How to practice stitching Mark some straight and curved lines on your piece of material. (Paper may also be used but it dulls the needle; material is best.) Roll the balance wheel to lower the needle at the end of one of the lines. Lower the presser foot and start the machine. Slowly stitch the entire line (without thread), guiding your material so the needle follows the line as much as possible. Practice stitching along a marked line without thread, going backward and forward with both small and large stitches. [Illustration: {Practice stitching}] When you can control the speed of the machine and stitch straight, you have learned some important secrets of mother’s sewing. Soon you will be ready to start on your first project. How to thread the machine Would you like to be able to thread the machine as easily as your leader threads it? Ask her to do it very slowly for you so you can learn it from her. Watch closely as she hooks the thread onto every finger of each thread guide until she finally reaches the needle. She will also show you where the bobbin hides (remember this is the flat spool in the lower part of the machine) and how you will get its thread to the top of the machine. After you have threaded the machine be sure to have your leader check it before you try to sew. If you want the machine to “work like magic” you will have to have it threaded correctly. Stitching with a threaded machine You have probably learned how to follow a marked line very well by this time. It is also important to see that you will be able to do as well when you actually stitch with thread. Enjoy good sewing habits Hint number 1 The first important hint to know is—“Join the Clean Clan Club” whenever you sew! [Illustration: {Cleanliness}] Hands freshly washed and nails clean, too will help keep your projects looking like new. Clean clothes—“a must” while handling cloth, for fear some dust and grime may rub off. Last of all—your table must gleam to protect nice materials from soil unseen. So—_Clean Hands, Clean Clothes, Clean Table_, too, is an important trick for you. Hint number 2 “The Clean Clan Clubs” can boastful be of unsoiled projects, delightful to see. But here’s another hint for you— to keep you from wrinkling your fabrics so new. Your lap’s too small and too far away to hold your project by night or by day. But—your table clean would love to hold the bulk of that fabric, while you pin that fold. [Illustration: {Sewing at a table}] So,—trick number 2, in this sewing trade is—_work on a table_ to get your projects made. Hint number 3 Here’s one last, special hint for you— and something easy we would like you to do.