Chapter 8 - Practice Stitching And Projects

To develop skill and confidence, practice will be necessary.

1. Thread the machine enough times to be able to do it routinely. Make sure the thread is between the tension disks, not in back or in front. Develop the habit of raising the take-up lever to the highest point. See that thread enters needle from grooved side.

2. Practice winding bobbins and inserting them in bobbin case correctly. Pull up bobbin thread and lay both threads back under presser foot. Is small wheel inside balance wheel tight? Is screw attaching presser foot to machine tight? Is there any thread from spool wound around spool pin? Is needle set in right?

3. Try a piece of practice material before stitching at all times. Is tension correct? Stitches should look alike on both sides. Check with the instructions in your machine manual. Is stitch size correct?

4.         To learn to stitch straight with ease, practice without thread first. Use paper with straight lines, traced circles, mazes, wavy or scalloped lines, crossed loops as flower petals, and any other intricate designs. Use double thicknesses of paper.

5. Work with machine threaded on designs traced on inexpensive material. Start with enough thread between the toes of the presser foot so that needle will not become unthreaded.

Watch the edge of the presser foot as a guide, not the needle. Stop with needle at the highest point, pull work straight back, and cut thread with thread cutter, located behind presser foot. Push threads back before continuing. Learn to backtack at the beginning and the end of seams. Never turn balance wheel the wrong way. Do not allow garment to hang unsupported.

Here are directions for some simple objects to make so that your practicing will be constructive. If you have any difficulty, use the index of this book and read full directions for the process that bothers you.

Towels: Buy 2½ yards of toweling and cut into 30-inch lengths for three towels. Make narrow hems on both cut edges. On one towel, baste and hem by hand. On the second, baste and edge stitch near fold. On the third, use the machine hem-mer. This will give you practice with several methods.

Potholder: Put two small washcloths right sides together, and stitch around ½ inch from edge, using a ½-inch gauge, on three sides. Trim corners and turn inside out. Make a loop by taking a four-inch piece of tape and basting it to corner with edges ½ inch inside. Turn in raw edges of potholder ½ inch and baste, catching in loop. Stitch ½ inch from edge on all four sides and do a second line of stitching inside first using the width of the toe of the presser foot as a guide.

A second method is to put the two cloths wrong sides together and baste bias binding all the way around, making the loop out of the binding. Have binding a little narrower on stitching side to catch in underside and then stitch. You may also use the machine binder to bind the edges.

Pincushion: Cut out two four-inch circles or squares. Turn in edges ¼ inch all around and baste. Baste a seven-inch strip of elastic on to wrong side of one piece with ½ inch of elastic extending inside edge on two opposite sides. Place second piece of material on top, wrong side down, and stitch all around near edge on three sides. Fill with cotton wadding, baste raw edges together, and stitch across.

Place mat'. Use suitable material—gingham, linen, basket weave, etc.—and cut into piece 12 x 18. Turn edges under to wrong side ¼ inch and baste wide rickrack or fringe to wrong side covering raw edge. The trim extends on the right side. Stitch all around.

Scarf: Use brightly colored silk and hand roll edges on a rectangle 40 x 19. Or, roll the long edges and fringe the short ones. To do this, draw out a crosswise thread ½ inch from the edge, and overcast through drawn thread line up into material; or machine stitch, near drawn thread. Pull out all threads below to make fringe.

Small drawstring bag: Cut out piece 12 x 28 and lining piece 12 x 26. Fold in half crosswise, right sides together, and stitch ½ inch from edge up two long sides on both pieces. Turn right side out and put lining in bag, wrong sides together. Pin together at side seams and bottom, and baste lining to bag at top to hold in place. Turn down 1/2 inch on top, baste, then turn down two inches, baste and stitch. Clip one stitch of seam on top hem on both sides and stitch two lines above and below opening V2 inch apart. Cut two strips of ribbon or tape 30 inches long. Insert one with bodkin or safety pin through one side and draw all the way through, pulling out on same side. Do the same with the other on the other side. Knot ribbon edges or fasten with decorative stitches, and pull to draw.

Aprons: 1. Use large scarf or cut out 28-inch square and hand roll edges. Sew two tapes to two opposite corners for ties. Cut a triangle off third corner and hand roll resulting straight edge. Attach a tape to ends of cut corner to make a loop that will go around the neck comfortably.

2. For a novelty tea apron use four identical colored or printed 12-inch square handkerchiefs. Join two in a French seam or a stitched fell seam (see p. 100). Gather top by hand or machine. Fold third hankerchief in half right sides together.

Turn back corners on top thickness to meet at center bottom fold, and baste together. Then baste this edge to gathered edge, right sides together, pulling up gathers to fit, and stitch. Fold fourth hankerchief on diagonal and cut. Join cut edges to sides in a stitched fell seam. The effect will be circular on the bottom and the two turned back edges on the top will make
pockets. Finish top edge with 1⅓ yards matching grosgrain ribbon, one-inch wide, stitching ribbon over apron top so that center of ribbon is in center of apron. Free edges will make ties.

3. Use one yard of 35-inch material. Selvages are on sides. Bottom is narrowly hemmed by hand or with hemmer. Gather top by machine with longest stitch. Pull gathers up so that apron fits comfortably, and fasten. Finish off top with 1⅓ yards ribbon. Ribbon is attached to wrong side and turned over and slip stitched to position on right side.

Cape: Fold 1¼ yards of 41-inch fabric in half in a lengthwise fold. Fold in half again with crosswise fold and cut an arc (quarter of a circle) along unfolded edges from top of fold to opposite corner. Cut through one thickness through second or crosswise fold down to lengthwise fold. Cut out small arc at bottom, where two folds meet, about two inches up and out from corner, so that when opened out, the cape will fit comfortably around the neck. Narrowly hem all edges or finish with binding. For a lined cape, cut two pieces and seam, right sides together on three sides, leaving neck edge open. Trim seams, cutting close at corners, and turn inside out. Finish neck edge with binding (see pp. 125-127) or trim off ½ inch from inside thickness around neck, opening seams for ½ inch down from top, turn outside edge under ¼ inch and ¼inch again over trimmed edge to inside. Baste to position and slip stitch. Press and sew hook-and-eye opening on for front closing.

Half slip: Draw a rectangle 32 x 28. Measure in five inches on the 28-inch side from each end of the top and connect point to bottom corners to shape slip. Cut out and use as pattern to cut out two petticoat sections of silk or cotton. French seam the sides. Turn in top edge ¼ inch and ½ inch again. Stitch, leaving small opening to run in elastic. Run in narrow elastic to fit waist line comfortably. Stitch edges of elastic together and finish hem opening by hand. Turn up bottom hem to desired length or finish with embroidered edging.

Dress or Shift: Use a tube of jersey because of its softness and draping qualities. Buy 1 ½ yards for average height figure. Cut in half lengthwise. Put two pieces together, fold in half lengthwise and cut out neck as for cape above, about two inches out and down from fold. Open out fold, and on one piece cut slit down about four inches. See if this goes over your head easily, and bind entire edge with bias binding. Use commercial binding or cut your own from scraps if you can. Mark down nine inches on sides from top and three inches below that. Cut from nine-inch mark in three inches and down on a diagonal to three-inch mark. Join this slashed edge in a seam on wrong side, gathering in larger edge. (See pp. 98-103.) Sew down two long sides with fabric right sides together. Finish off armhole edges with binding, try on with belt, and mark hem. Finish hem. If desired, mark waistline with chalk and sew in elastic thread to hold fullness in place.

For a shift, a longer zipper or a separating zipper may be used. (See zippers, p. 131.) Many variations of the same basic shift can be achieved by the use of appliqués, embroidery, varying the shape of the neckline and using decorative zippers.

Dirndl skirt: Since you are probably very anxious to begin, here are directions for a simple garment that you can make without a pattern. Buy a closely woven cotton fabric for your first try. You will need two yards if you are less than five feet three inches tall; two and one-eighth yards if you are five feet four or five; two and one-quarter yards if you are five feet six or seven. Wash the fabric to prevent shrinkage later, and press it smooth.

Making A Dirndl Skirt

Baste                                        Hem

Spread the material out on your table and straighten it by pulling out a thread and cutting across the drawn thread. Do this on both cut edges. Then fold one cut edge over to the other. At the folded edge cut straight across two and one-half inches from the fold. This piece will make your waistband. If you like a wider band, cut the piece three inches or three and a half inches from the fold. Put this aside for later use.

Now take the rest of the material and turn it so that the right sides of the fabric are touching each other and the wrong sides are facing you. Pin the sides together with pins perpendicular to the edge leaving a seven-inch space open on one side for a zipper. Use a gauge and insert pins 5/s inch from edge of skirt to give an accurate seam line. Stitch at the machine on the pinned seam line, beginning and ending by backtack-ing. Go to the ironing board and press the seams open.

The next step is to insert the zipper. Buy a seven-inch skirt placket zipper that matches your material. Baste the seam along the opening you have left just as though you were going to close it up. Press the seam open, making a sharply creased edge, and pull out the basting. Crease back edge ½ inch outside first crease and re-press. Now pin the back edge of the skirt at the crease very close to the metal of the zipper. Baste with small close stitches. The zipper should be closed facing to the right side, the tab should be at top of opening. Use a cording or zipper foot to stitch very close to the metal. Pin the front edge of the opening over the zipper on the same side on which you have just stitched. The stitching should come to the fold. Baste straight down on the front side of the zipper, making sure that you have caught the tape and the material. Stitch very close to your basting, and across the bottom, making sure to back tack. Remove the pins and basting.

To gather the skirt, push the stitch-regulator lever all the way down (or turn the knob all the way to the right) to give you a very large stitch. Before you start to gather, mark a line ¾ inch from the top edge of the skirt all the way around with tailor's chalk. Now, along this line, start stitching from the side seam to the middle of the front. When you cut the thread, leave a tail hanging of four to five inches. Now start again from the middle of the front where you stopped stitching and continue across to the other side seam. Repeat from the side seam to the middle of the back and then from this point to the side seam from which you started. Start again, and ¼ inch above the first gathering line; repeat the whole process, as before, in four sections.

Take out the waistband piece which you have set aside. Measure your waistline and cut off a piece from one short end so that band measures three inches more than your waist. Stitch two short ends, right sides together, trim seams, and turn right side out. Press sharp crease at top. Mark point three inches from end with a pin or chalk. Fold band in half crosswise to marked point and mark halfway point. Mark halfway point of each section so that you have four parts marked off, plus the three inches.

With the waistband on the wrong side of the skirt, pin through one thickness of the band so that the three-inch mark at the end is at the front edge of the zipper, the halfway mark at the side seam, and each of the other two marks at the center, where you have ended your gathering sections. Now pull up gathers in each section to fit waistband. Wind the threads around a pin to hold securely, then pin the band and skirt together and baste. Stitch ⅝ inch from edge, working carefully when you come to the pins. Turn band up, turn raw edge under ¼ inch, and baste over stitching on the right side of the skirt. Stitch very close to the fold, keeping the edge of the presser foot along the fold. Watch this, not the needle, as you stitch. Press and fasten the band with snaps or hooks and eyes carefully sewed on (see pp. 157, 159). Pull out all bastings and gathering lines if you wish.

Your last job is the hem. Try on the skirt and have someone mark it for you with a skirt marker or with a yardstick and pins. Turn the hem up all around on the marked line, putting your pins perpendicular to the bottom edge. Be sure you have pinned a careful smooth line and baste close to the bottom edge. Remove the pins and press. Even out the hem by measuring two inches all around from the bottom up to your pin line, using a gauge and mark with tailor's chalk. Cut off all around on this line. Now turn in the top edge of the hem ¼ inch and edge stitch . You do not need a hem binding on a washable cotton. Pin the stitched edge to the skirt, taking tiny little tucks all going in the same direction where there is too much fullness. Baste, remove the pins, and press. Then hem, making your stitches practically invisible on the right side by catching only a thread or two of the material.

Here are four more practice projects that will give you useful additions to your working wardrobe.

A square-bib apron is a real cover-all and a three-way time-saver. It is easy to make, to put on and to iron. Cut crosswise of the goods, it has the bib and skirt in one piece. Shoulder straps can be pulled far apart so you needn't rumple your hair when you slip the apron on. The V-shaped waist piece and the skirt fasten over one easy-to-reach button in the back.

A bias apron is ideal for informal service, church suppers, etc. It should be made of a dainty print or a smart plaid. The whole project requires only a yard and a half of material— one yard for the apron body and an extra half yard for the pocket, straps and band.

Gathers to nip in the waist and a band with ties, applied over the gathers, give shape. A single band holds shoulder straps together in the back so they can't slide. The sash runs through two loops and ties at center back.

A streamlined pinafore is ideal for the woman who hasn't time to iron ruffles. The opening down the back requires only two fastenings, a button at the neck and a tie at the waist. This avoids the usual row of buttons that are awkward to fasten and may scratch furniture. Ample pockets in the gathered part of the skirt are particularly useful.

A double-duty "basket apron" folds up into a large pocket when you pull the drawstring. This is a serviceable round-the-house apron. When you pull the drawstrings you have a basket for carrying clothespins, garden pickings, eggs, or a mess of odds and ends. This apron should be made of sturdy cotton, with strong drawstrings that slip easily through the edge of

the casings. Strong strings or heavy fish line may be used for this purpose. (See p. 43).

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