Good Equipment Gives Better Results

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31680, 16 May 1968, Page 9

Good Equipment Gives Better Results

Efficient arrangement of this equipment increases your sewing efficiency, helps you to work faster and keeps things moving smoothly. For instance, place the ironing board near the sewing machine, with the iron switched on to the correct temperature for the fabric you are using, and you’ll find yourself “sewing with your iron,” as well as yoiir sewing machine, in the manner of a professional... and achieving the professional look that she does ... which, after all, is the look you’re hoping to achieve.

If your sewing tools are good and you keep them in good condition, the clothes you make will be better made, and sewing them will give you much more pleasure.

If you cannot have a separate sewing room, try to have the use of a cupboard devoted to the purpose, with a folding cutting table or a large piece of plywood to use over a smaller table.

ITS SIMPLE—WHEN YOU KNOW HOW!

Did you know that you can enrol at a Droumaking School for the specific purpoie of miking one garment? The coot on the outside left, for instance, could be copied almost line tor line, cut to your measurements. And you could do this while you learnt

But unless you had some experience, or were an exceptional pupil, you’d need to be prepared to take you time. "Pupils try to rush too much," said Miss Pickering of the Meurice Schoo! of Dressmaking. "Time doesn’t mean anything to me— lt Is results that count

"If your sewing isn’t going well, don’t throw It in a corner—treat It with affectionstroke it a little and put it away till next day." This Is a little trick she learnt when

travelling in France, and (he aayi "it acts like a charm.”

Giris cannot start too soon to learn how to use a sewing machine . . . especially how to thread. More than not if a machine misbehaves, it is because it has been incorrectly threaded. A great believer in the value of tacking, which is something many new pupils do not know how to do. Miss Pickering quoted a saying: "He who is wiser than a tack is a fool" .. and commented that, so well did one pupil appreciate the point that, making a dress at home in a hurry, she said: "I'm going to tack it I have no time to unpick it" When drafting a pattern one needs to be able to do simple mathematics, sometimes a problem, but after

mastering drafting comes the exciting pert, the designing of a style ... and the cutting.

A teacher develops her own system, and from many years of experience Miss Pickering has evolved simple methods, and. where possible, shortcuts. adapting sound, traditional dressmaking techniques to modern conditions. Pupils are encouraged to make individual variations to styles which can be selected from French publications . . a book of smart teen-age designs in particular is popular. Advice is given on remaking, and pupils have on occasions completely returned a garment A great advocate of lining a dress or skirt, she says it ensures better fit longer wear, and many fabrics hang better when lined.