Welcome to my blog about Home Arts Needlecraft Magazine! I "discovered" this publication about 2 years ago and fell in love with it to the extent that I had to start collecting issues as I ran across them. The magazine began publication with its September, 1909 premier issue, and continued through March, 1941. It has been interesting to follow the changes through the 30 plus years the magazine was published. It is a great source for needlework, fashion, recipes and short stories. Through my journey of sharing my issues online, I hope to discover a pattern of what was popular in different forms of needlecraft over the 3 decades. I hope you enjoy my blog as much as I am (so far!) enjoying posting articles and projects from the issues. Thanks for visiting!

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Art of Dressing

By Dora Douglas
November, 1912, Page 6
 
Pattern No. 5442 is a very practical coat for any season of the year.  It has a seam each side of front and back, extending to the shoulder, the regulation two-piece coat-sleeve, and a smart, long sailor-collar, seamed at the shoulder.  For medium size, 3 7/8 yards of 36-inch, or 2 ¾ yards of 50-inch material would be required.  Wool material should be sponged to prevent shrinking and spotting with rain.  Three-quarters of a yard of 24-inch satin will face the collar, as illustrated.
To cut, lay the back, neckband, and the back section of the collar, with the edges having triple perforations along a lengthwise fold of the goods, and arrange the remaining pieces with the line of three small perforations to each exactly lengthwise of the goods.  Be sure to cut all the notches.  After cutting the pieces, cut extra fronts by the front pattern for the inside of the coat.  Mark the center-front perforations on the cloth, and also the sleeve-perforations.
The front of the coat will require an interlining, one yard of French canvas or tailor’s canvas, 27 inches wide.  Use the front and side-front pattern pieces to cut it, making the front full length, and just like the pattern, but cutting the side-front off at the waistline notch at front edge and then sloping it up two inches below the armhole at underarm edge.  Figure 1 will give you a very good idea of the shaping.  The canvas must be shrunk before cutting.
Arrange the canvas fronts under the cloth fronts and baste to position.  Then baste the seams, beginning with the side-front and side-back, and then shoulder and underarm.  Three-eighths inch is allowed for seaming.  Try the coat on, lapping right front over left so the center-front perforations will be together, and see that the waistline notches are in place.  If the seams need to be taken in, make the alterations carefully so as to preserve the straight lines of the coat.  The hips should be snug, without being tight, but the waist must be free and scarcely fitted to the figure at all.  If long in the waist, take up at the shoulder, and clip the under part of the armhole.  The armhole must be straight at the back, not rounded out between shoulders, and should be kept as small as can be comfortably worn.
Keep the shoulder-seam well toward the back to avoid a round-shoulder effect.  Padding may be necessary to fill a hollow at the front of the armhole or under the arm.  Cotton flannel, laid in layers, as many as necessary, will be found useful for this purpose.  Let the layers graduate in size, so two edges will come together.  However, the padding will not be done until the seams are stitched; but it must be considered at the time of fitting.
After fitting, remove the canvas and baste the alterations – then try on again.  If satisfactory, stitch the seams.  Do not stitch the canvas pieces together in the ordinary way, but lap the side-front edges one over the other, and then stitch.  Clip the seams, especially at waistline, to make them lie flat, and then press them open on the wrong side.  Rebaste the canvas in place, and catstitch the shoulder and underarm edges over the seams of the coat.  To reinforce the neck and armhole in back so as to stand the strain of the collar and sleeve, cut canvas pieces two inches wide, shaped to fit these edges, and baste them to position.  Narrow tape, thoroughly shrunk, should be sewed ¾ of an inch from the front edges of coat, to prevent stretching.  If the edge is already stretched a little, draw the tape a trifle tight and ease the coat to it, shrinking out the fullness with a damp cloth and hot iron.
Figure 1 shows the tape in place, and also a bust form.  This form is made of canvas, cut about ten inches long and seven across, in oval shape.  Slash from the lower edge to the center, and then lap the slashed edges as much as required to fit the form to the coat; if necessary, slash again at the side.  Baste the form inside the coat against the canvas interlining and attach it with padding-stitch, a long stitch on the side toward you, and a short back-stich taken through the canvas.  The padding-stitch is done in rows from top to bottom, over the entire surface of the form, but on no account attaches any part of the canvas to the cloth.
The short neckband supports the collar at the back.  It should have a canvas interlining.  Baste the cloth neckband over the interlining, and then cut 3/8 of an inch off the interlining all around.  Run close rows of machine-stitching the length of the neckband to hold the two pieces together securely.  The collar itself must be kept soft and pliable, so use cambric to interline it.  Cut the cambric by the pattern, and shrinking the cambric first.
We have three fabrics for the collar, cloth for the under side, satin for the upper, and cambric to interline.  Close the shoulder-seams of all of these separately, basting them first and trying on.  Make any alterations necessary, and stitch, clip the seams, and press open.  Baste the cambric over the cloth and cut 3/8 of an inch off the cambric all around; then attach cambric to cloth with the padding-stitch.  Tape the collar along the outside, and turn the cloth edge up over the tape.  Now arrange the satin in place, and turn the outer edge under so that a little of the cloth edge will show for a finish; baste this edge in place and then slip-stitch or blind-stitch it.  See Figure 2 for the collar.
Join the collar to the neckband, the single notches matching, and line the neckband with whatever material you have selected to line the coat.  Baste collar and neckband to the coat, the double notches in front together, try on, and then stitch.  A two-inch strip of cambric, shaped to fit the lower edge of the coat, should be basted 3/8 of an inch above the edge, and the cloth turned up over it and fastened.  At the front edge below the collar, cut away the canvas 3/8 of an inch, and catstitch the cloth edge over the tape and canvas.
The facing pieces will finish the fronts.  Arrange them in place inside, turn the front edges under and baste over collar-seam and front edges of coat.  Below the collar the front edges may be stitched from the outside, and along the collar, blind-stitches.  Baste the back edge of the facing to the canvas interlining.
Baste the sleeve-portions together as notched, terminating the outside seam at the extensions.  Turn under the extension on the upper part of the sleeve, then gather the upper edge between the double perforations, and try the sleeve on.  Alter, if necessary and stitch and press open the seams.  With the sleeve right side out, slip a canvas two or three inches wide, inside the writs, and baste it.  Cut off the canvas at least 3/8 of an inch short of the cloth, so the cloth edges can be turned over it without turning the canvas.  Catstitch the lower edge, and also the extension edges to the canvas.
Baste the sleeve in the armhole, with notches matching, and the single perforations at the shoulder-seam.  Try on and move the sleeve forward or backward if required; the front seam should follow the inside of the arm in a straight line to the thumb.  After stitching the armhole-seams, press the upper part back toward the neck.  Now take a piece of bias wool interlining, cut ten inches long and three inches wide, fold it lengthwise through the middle, stretch the folded edge and sew it to the top of the armhole; trim the ends off to almost nothing.  This will hold out the sleeve-top, and give it the professional look.
To cut the lining, use side-front, side-back, back and sleeve pieces.  The front is not needed on account of the facings, but allow an extra-wide seam on the side-front.  Before cutting the lining back, lay an inch plait in the material.  The lining throughout should be very free both in width and length.  Baste the back piece in the coat first, then the side-back, and lastly the side-front, turning the forward seam edges over those behind.  Baste the lining all around, and then slip-stitch it.  Stitch the sleeve-seams, and arrange the sleeve-lining in the sleeve.  Tack along the seams, then finish lower edge and extensions neatly.  Turn the upper edge of sleeve-lining under, gather between the notches, and hem the top over the armhole-seam.  The extensions may be fastened, one over the other, with buttons and buttonholes, real or simulated; or the closing can be stitched and tacked.  Ornamental fastenings or buttons may close the coat at the front.
Pattern No. 5442 is cut in sizes from 32 to 42 inches bust measure.  Price of pattern, 10 cents.  

No comments:

Post a Comment