The Little Girl’s Sewing Book
The Little Girl’s
Sewing Book
THE
LITTLE GIRL’S
SEWING BOOK
EDITED BY FLORA KLICKMANN
New York:
Frederick A. Stokes Company, Publishers.
A Word to the Grown-ups.
This book contains lessons in practically all the stitches used in plain needlework, as well as the more useful of the fancy stitches. Each article described and illustrated will be found to contain instructions for some definite branch of sewing; and though all the stitches required in making the article will not necessarily be illustrated in that chapter, they will appear in other chapters, and can easily be referred to, by aid of the comprehensive index.
Things you can
make for Yourself.
A Handy Work Apron.
If you are going to set to work to make some of the pretty articles described in this little book, the little work apron shown in the picture on this page is just the very thing you will need to put on while you are sewing.
It has two deep pockets and two small ones, and you will be able to put the silks and cottons necessary, for whatever it is you are making, into these, so that they will be ready as you want to use them.
THIS HAS FOUR POCKETS
You will find it is so handy, too, to have a pocket to slip your scissors into after cutting your thread. You know what a nasty way they have of slipping off your lap on to the floor. And then, when you pick them up, it is quite likely that you get a little dust on your hands, and this gets on to your pretty work and makes it look soiled.
Then, when your sewing time is ended for the day, how convenient it is to be able to fold your work away in your little work apron, so that it is kept well protected from any stray specks of dust, and will be quite ready for you when next you want it.
So you see how this little apron is going to help you to keep your work nice and clean, and I am sure you will want to make yourself one as quickly as ever you can, so let us see how it is done.
You will only need 1 yard of material to make the apron, and this can be white or coloured as you prefer. A soft linen or sateen would make up well. For the featherstitching use coloured “Star Sylko” thread, as this will wash without the colour running.
To cut out the apron, first measure off 4 inches of the material, and cut across from selvedge to selvedge; this will form the band. The piece used for the apron itself is 32 inches long and 20 inches wide, and when you have cut this you will have a strip left for making the small pockets, which should each be 6 inches square. To make the points at the bottom of the pockets, fold each square right down the centre, measure 1½ inches up the double cut edges, and cut off the corners on the cross to the edge of the centre fold.
GATHERING, STROKING, AND PUTTING INTO A BAND.
Now take the piece you have cut for the apron, and turn a quarter-inch hem along both the sides and one of the ends of this strip, tack these along carefully, and hem neatly. We give directions for tacking and hemming on [page 18].
To form the large double pocket, fold the hemmed end of the strip up 11 inches, and oversew the edges of the side hems together. Directions for oversewing are given on page [page 28]. Now place a tacking line right down the centre of the pocket The small patch pockets should then be added. Turn a quarter-inch hem along the top of each of these, and a single narrow turning round the other edges. Hem one of these on to each side of the large pocket, placing them about 3½ inches down from the top of the large pocket, and 3 inches in from the side edges of the apron.
HOW THE FEATHER-STITCHING IS DONE.
Now take the band strip, tack a single turning round all edges and fold right along the centre. Gather the top of the apron, draw the gathers up tightly (winding the thread round a pin so that it will be ready when you want to let them out again), and carefully stroke down each gathered stitch with your needle to make them set nicely. Now let out the gathers until the apron is 13 inches wide, place the gathered edge between the folded band, taking care that you get the centre of the band and the centre of the apron together, and hem along each side of the work. You will see that you have a little picture showing you exactly how this should be done.
The open edges of the ends of the band should be oversewn together.
When you have finished sewing on your band you will need to put a button on one end and to make a buttonhole in the other end. If you are not quite sure how to make a buttonhole nicely you had better look carefully at the illustrations showing how to do this.
First fold the end of the band, and cut your buttonhole through the fold and exactly in a line with a thread of the material; the buttonhole should be cut just large enough for you to put your button through easily. Before you commence to work the buttonholes make a line of running or “barring” stitches quite close to the edges, to hold them evenly together, as shown in the first part of the little diagram; the second part of the diagram shows another way of holding the edges together by working overcasting stitches over the hole, but this way is more often used when working on thicker materials. The third part of the diagram shows a finished buttonhole, and you will see that one end is worked round and the other square; the outside should be the round one, and the inner end the square one.
THE “BARRING” OVERCASTING, AND THE FINISHED BUTTONHOLE.
Now you are ready to commence to work the buttonhole. Thread a sewing needle with white cotton (say No. 40), make a knot, and just to fasten your thread to your work put your needle in on the wrong side just below the running stitches, at the inner end of the buttonhole, picking up one thickness of material only, and bring it out on the right side of your work between the edges of the buttonhole.
MAKING A BUTTONHOLE.
Buttonholes are always worked on the right side of the work, and are worked from left to right. To make the first stitch (after fastening your cotton on as above), place the needle downwards through the buttonhole, and put it in just where you put it at first, only this time right through both thicknesses of material.
When you have your needle in this position, place your cotton round it exactly as the little illustration shows it placed, pull your needle out, and you will find that you have made a knotted stitch, which must be pulled up so that the knot comes right at the edge of the buttonhole; this completes one stitch, and you must work a row of these stitches right along, making the ends of the stitches even to a thread.
The round end is made in the same way that you do oversewing, and each stitch must be made the same length as the buttonhole stitches, and taken round to form a half-circle at the end of the hole; the lower part of the little illustration shows how the needle is placed for this.
Work the second side in the same way as the first, then for the square end take a couple of ordinary back stitches right over the entire width of the worked buttonhole (from the lower edge of the stitches on one side to the lower edge of the stitches on the other), and work a row of buttonhole stitches across the end of the buttonhole, bringing the knots just over the bar of stitches you have just made across. This completes your buttonhole.
All that now remains to be done is the feather-stitching, and for the little girl who has not attempted this stitch before, we are giving an illustration showing exactly how it should be made.
This is worked from right to left. If you look carefully at the illustration you will see that the thread is always brought round to the front of the needle before making a stitch, and for the upper part a small stitch is taken downwards towards you, and for the lower part a stitch of the same length is taken turning upwards towards you. The feather-stitching should be worked just over the hemming line, and this will serve as a guide for keeping it straight; the bottom of the top stitch should come just above the hemming line, and the top of the lower stitch just below it. The illustration clearly shows where the feather-stitching should be added.
You run and hem from right to left,
You buttonhole from left to right;
Your needle should be rather fine,
And never pull the thread too tight.
[For Ribbons and Bows.]
This is how the Box looks when it is closed.
Isn’t it just too tiresome when you want a particular bow to wear with a blouse, or a little lace collar that is just the right shape, and you look in vain through the drawer where you keep knick-knacks of this description. Then you know how the drawer gets all tumbled over, and you have finally to seize a bow that isn’t a bit the one you wanted, and rush off, to save being late for school. Have you ever been in a fix like that? If you have, you know all about it, and it is all the more annoying when you know all the time that the bow is there somewhere.
Now what is really the trouble here? Why the fact of the matter is the drawer is too big, and the little bow loses itself among the other things in the drawer.
Now what you want is a little compartment where you can keep your bows or collars (as the case may be) all to themselves. A cardboard box inside the drawer won’t last any time. No; the better plan is to make yourself a really pretty box, that can stand on your dressing-table. You see the sweet one illustrated, don’t you? Well, it will be a very simple matter for you to make one in the same way. The outside of this one is covered with a pretty flowered cretonne, of which pink and green are the principal colours, and it is lined with biscuit-coloured sateen. But you would, of course, make your box in the colours that will go best with your little bedroom. A flowered material is probably nicest for the outside, though plain material could be used. In any case, a deep cream is the best colour for the inside of the box.
To make a box the same size as the one here shown, you will want four pieces of thin cardboard 6 inches long by 5½ inches wide for the lid and bottom, four pieces 6 inches by 3 inches for the sides, and four pieces 5½ inches by 3 inches for the ends. Then you will want two pieces of cream sateen 7 inches by 6½ inches, and two pieces of flowered cretonne the same size, two pieces of cream sateen and two pieces of cretonne 7 inches by 4 inches, and two pieces each of sateen and cretonne 6½ inches by 4 inches.
The first step is to cover the cardboard pieces. This must be done very neatly. You will notice that the pieces of material are an inch larger each way than the cardboard they are to cover. When you lay a piece of cardboard on a piece of material there should be ½-inch of material all round, outside the cardboard, for turning over. Crease it over the edges of the cardboard all round, turning it in under again at the corners, as you see in the little picture. Start by taking a few stitches at the first corner, carry your needle on to the next corner, and again take a few firm stitches. When you have done all the corners, take a few long stitches from side to side, as you see in the illustration, to keep it secure.
COVERING A SECTION OF CARDBOARD WITH MATERIAL.
You must now sew the covered pieces together. Take a cretonne-covered piece, place it against a sateen-covered piece of the same size, having the turned-in sides together, and oversew neatly all round. Do this with all the pieces. Now you have six neat little sections, each of which is cream one side and coloured on the other.
Your next task is to oversew five of these sections together to make a box. First sew the two side and two end pieces together, and then sew the bottom piece to all four, taking care that all the cream sides are inside and the coloured sides outside.
Before you sew the lid on, sew cord round all the edges with neat stitches, as you see in the picture. Green cord was used for this box, but you could use whatever colour goes best with your cretonne. Sew cord also round the edge of the lid.
All that now remains to be done is to fasten the lid to the box. This is done by oversewing on the inside the cord on one side of the box to that on the lid. You have now got not only a useful receptacle for your bows, etc., but a very pretty addition to your dressing-table. The size given is a very useful one, but you are not bound to make it this size if any other would suit your purpose better. For instance, if it is to hold handkerchiefs, a box that is square would be a better shape. But whatever size you decide on, see that each piece is cut and joined evenly, as this is most essential if the box is to be really a success.
Such an Advantage!
My scissors used to run away;
My cotton lost itself;
My needlebook would never stay
Upon the mantel-shelf;
My thimble always would forget
To be where I could find it;
My button-box was quite upset
If no one stayed to mind it.
But now a work-bag I have made,
I’m saved no end of worry;
I find my cotton, tape and braid
Without the slightest flurry.
F. K.
The Lambkin Bag.
Doesn’t this make a pretty Shoe-bag!
This pretty bag is made just big enough to take a pair of little girl’s shoes, and would be just the very thing for you to keep at school to put your slippers in when you change them to come home; or you might like to use it to carry your slippers in when you go out to tea.
Do you see the two frisky lambs gambolling on the grass, worked across the bottom of the bag? Don’t you wish that you were like them, and didn’t have to wear shoes that are always wearing out? This little bag was made of dark red sateen, and embroidered with white “Star Sylko” embroidery thread. The bag should be about 7½ inches wide and 10 inches deep, when finished, and to allow for seams and a nice wide hem at the top, you will want to cut a strip of material 8 inches wide and 24 inches long.
It will be best to do your embroidery before you make up the bag, so that you can get at the work better. First fold your strip of material right across the centre, put a tacking line on this fold, and work your lambs just above this.
If you turn to [page 30] you will see how to work the cross-stitch designs, by placing canvas over your material first, and you have the lambs all drawn out for you in this article. Also you will find a whole alphabet of initials for working in cross-stitch on another page.
From the outline designs on this page, you will be able to count the crosses.
When you have finished the embroidery, fold the strip of material in half, with the right side inside, and sew it together at each side with a run and back stitch, leaving about 4 inches open at each side at the top of the back. When you have joined the seams, you must oversew them along the edges on the wrong side as well, so that they will not fray.
Now turn down a 2-inch hem at the top, on both sides of the bag, turning in the side edges of the hems; you can tack down the sides of the hems, so as to keep the edges in, but don’t sew them together just yet.
When you have hemmed the hems, you must put a row of running stitches along each hem, about half-an-inch above your hemming line, to make a runner, so that when you thread your ribbons through they will be held down at the bottom of the hem and not come right up to the top of the bag. Now you can oversew the ends of the hems together, leaving the little space between the running line and the hemming line open, so that you can thread your ribbon through. This part of the work must be done with fine sewing cotton the same colour as your material, as you do not want the stitches to show too much.
If you like you can embroider an even row of white crosses over the stitches on the right side of the bag; this makes a pretty finish.
You can either use red cord or a narrow red ribbon for threading through your bag, and you will want a yard and a half. Cut this into two even lengths.
Then thread a bodkin with one piece, and starting from the left hand side of the bag, thread it right round the bag through the runner you made at the bottom of the hems. When you have got it right through, sew the two ends of the ribbon together, and pull it round from the right side so that the join does not show; this will leave you with a long loop of ribbon hanging from the right side of the bag. Now take the other piece of ribbon and do exactly the same from the left side of the bag.
Now when you pull the loops at each side the bag will draw up nice and evenly at the top.
Here you see what the lambs look like worked on Penelope Canvas. Aren’t they frisky!
The Invalid.
I’m ’fraid I can’t go out to-day,
My baby’s cough is worse;
And if she isn’t better soon
I’ll have to have a nurse,—
Like mother did when I had fever;—
It really isn’t safe to leave her!
This morning when I had my bath,
She tumbled head-first in,
And got herself just soaking wet
Right to her very skin.
She had her shoes and stockings on,
Also her cream serge frock;
And when we found her, nearly drowned,
She’d fainted with the shock!
I’ve made her lots of medicine,
With chocolate cream and water;
But she’s so tiresome, she won’t try
To take it as I taught her.
I’ve put her in the nice new bed
I’ve been so busy making,
With mattresses and underlay,
And feather beds for shaking.
And hem stitched sheets all trimmed with lace,
And blankets edged with blue,
And frills around the pillow case,
A pink silk bedspread too!
I’ve put her newest nightie on,
And made her shut her eyes;
(She does that when she lies down flat
And goes to sleepy byes).
But when I got her medicine
And said, “Now dear, sit up,
And take a teeny little drop
Out of your favourite cup.”
She was a really naughty child,
And simply said, she wouldn’t!
But there—poor thing, she’s just a doll,
So I suppose she couldn’t!
And now I’ll have to say good-bye,
You’ll ’scuse me writing more.
I think I hear the doctor,
Rat-tat-tatting at the door.
F. K.
The Swallow Nightdress Pocket.
THE BIRDS ARE FLYING HOME TO BED.
Isn’t it just lovely to be able to make things all by yourself, without having to wait to be shown what to do next all the time. Mother is sure to be busy just when you want to know how to go on, and not have the time to stop to arrange your work for you. This pretty nightdress pocket can be made out of a long straight strip of material, folded up like an envelope. That sounds quite easy, doesn’t it, and I am sure you have often folded up paper like an envelope, haven’t you? You just divide it into three, and let one end lie over the other like a flap.
You will want about half a yard of white canvas, or linen, to make the pocket, and about 1½ yards of Cash’s Fancy Frilling, to put round the edge of the flap. Also you will need a ball of blue “Brighteye.”
ONE SWALLOW WORKED ON PENELOPE CANVAS.
Now, take a tape measure and measure your material each way. You want to have a strip 30 inches long and 15 inches wide. When you have cut this, measure up 18 inches of the length, and cut 1½ inches off the width of the strip at each side up as far as this, leaving the remaining 12 inches wider, to allow of the deep hem round the flap.
Now turn a 1½ inch hem across the narrow end of your strip of material, hem it along on what will be the inside of the pocket, and fold this end of the strip up to form the pocket, until the lower edge of the hem reaches where the material comes out wider at each side.
AN OUTLINE SWALLOW FOR COUNTING THE CROSSES.
Sew up the side seams with a run and back-stitch, then oversew the edges of the seams together, so that you do not have any frayed edges inside your pocket. The ends of the hem are not joined into the seams at each side, but these are turned in and oversewn to make them neat. This loose hem at the top of the pocket makes it easier for the nightdress to be slipped in and out.
Now you turn in an even hem all round the flap and hemstitch it. Directions for hemstitching are given on [page 30]. You will also find out how to work cross-stitch designs over canvas on [page 26], and you can work your birds in the same way from the diagram given.
You will see that your nightdress pocket would be quite complete without the frill, but this makes a very pretty finish to it. Cash’s Frillings are supplied with a thread that draws up already in, so that you will have no need to gather your frilling but just to draw it up. If you measure round the flap, and then draw your length of frilling up to this size and distribute the fulness evenly all the way along, you can then just oversew the drawn-up edge of the frill to the edge of the hem all round on the wrong side of the flap.
[An Easy-to-make Pinafore.]
A LITTLE GIRL IN HER PINAFORE.
Every little girl would rather make something that is pretty and useful than something that is useful without being pretty. Now here is a very delightful pinafore that you can make for yourself, that is pretty, useful, and also easy.
PUTTING PLEATS INTO A BAND.
The little girl in the picture looks so stylish in her pinafore that you would hardly believe you could so easily make one like it. But look at the picture on [page 19] and you can see better what an easy little pattern it is—just a straight piece of muslin, hemmed and tucked and pleated into a band. This band comes across the chest, the two ribbons are taken over the shoulders, crossed at the back (just like a nurse’s apron straps), and brought round the waist to tie in a bow in front. The pinafore is made of white spotted muslin, trimmed with a sweet little insertion and tucks, and the ribbon used on it is pink. A pinafore like this would brighten up your school frock, and I am sure you are wanting to set to work to make one at once.
You will need a yard of spotted muslin 24 inches wide, a yard of insertion, and two pieces of 1¼-inch pink ribbon each 1¼ yards long. Now ask mother to tell you what length you require from the yoke to the bottom hem, because you want to have your pinafore the right length. The little girl in the picture is eight years old, and she measures 28 inches from where the pleats are put into the band, to the bottom of her pinafore. Then another 3 inches is allowed for turning up the hem, making 31 inches altogether.
MAKING A TUCK.
Now, having cut off this length, the sides have to be hemmed. For this the edges must be folded over twice. The first fold is only enough to turn in the raw edge, the second fold should be ¼-inch wide. Now tack it, so as to keep the turnings straight, by making a long stitch on top and a short stitch underneath.
If you are not sure how to hem, look at the little picture on this page. Put the needle in just under the fold, slant it towards you, and put it through the fold near the edge. Repeat this stitch, taking up only a few threads of material each time.
HOW HEMMING IS DONE.
Having hemmed the sides, make a deep hem at the bottom, first turning down a little fold, and then a deep 2½ inch fold. Tack and hem it.
For the lowest tuck, crease the material 3½ inches from the bottom of the pinafore, and tack it about ½-inch below the crease, to keep the fold in place. Now, we only want our little tuck to be ¼-inch, so just at that distance below the crease, start running it along with tiny stitches as you learned to do for the work apron on [page 4]. To keep the tuck the same size all the way, you might keep testing it with a piece of paper notched in two places—the notches to be ¼-inch apart—the width of your tuck. When you have finished the tuck, take out the tacking stitches and turn the tuck down so that the stitches come at the top and the tuck below them.
THE FINISHED PINAFORE.
Make a second tuck above the first, the bottom of the second to be ½-inch above the top of the first. Make a third tuck, the bottom of which must be 2½ inches above the top of the second, and a fourth, having the bottom ¼-inch above the top of the third. In this way you have two tucks together, then a space, and two more tucks together. On to this space between the pairs of tucks you sew the insertion. Cut off enough to go across the pinafore, allowing a little more at each end to turn in. Tack it, and then when you are sure that it is quite straight, run the insertion along both edges on to the muslin, taking an occasional back-stitch to keep it quite firm.
The top part of the pinafore is now put into a band, which must be as long as your width across the chest. You were shown how to put material into a band on [page 5]. The little difference here, however, is that instead of gathering the material, you pleat it. Mark the centre both of the band and the material to be pleated into it, with a pin. Turn three little pleats on each side of the centre of the material. On the little girl in the picture these pleats are each ¼-inch wide, but you must test carefully and get them the size just to fit the band. The picture at the top of [page 18] shows pleats being put into a band.
Now sew on to the band a little length of insertion, as you did at the bottom. At each end of the top of the band, however, leave about ¾-inch of insertion not sewn to the band. This makes two tiny pockets into which you can slip the pink ribbon afterwards, and you can then sew the ribbon and insertion through to the band. Then, as you won’t want to have the pink ribbon washed as often as you do the pinafore, you simply have to take out those few stitches each time the pinafore goes to be washed. Besides, you may not always want to wear pink. With some dresses you may prefer to have pale blue ribbon, or heliotrope, or even red. Whatever colour you choose, sew it into the pockets, and your pinafore is ready for wear.
The Pink Sun-bonnet.
A sun-bonnet—what does it make you think of? Doesn’t it remind you of your last summer holiday—the country, the birds, the flowers? Close your eyes and try to imagine it. Can’t you almost feel the heat, and hear the hum of the insects, and hear, too, the rattle of the pails, as you used to hear it when Maggie, the rosy-cheeked milk maid, wearing her pretty lilac sun-bonnet, went down to milk Brindle and Beauty and Cherry. You thought that sun-bonnet looked so pretty, and kept the sun from Maggie’s head and neck so beautifully, and you wished you had one too. You will wish it again, when you go to the country for your next holiday, and I expect you will want one when you are working in the sun in your own garden at home.
THE SUN-BONNET READY FOR WEAR.
Suppose, therefore, you start to make a sun-bonnet for yourself. This one, that is shown in the picture, is really very easy to make. It is of a pretty pink print, with tiny flowers on it. But perhaps your favourite colour is not pink. Probably, you want a lilac one. Whatever colour you decide on, get ½-yard of print that shade, and you are ready to start.
Cut off 18 inches along the full length of the print, and hem along one edge. About 1 inch from the hem make a ¼-inch tuck, and 1 inch from this, another tuck. Now fold your print in half, and join up the two edges for the back of the bonnet with a French seam, which is described in the chapter on “Dolly’s Underwear.”
Your sun-bonnet is now rather square in shape. To get it rounded at the back, take hold of the point and draw it down a little way on to the seam at the back. There catch it with a few stitches.
No sun-bonnet is complete without a frill, so the next thing is to sew this on. Cut off 18 inches of print 5 inches wide, hem along one side and both ends. Gather the other side, and draw it up until it is the length of the bottom edge of the bonnet beyond the second tuck. Sew it on the inside to the bonnet edge, leaving a little piece of the edge above the gathered piece. Turn in the edge, and hem it over the seam. This makes it quite neat. The edges along where the frill does not come are also hemmed up.
For the strings, cut off two lengths of 14 inches, each 1½ inches wide. Hem each side and one edge. Turn the opposite edge in, and sew it neatly to the inside of the bonnet.
Your sun-bonnet is now finished, and you will be able to ask nurse to put it into the trunk the next time she is packing to take you to stay at the farm. Won’t Maggie be surprised when you arrive with a bonnet like hers, only just a few sizes smaller!
[A Red Satin Housewife.]
THE NEEDLE-CASE CLOSED.
What a tiresome way needles have of getting lost, haven’t they, and even whole packets of needles have a trick of disappearing nobody knows where. Every little girl who does any sewing really needs some safe place in which to keep her needles. This little housewife, which is shown both open and closed, is just the thing. You can stick odd needles in the flannel, and slip packets of needles in the pocket at the end. If you always remember to do this, you cannot very easily get them mislaid, and the little red housewife will be quite a friend to you. And what is more, it is not difficult to make.
THE DOUBLE FEATHER-STITCHING.
To make one exactly like that in the picture, you want a piece of crimson satin, 12½ inches long by 3¾ inches wide, a piece of white flannel, 10 inches long by 2¼ inches wide, some crimson embroidery silk, salmon pink embroidery silk, some crimson sewing silk, and a pearl button.
The Housewife When Open.
First lay your flannel on the wrong side of the satin. If you put it on quite straight, you will find there is ¾-inch of red showing each side of the flannel, and 1¼ inch at each end. At each side turn down a hem of satin, so that it comes over the edge of the flannel. Tack and hem it. Now turn down and hem each end in the same way. You will have wider hems here.
Having hemmed the satin to the flannel all round (taking care that the stitches do not go right through to the right side of the satin), turn down 2 inches at one end, to make the little pocket you see in the picture, sewing it neatly at each side with oversewing stitches. Oversew also the open ends of the opposite hem.
Now you know how to feather-stitch, don’t you, or if you do not, you will see on [page 5] how it is done. Work single feather-stitch with salmon pink silk down each side and end of the housewife. The inside is now divided up into four divisions, by double feather-stitch worked in crimson. This is worked in the same way as single feather-stitch, only that you take first two stitches one way and then two the other, instead of one each way. A little piece of double feather-stitching has been separately worked for you to see how it is done.
At the end opposite the pocket, make a loop in red silk of two threads, covered with blanket stitch. This is described in the chapter on “Dolly’s Bed.”
Now, starting at the pocket end, fold the needle-case over and over, and just opposite where the loop comes, sew a little pearl button, and the housewife is finished, and quite ready for you to stick your needles in.
You can use silk quite as well as satin for your housewife, and if you like any other shade better than red, make it of your favourite colour.
Presents you can make for People.
A Feeder in Cross-Stitch.
BABY WILL LIKE THE THREE HAPPY DOGS.
Here is a pretty little feeder for baby that you will be able to make all by yourself. I expect mother will be only too pleased to help you to get the materials. You will want about half-a-yard of some soft white washing material, a small quantity of Penelope canvas, a ball of coloured “Brighteye” embroidery thread, and three-quarters of a yard of a narrow silk ribbon.
Do you see the three happy little dogs running after each other across the bottom of the feeder? These are worked in cross-stitch, also baby’s name in the centre.
If you haven’t yet done any cross-stitch, you had better first look at the little illustration on [page 26], and see exactly how it is done, before commencing to cut out your feeder.
Just for practice, take a small square of canvas, and thread a crewel needle with the embroidery thread. Bring your needle up through one of the large holes in the canvas, count over two canvas threads to the right, and two upwards, put your needle in this hole, and pick up two threads towards the left. Pull your thread through, and this will give you the first part of the cross. Now put your needle in the hole two threads to the right of the hole you started from, and bring it up through the hole two threads to the left of the first hole, as shown in the second part of the little illustration.
MAKING THE CROSSES ON THE CANVAS.
This, as you will see, completes the first cross, and brings the thread ready to make a second one in the same way.
The lower part of the illustration shows the dog’s tail commenced, and how you should place your needle when you want to make a cross on the slant below. One thing you should be very careful about when working in cross-stitch: see that the threads are always crossed in the same direction, and not sometimes one way and sometimes another. Your work will look so much better if this rule is always followed.
When you feel quite sure you can work the crosses evenly, you can cut out the feeder. Perhaps you may like first to cut it out in paper. Take your tape measure and measure off a piece of paper 12 inches long and 11 inches wide. Fold this right down the centre, the longest way. Measure two inches down the fold and two inches up the cut edges from one end, and cut round from points A to B, as shown in the little diagram. This will give you a curve for baby’s neck. Now measure down an inch on the long outer edges, and cut from point B on the slant to this point, which we will call C.
DIAGRAM FOR CUTTING OUT THE FEEDER.
Now that you have a paper pattern, you will be able to place this over your material and cut it from this. You will want to have two pieces exactly alike, so that you can use one to line the feeder.
We have now come to the interesting part of working the little dogs. Tack a strip of canvas along the bottom of the right side of one of the pieces you have just cut out; the dogs are nine crosses high, so the strip should be wide enough to take the design and leave a few extra threads of canvas above and below. It is best to commence with the centre dog, starting the centre cross of the design in the centre hole of the canvas, you will then be sure of getting it right in the middle. When working the other dogs, leave 16 threads of canvas between the middle one and each of these. You will then have your three little dogs at equal distances apart, and there will be no chance of their catching each other up! Canvas must be placed across the centre for the name in the same way.
ONE OF THE CROSS-STITCH DOGS.
From the illustrations of the dog and the letters, you will easily be able to count the crosses, and see how they are placed. If baby’s name is not May, and you want to work another name, designs for a whole alphabet appear on another page.
When you have worked all your designs, the canvas threads must be pulled away. Cut the canvas down fairly close to the embroidery, and pull out the threads one by one. Baby’s name is shown with all the threads of the ‘Y’ pulled out, and the ‘A’ as it looks when only the cross threads have been pulled away.
To make up the feeder, place the plain portion of the feeder over the embroidered one, with the right sides facing one another, and run round all the edges about a quarter of an inch in from the edge, leaving only the curved neck edges open. A running stitch, with a back-stitch put in now and then, is the best for this, as this will hold it firm. Turn the feeder out on the right side, then turn in the neck edges and oversew them together. How the oversewing stitch is made is shown in the little illustration on this page. Hold the edges to be joined together firmly in your left hand, and work from right to left, always putting your needle in slanting just as the little picture shows, and taking up about a couple of threads of the material from each of the edges you are joining together.
MAKING OVER-SEWING STITCHES.
The piece of work in the illustration has been flattened out, in order that you may see the stitches more clearly; but when you are oversewing you will hold the two pieces together with the thumb and first finger of your left hand, oversewing the top of the two edges.
Now cut your length of ribbon in half, and sew one piece to each end of the neck of the feeder, so that it can be tied round baby’s neck when she wants to take her food.
This shows how to pull the Canvas away after the Cross-Stitch is done.
Cats on a Chair Back.
Here is a very pretty thing that you will be able to make for Mother. How amused she will be, when she sees these two funny cats sparring at each other, and how nice the Chair Back will look hanging over the back of father’s chair, where he puts his head.
The Chair Back is hemstitched at each side and across each end, so before we commence to make it we will find out how to do this stitch.
Shall we take a small piece of linen and try and copy the little picture we have of the stitch just for practice? When you have tacked a hem along, draw out five of the horizontal threads of your linen, just beneath the edge of the hem.
They don’t look very pleased to meet, do they?
Now for the stitch itself. Hemstitching is always done on the wrong side of your piece of work, and the stitch is worked from right to left. Thread your needle with linen thread or a fairly coarse crochet cotton, and fasten the end of it to the commencement of the hem.
Now look how the needle is placed in the top part of the picture, and put yours in in the same way. Place it under four of the open threads, then pull your needle through, which draws these four threads up closely together. Then make a small upright stitch up through the hem, placing your needle as shown in the second part of your illustration. These two stitches are repeated all the way along. This is the simplest form of hemstitching, and is what is used on the sides of the Chair Back.
SHOWING HOW HEM-STITCHING IS DONE. SERPENTINE STITCH IS ILLUSTRATED AT THE BOTTOM.
For ladder hemstitching you work along the other side of the open threads, just as above, taking the same group of threads. When working on coarse linen, or canvas, two or three threads need only be picked up each time, all that really matters is that you keep to the same number all the way along.
A FINISHED CORNER.
The stitch we have across the ends of our Chair Back is called serpentine stitch, and the small piece of canvas at the bottom of the picture shows how to work this. The first side is worked as in the simple hemstitching, taking up four threads each time, but in working the second side four threads are again taken up, but the needle is here put between the threads taken up on the opposite side.
When you want to turn a corner in hemstitching a square cloth, you first draw your threads out where the edge of your hem is to come each way; then you fold the material on the wrong side diagonally through the corner, turn the pointed end in until the point reaches the open threads, make a crease, turn the point back and backstitch along the crease. You have a little picture showing just where the backstitching is done. After this cut off the point beyond the backstitching, turn the corner inside out, and you have a neat little seam going diagonally from the corner to the edge of your hem (as in illustration).
DOING THE BACK-STITCHING ALONG THE CREASE.
You will find that these simple forms of hemstitching will be very useful to you in making all kinds of things.
To make the chair back you will want a strip of white Hardanger canvas, a yard long and about 17 inches wide; this will allow for the hems.
First measure up five inches from each end, and draw out four threads of canvas across each end, then draw out two threads at each side, about three-quarters of an inch in from the set of open threads at one end to the other; you will have to cut the threads at each end. Now tack all the hems along; you can turn in the ends of the wide hems and oversew them together.
Hemstitch the side hems in simple hemstitching, taking up three threads of canvas each time, and the wide hems in the serpentine stitch, taking two threads of canvas each time; you will remember to take the alternate sets on the second side.
Now you have only to embroider the cats. These are worked in cross-stitch, using “Peri-lusta” Pearl Knit, size 5. Shade No 249 is a pretty red that would do beautifully. Directions for working cross-stitch on canvas are given on [page 26], and you will be able to copy the cats from the enlarged designs given below.
THE TOM CAT——
If you fold the chair back right down the centre, and start the whiskers of the cats four threads on each side of this line, they will be about the right distance apart. The bristles on the legs and tails are made by working half crosses, and those on the back by making long single strokes, the length of two crosses.
The whiskers of the cat extend the length of three crosses. Three threads of the Hardanger canvas are allowed for each cross. On the material used for the chair back in your picture, each cross worked out at about an eighth of an inch across, but if the canvas you are using happens to be a coarser one, you may perhaps find your crosses work out much larger, in which case you must go over two threads each time so as to get your animals the right size for the chair back.
——AND HIS ENEMY.
Perhaps you would rather not make your chair back of Hardanger canvas at all, but would prefer to use linen, or some material that has not got wide even threads; this is not easy to count when working your crosses. In that case you must first tack Penelope canvas over your work, and embroider the cats over this; the enlarged designs in your pictures were worked on Penelope canvas, and you can see what nice large holes it has, and how easy it is to work on. And when you have finished the designs you just cut away the canvas quite close to the design, and pull the threads of canvas out of the crosses. You can put cross-stitch on to any material in this way.
[A Hardanger Handkerchief Sachet.]
Have you thought yet what you are going to make Mother for her birthday present? How would you like to work her a handkerchief sachet in Hardanger Embroidery? You don’t know how? Well, if you follow this little talk very carefully, I think you will soon learn.
THE FINISHED SACHET.
What is Mother’s favourite colour? Rose Pink? Very well; how delighted she will be with what you are going to make!
What to get for the Sachet.
Can’t you take Mother shopping with you one day, because you will want to buy a few little things for the sachet. You will want a piece of Congress Canvas—cream or white—a square 12 inches each way, a ball of Ardern’s “Star Sylko” No. 744, size 5, a square of white silk the same size as the canvas for lining the sachet, a crewel needle, 3 yards of pink ribbon half-an-inch wide. (The best kind to get is a silk ribbon having threads running through, that you pull and draw the ribbon up into a ruche. This saves you all the trouble of running a thread through to make a ruche). You also want a little pink sewing silk, some white sewing silk, a pair of sharp scissors with points, and, of course, your thimble.
How to Start.
First, make sure your canvas is perfectly even all round, 12 inches on each side. When cutting it, be careful to cut between the same threads all the way down. Turn in about a quarter of an inch all round very carefully, and tack it. [Fig. 1] shows the edge being tacked. When you come to a corner, just turn in again the end of the second side, to make it quite neat. You will see in [Fig. 1] what I mean.
Fig. 1.
With the Pink Thread.
The tacking done, the pretty work begins. Thread your crewel needle with the “Sylko.” At one corner count 24 threads in from each side. The hole just where these threads cross is your starting point. Now leave 3 holes below, and in the 4th bring your needle up from underneath for a satin stitch. You will see how to do this stitch in making the doll’s bedspread ([page 67]), only as you are using a different kind of canvas here, you leave 3 holes instead of one. Make 4 of these stitches. Leave 3 holes, and into the 4th start another little block of satin stitches. Do 4 of these little blocks. This brings you to the corner. [Fig. 2] shows the little blocks.
