SEWING AND FELLING. The work for sewing is thus prepared: the two selvages are placed together, or if there are no selas the raw edge of one piece is turned down once, and the edge of the other piece is turned down ole tho’width, and then half the width is turned back again for the fell. The two pieces are pinned tested together, with the parts turned down face to face, and held firmly between the finger and thumb the thread is fastened on by pressing the end carefully into the seam with the needle, and working over it. The stitches should be just deep enough to keep the parts strongly together; they should also lie in a slanting direction, at even distances from each other. When the seam is sewn, the finger should be placed under it, while the thumb nail flattens it down. Turn the work on the other side, and fell the seam just the same as in hemming. MANTUA-MAKERS' HEMMING. This is often used instead of sewing, for bags and sleeves that have no linings, or skirts of petticoats, &c., and the work is prepared as follows. Lay the raw edge of one piece a little below that of the other, then turn the upper edge over the lower, twice, as in hemming, and fell it securely down. STITCHING. Having observed that your work is quite even, turn down a piece to stitch to, count twelve or fourteen threads from the edge, and draw a thread to stitch upon. In stitching, take two threads back, and pass the needle so as to come out from under two before. Join on a fresh piece of thread by passing the needle between the edges, and bringing it out where the last stitch left off. GATHERING. Observe that the part going to be gathered is cut evenly and straight. Divide the piece into half, and then into quarters, putting pins at the divisions as marks; do the same with the piece to which it is to be gathered, by which means the fulness will be equal. Begin about twelve or fourteen threads from the top, take up three threads on your needle and miss four, more or less according to the fulness required: when a quarter is done, draw the gatherings pretty closely, and secure the thread by twisting it round a pin; then stroke the gathers nicely down, one at a time, with a large needle, so as to make them lie closely and evenly together. Afterwards, untwist the thread from the pin, and loosen the gathers till you have made the quarter gathered, correspond with the quarter to which it is to be sewn. Fasten the thread again firmly to a pin, and sew the gathers strongly on, one at a time, letting the stitches take a slanting direction, so as to slip between the gathers. RUNNING. The work for running must be prepared by putting the two edges exactly together, if they are both selvages; but if they are raw edges and afterwards to be felled, one raw edge must be turned down once, and the other laid upon it a few threads from the top. It should be run about six threads below the turned down part. Take three threads and leave three, and back-stitch occasionally, to keep the work firm. DOUBLE GATHERING OR PUFFING. PLATE 1. FIG. 3, 4. Double gathering or puffing is sometimes used in setting on frills, and gives a very neat finished ap pearance; it is done in the following manner. Gather your frill at the top, in the usual way, and stroke it strongly down; then gather it again below the first gathering, according to the depth of the puffing you wish to make, about half an inch, more or less according to fancy, and sew on the first gathering to the dressing-gown, frock, or whatever you wish to trim, at a distance that corresponds with the width of the puffing: the second gathering is to be sewn to the edge of the dress, so that the part between the two gatherings forms a full hem. Some people make three gatherings, and proceed in the same way, forming the two full hems or puffings. It is usually put on straight, but sometimes in sewing on, the hem is drawn obliquely, or to one side, which makes a little variety, and when there are three gatherings, one hem is drawn to one side, and the other to the opposite one, but this requires much exactness to do it equally. lie GERMAN HEMMING. German hemming or felling is a neat substitute for sewing, where it is desirable that the seam should very flat; it is sometimes employed with great advantage for sleeves, and even in the long seams of shifts. It is quite as strong as the old method of a seam and fell, and looks better, as it is all done on the wrong side. Turn down the raw edges of both your pieces of cloth once, (having them both turned down next you,) and lay one below the other, so that the smooth top of the lower one does not touch the edge of the upper one, but is just below it, then hem or fell the lower one to the cloth against which it is laid, still holding it before you, as you had prepared it, which is exactly like hemming upside down. When you have got to the end of your seam, open your sleeve, or whatever you are doing, and lay the upper fold over the lower edge, which you must then fell neatly down, and it is completed. WHIPPING. The edge for whipping should be cut particularly smooth, and divided into halves and quarters; the muslin is then rolled very tightly with the left thumb upon the finger, about ten threads from the edge. The cotton with which you whip should be very strong and even, and the needle should be stuck in on the outside, and brought out on the inside, the needle pointing towards your chest. Take the stitches very evenly, and so as to draw easily. Draw the whipping up to the width of the piece to which it is going to be sewn; pin it down, and sew it firmly, holding the whipping towards you, and letting the stitches lie athwart, so as to be hidden between the whips. If you stroke whipping with a large pin or needle, in the same way as in gathering, it adds much to its neat appearance in setting on, and makes it more easy to do. BUTTON-HOLES. Cut the button-hole with a chisel (or the proper scissors made for that purpose) by a thread, the same size as the width across the button. In holding the work, let the button-hole lie lengthwise along the fore-finger. Begin at the side opposite the thumb farthest from the point of the finger. Put the needle in through the wrong side of the hole, and bring it out five threads down on the right. The stitch is made by putting the needle through the loop of the thread before it is drawn close. Observe that you keep your work evenly by the thread, and do not turn the corners too soon; the needle should be put in between every two threads, else the work will not be thick enough. It has a neat effect to stitch all round the button-hole. HERRING-BONING. PLATE L PIG 7. A. This is a witch generally used for flannels and other woollens, also, for carpets, druggets, windowblinda, &c. when a hem would be thick and clumsy from being turned down twice; whereas in herringboning the edge is turned down only once, and lies flat and more compact. Tum the work down once evenly, first cutting off any woollen fuzz at the raw edge which looks untudy, and then beginning to work from the left of your piece of work towards the right, take a stitch of two or three threads close under the raw turned-down edge, then put in your needle half way up the turmed-down part, and four or five threads towards the right hand, and make another stitch of three threads; bring down the needle, and make another stitch as before under the raw edge, still working a few threads each time farther to the right hand, and so on forming a stitch something like the backbone of a fish, and therefore termed herring-bone. This same stitch done on muslin with fine cord or braid is very ornamental, and is often used at the tops of hems or bodies of infants' robes. The stocking or work should be held across the first and second fingers of the left hand. In beginning to damn, the needle should be held pointed from the chest. The work should be begun a few threads before the hole, or even the thin place, to give a firmer hold to the cotton. Take one thread and leave one, alternately till the row is complete; afterwards, point the needle towards the chest, and take up the intermediate threads which were left before. The cotton must not be drawn tight, as it is apt to shrink in washing, therefore a loop should be left at each end. Continue darning backwards and forwards till the hole and thin parts are covered, afterwards begin to darn cross-wise, being particularly careful to avoid splitting the threads or pulling the loops tight. Sone people make a point of running the feet of new stockings all over, which is very advisable for men and boys who wear boots, as it preserves them much longer. There are a variety of stitches in darning, some of which have a very neat appearance, among others the following: Take up 1 thread and leave 2 Table linen, when darned, looks neater if the work is done in some pattern; thus, a diamond or circle looks more tidy than an irregular patch of darning. ON MENDING A CRACK. In taking up a crack in a stocking, fasten the thread firmly on, and then take the two half loops which are next each other on one side of the crack, upon the needle, and having drawn the thread through them, do the same on the other side, making the half loop, which was last taken up on either side, the first of the next stitch. ON TAKING UP A LADDER. A ladder is caused by the fall or dropping of a stitch, which it is necessary to pick up as soon as possible, by putting the needle into the loop that has fallen, and drawing the bar immediately above through the loop, thus the bar becomes a loop in its turn, and the next bar above is in like manner drawn through it, till all are taken up, when the last loop is well secured and darned over. ON MAKING BUTTONS. Cover your piece of wire with a square piece of calico, which you must double over the corners, and sew firmly in the middle; afterwards stitch the button round close to the wire, or else work over the wire the button-hole stitch, and in the centre, work a little regular star to set it off. ON MAKING TUCKS. Tucks should be very even; for this purpose, have a bit of card on which is notched the depth of each tuck, and also the space between them. Tucks should be run firmly in small regular stitches, constantly taking a back-stitch as you go on. MARKING. In marking, two threads are generally taken each way. There are three ways in which the needle is passed before the stitch is perfect. One is aslant from you towards the right hand; the second is straight downwards towards you; the third is across or aslant from you towards the left hand, taking care to bring out the needle at that corner of the stitch nearest the one you are going to make. The generality of markers make the first stitch aslant twice over, to make it clearer before proceeding onwards; thus, in Plate 1, Fig. 2, the thread, being brought out at A, passes across to B, and out again at A; again, across to B, and out at C; then, aslant to D, and out again at B, ready to proceed to the next stitch. Where there are two or three letters to be marked, the thread should be neatly fastened off at the end of each letter and not carried on from one to the other. Two or four threads are left between the letters, according to the quality of the article to be marked. In linen, eight threads are generally left. In gentlemen's families, house linen is either marked with the gentleman's initials, or else with those of the lady's christian name added to the gentleman's full initials, his christian name coming first: thus, supposing Edward Montagu's wife is named Louisa, the initials would be E. L. M., afterwards the name of the cloth and the number are marked thus: E. L. M. G. C. 8 .37. signifying, Edward Louisa Montagu, Glass Cloth, Number 8, 1837. There are many pretty marking patterns for samplers, flat canvass pincushions, or needle-books. In noblemen's families, the marks are surmounted by coronets. There are also two other kinds of marking; the one is the same stitch as that above described, but differing in the form of the letters, which are in writing or Italian characters; this may best be done by copying written letters accurately: the other kind of marking is, by making the letters perfectly straight, as in printing, and instead of the marking stitch, working them in small oylet holes. In Plate 1, Fig. 1, the sampler drawn gives an accurate idea of the canvass, and the shape of all the letters in the different alphabets. The first alphabet is that in most general use; the second contains the small letters; the third is a correct representation of the Italian characters, which are much used for marking pocket handkerchiefs and other fine articles of dress; the fourth and last is quite a fancy stitch, and rarely employed. The oylet holes are formed by working in small stitches round each square, about four stitches in the four corners, and four intermediate stitches between, are necessary to form each oylet hole. PIPING Is a neat mode of finishing capes, sleeves at the wrist, waistbands, tops of bodies, &c., and is sewn on in the following way. Cut crosswise strips of silk, (or whatever other material you are piping with,) sufficiently wide to admit well the cord, run these strips neatly together, to make them of a proper length for the piping you want. Some people run the silk on the cord first, before sewing it to the piece of work; others, however, merely lay the cord neatly inside the silk, which is then placed on the edge of the work to which it is piped, so that the two raw edges of the strip of silk enclosing the cord should lie on the raw edge of the work; the three thicknesses are then all firmly run together, the stitches being made just below the cord. When it is sewn on, the raw edges are pressed inwards, so as to make the cord set at the edge. The lining is then neatly put in, which covers these edges and makes all look tidy. PLAITING. Care should be taken that the plaits lie evenly one against another, and that they are of the same size, especially in frills, sleeves, &c. In double plaiting, the plaits lie both ways, and look very handsome and full in frills: it requires great care to do them evenly, without which they will not look well. ON LINING SLEEVES, BAGS, &c. After cutting out the lining exactly the same size as the sleeve, fold it very carefully, so as to make the raw edges lie exactly one on the other; do the same with the sleeve, taking care to fold the wrong side outwards. Place the lining on the sleeve and pin them evenly together; after which, run all the four thicknesses strongly down the seam. Put your hand in the sleeve, and turn it inside out, drawing the lining inside; the seam is then quite neat, both inside and outside, as the stitches lie between the lining and the outer silk. The same should be done with bags, and any other thing that will admit of it. ON BRAIDING. This work can scarcely come under the head of plain work, still, as children's dresses are so much ornamented with it, a few observations may be useful. The very fine flat braid should be used, as it looks so much neater than that which is thick; it is sold in knots. Silk braids look well on silk, merino, or muslin; but cotton is the best for jean, prints, or stuffs. The pattern should be drawn on silver paper, which is tacked on the piece of work, and the braid worked on it with the same coloured sewing silk, as thread washes white. To sew on silk braid, you should use the silk drawn out of the braid, as it is finer and more even, and will match the colour better than any other you can procure: cut off, therefore, a bit the length of a needleful, to keep for the purpose of unroving. If you want to take the pattern of a piece of work upon paper, place some letter paper on the work, and while holding it firmly, rub the paper well with half a nutmeg, which will mark the pattern correctly, and sufficiently distinct on the paper to admit of its being inked afterwards. Two shades of braid sewn close together have a pretty effect. BIASSING. In biassing, the first part of the stitch resembles gathering, and after stroking in down with a large needle or pin, you lay, upon the right side of the gathers, a thread very much thicker than that you are |