Harper's Household Handbook: A guide to easy ways of doing woman's work — John Shaqi
Harper's Household Handbook: A guide to easy ways of doing woman's workMcCulloch-Williams, Martha
General
Harper's Household Handbook: A guide to easy ways of doing woman's work
McCulloch-Williams, Martha
Formulas, recipes, etc.; Home economics
=Things Applied:= Lace, insertion, _motifs_, and so on, need to be set
on the cloth and sewed firmly in place, then to have the cloth cut out
underneath. Turn cut edges back and stitch or sew again. Ribbon
trimmings, unless gathered, are best put on by hand, with very long
stitches on the wrong side, very short ones on top. Bands or borders
applied as hems should be sewed on to the edge, turned over it, not flat
with it, then basted down and stitched at the upper edges. Hold true in
sewing on—a pucker or stretching ruins the fit. Miter corners very
neatly, and stitch upon the wrong side. In putting in a fold or piping
baste with the double edge even with the edge of the garment, or the
band, then turn over and baste before stitching. Hold lace a little full
on rounding edges so it shall not hoop nor draw.
Make fancy yokes, put on the collar, then arrange smoothly on the form,
put over the bodice, fit together, and set a thick row of pins where
they are to join. If the bodice edge is finished, pin together—if it is
to be sewn in, leave it free. An overlapping yoke had better have the
bodice cut almost full height, and the surplus cut away after the yoke
is put on.
=Making Over:= Begin making over by refurbishing—cleaning, dyeing,
pressing, turning. Rip, pick out stitches, take out spots, and brush.
=Dyeing:= Dyeing is easy. Use cotton or woolen dyes according to need.
But first wash stuffs very clean. Discharge color by soaking several
hours in suds, or cream-of-tartar solution, boiling half an hour in
clear water, and dye while still hot. Have a roomy dye pot, drop into it
all parts of a garment at once to make the new color uniform. Have the
stuff loosely crumpled, stir down instantly with a clean wooden stick.
Lift after a minute to air, stir down again, and finish according to
directions. Each dye has its own special limitations. Knitted woolens,
as sweaters, caps, and so on, must not be soaked nor boiled, only washed
quickly, covered with clear hot water, let stand a minute, then squeezed
out and put into the pot. Silk should not be washed unless very dirty;
clean with gasolene instead, but wet with clear hot water before dyeing.
If it loses body after washing, dip into stale beer or weak gum water
(see section Renovators) or else stiffen with weak sugar water, and iron
while damp. A black kid glove cut up and boiled in a gallon of water
till reduced one-half makes a good stiffener for black silk, also for
mixtures of silk and wool. This, whether they are dyed or merely washed.
So does stale beer.
Tack lace to strips of cloth before dyeing and leave on them till washed
and pressed. Dyed net had better be partly dried in crumpled heaps after
washing, then stiffened and pressed.
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