This sort of rug will in winter form a very comfortable addition to a poor man's fire-place. Or the bits may be knitted into smaller pieces for door-mats.
But when all the best bits have been employed as use or fancy may dictate, there will still remain some rough or thin cuttings which cannot be worked up any how; what is to be done with these? Perhaps we could not easily have answered this question, had we not recently heard a girl say, "Oh, mother is very glad indeed of such pieces; when she gets any, she washes them thoroughly, and sets us children to cut them up very small indeed, and fills a case with them to make a pillow; all our pillows and bolsters, and even the beds at home, are made like that, and we find them very comfortable; mother could never afford to buy proper beds for all us children."