_To make a Frock._ The best way for a novice, is, to get a dress fitted (not sewed) at the best mantuamaker's. Then take out a sleeve, rip it to pieces, and cut out a pattern. Then take out half of the waist, (it must have a seam in front,) and cut out a pattern of the back and fore-body, both lining and outer part. In cutting the patterns, iron the pieces, smooth, let the paper be stiff, and, with a pin, prick holes in the paper, to show the gore in front, and the depth of the seams. With a pen and ink, draw lines from each pinhole, to preserve this mark. Then baste the parts together again, in doing which, the unbasted half will serve as a pattern. When this is done, a lady of common ingenuity can cut and fit a dress, by these patterns. If the waist of a dress be too tight, the seam under the arm must be let out; and in cutting a dress, an allowance should be made, for letting it out, if needful, at this seam. The lining of the fore-body must be biased. The linings for the waists of dresses should be stiffened cotton or linen. In cutting bias-pieces, for trimming, they will not set well, unless they are exact. In cutting them, use a long rule, and a lead pencil or piece of chalk. Welting-cords should be covered with bias-pieces; and it saves time, in many cases, to baste on the welting-cord, at the same time that you cover it. The best way to put on hooks and eyes, is to sew them on double broad tape, and then sew this on the frock-lining. They can then be moved easily, and do not show where they are sewed on. In cutting a sleeve, double it biased. The skirts of dresses look badly, if not full; and in putting on lining, at the bottom, be careful to have it a very little fuller than the dress, or it will shrink, and look badly. All thin silks look much better with lining, and last much longer, as do aprons, also. In putting a lining to a dress, baste it on each separate breadth, and sew it in at the seams, and it looks much better than to have it fastened only at the bottom. Make notches in selvedge, to prevent it from drawing up the breadth. Dresses, which are to be washed, should not be lined.