A manual of home-making

A hot iron should never be used on silk, liecause it takes the life out of the silk; a warm iron is l^etter. It is often a good prac- tice in pressing seams of silk garments, to invert the iron and draw the seams over the iron. Velvets are very difiicult to press and are more satisfactory if steamed (page 402) . When it is necessaiy to shrink out fullness at the top of a sleeve or around the waist, an oval cushion is essential (Fig, 61). A gathering thread mnst be run in the full part of the gar- ment to hold the fullness in place. The cloth must then be I d 338 A MANUAL OF HOME-MAKINO dampened, pressed, and dampened again until the fullness disappeared. HOW TO TAKE MEASUREMENTS (PIG. 62) Before usin^ a conirjiernial paMern it is best to test it to s< whether it 18 approxiniutely the correet siae. The following Flo. 02, — Method of tnking in(^aflut>?mentai. measurements should be taken and the pattern tested by jteveral of them. It is not necessary to test the pattern by all these measurements, however, unless the fij^ure is quite abnormal. The commereial patterns are very well proportioned; tfierefore, if the pattern is correct in the length of the waist and tlie bust measure, it will generally prove satisfactory. In the skirt the d THE MAKING OF CLOTHING 339. test measurementa u^^ are the waist, the lii|>line 6 inches below the waist, and the length of the skirt in fmnt. Waist measurements: Place a tapeline around the waist, and pin it securely. Adjust thr inpe^ lifie until it in an m^arly pamllel to the floor as possible, and at the norinal waiHt-hne. Bust measuremetit: Place the tapeJine around the fi^ire over tho fulle.st |mrt af the bust. An easy measurement is taken ft>r a shirt-waisl; and i\ eloBe measurement for a tiiilit-riltini^ waist. Keep the tapellne rather high under the armi< and straight aeross the back. Width of I jack; Me^-isure the width of the back from armholc to armholi?. Divide the npaee between the liasc- of the neek and tho waist into fourths. Measure the width uf the back at approximately the first quarter diviston bduw the base of the neek. Width of front: Measure the width of the front Hi to 2 inches below the hoUuw at the l)asc of the nock across the widest part of the cheat from arrnhole to artrdiole. U W'aist: Take the measurement around the waist, keeping the tapelinel as nearly parallel to the floor as iK>9sibie» Length of back: From the Lxme at the base of the neck in the back straiglil d^jwn to the lower etlge of the ttifwline around the waist. Lenp^th of front: p>om the center of the hollow al the Uhm) of the neek straight down to the base of the tapeline placed around the waiat. This is a rather loose measure. Depth of dart: This measure is not often im^il except when tt'sting or drafting a tight-fittinj^ lining. It is taken from the bjise of the neck at the center front in a slanting line down to the point of the l>ust. It averages from 8 to 9 inches. Length of under-arni: Take this measure carefully. For the shirt-waitt one-half the length of the back may lie ust^fl; but when a more careful measurement i« necessary, the tapeline is folded ovvr a pencil and the pencil slipped in under the arm and the measurement then taken to the Itottom of a tapeline which is aroimd the waist. The shoulder muat be in a normal poeition with the arm lowered.