=Sewing on a button.= Start with a double thread, and make two stitches one over the other on the right side of the garment. String a button on the needle, to cover starting stitches. Place a pin on top of the button. Sew over it with stitches crossed back and forth through the holes of the button. The stitches should be taken so that the pull of the button will come on the warp threads of the garment. On the wrong side, the stitches should appear in parallel bars lying on the woof or filling thread. On the top of the button, the stitches should cross. Why is it necessary to sew over the pin? Remove the pin and wind thread around the stitches under the button. Finish on wrong side with several finishing stitches. [Illustration: FIG. 32.--The pin prevents the button from being sewed too near the cloth and allows space for buttoning the garment.] EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 1. Practice overcasting. 2. Practice blanket stitch. 3. Practice making buttonhole. _a._ Cutting. _b._ Overcasting. _c._ Buttonholing. _d._ Fan. _e._ Buttonholing. _f._ Bar. 4. Practice sewing on one button at home and making one buttonhole. 5. Bring to school garments which need buttons. Sew the buttons on. LESSON 10 THE USE OF THE COMMERCIAL PATTERN Have you ever bought a real pattern and tried to use it? Marjorie Allen says she thinks sometimes it is quite like a puzzle. Let us learn how to cut our petticoats from a real pattern. [Illustration: FIG. 33.--Learning to cut a free-hand pattern.] =Can you cut a pattern?= Perhaps you have cut patterns for sister's dolls' clothing (Fig. 33). This is probably how you did it. You pinned the paper to the doll's body or held it in place while you cut around the armhole, across the shoulder, under the chin for the curved neck, and then you cut the other shoulder and armhole in the same way. Under the arm you made a slanting cut towards the feet so the dress or apron would be wider at the bottom. Try this if you have never done it. It is good fun. Marjorie dressed a doll for little Alice when she was sick, and cut the pattern in this way. This is a free and easy way to make patterns. Some dressmakers make patterns in this way and do not have to send to the store for a pattern. =Shall we send for a pattern?= Patterns are bought by age or by measure: a nightdress, drawers, or a skirt pattern is ordered for fourteen year age; a shirtwaist for 34 inch bust measure. Patterns sometimes give other measures; a dress skirt may state the waist measure, the length of skirt, and the measure around the hips. For children and for young girls, the patterns can nearly always be bought according to age; but, as some girls are large for their age and some small, Miss James will have to help order the right sizes.