On Home Dress-making.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7853, 15 July 1911, Page 13

On Home Dress-making.

SUMMER is the season par excellence in which, tho homo dressmaker may have her "innings” without being hauntid by that bogey, dread of “looking dowdy." Hut thou on tho other hand summer is also tho season in which all wise people live out of doors as much as possible. Tho mere thought of ’‘settling down fur a week’s sewing," oven with some treasure of a- netxUcwoanan. to steer the frail skill* of economical enterprise past shoals and quicksands, seems irksome when tho summer is calling us. bhe has a thousand voices with which to call us this lovely goddess of idleness and ail are so swcotl What, then, are we to do? To me there has always seemed only one real remedy; to du most of our sowing in the winter, late winter ere it merges into spring. Since wo follow the English .seasons we already know quite well what will bo the prevailing modes, and may venture without hesitation on the re-modelling of any of last summer’s frocks which are worth it, ami tho making of simple house and morning dresses, only leaving Iho smartest items of tho summer wardrubo until the now materials are available in spring. There* are so many fashion journals available nowadays, most of them contain cut-out paper patterns, with such clear direction and sncii illuminating diagrams, that homo dressmaking need no longer be regarded with wistful awe. The most important advantage, how■ever, to bo gained by seriously attacking tho domestic sewing problem ii\ winter is that it is a “slack" time with needle women, and therefore much easier to make satisfactory arrangements for necessary help. How few people attempt to take time by tho forelock in preparing tho spring and summer sewing beforehand is patent to every woman's experience. No sooner are the spring materials on. view, and tho delight of a few days of spring weather vouchsafed us, than, every available needle woman is rushed by her clients, and all her time booked weeks ahead. One is thankful to secure perhaps a few disconnected days—a most unsatisfactory' arrangement —and thoso as quite a favour. Moreover, the end-of-the-eummer sales, no doubt, provide wise mothers —and clever daughters who manage on their own salaries, or a dress allowance—with some excellent bargains. Now is the time to use them. It is with tho hope of helping on. the winter sewing crusade which shall leave ujs free to enlist in the summer garden Wars of the Roses, that I have chosen to-day's illustration. * It really is a charming little frock, is it not ? To help my country readers to exploit it satisfactorily I have given tho diagrams for cutting tho Magyar blouse.' and tho lace garnitures. As for the skirt, it is a simple four-gored affair for which no doubt most people who go in for home dressmaking have a pattern. To |

:e j them it is unnecessary to mention tho y j point I want, to urge on beginners. That t- is, to be sure to put tho straight lines ■’- j of tho pattern to tho straight grain or i-j thread of the material. This is a very o ! important thing to remember. Another j-j thing for beginners to bear in mmd is <r j always to place Iho various parts of tho ; pattern carefully on the material first, r before cutting out. When you have aro! railed the skirt gores to the best acl>J vantage you will be able to see how best s,; the smaller sections of your pattern, such b■ as blouse, sleeves, etc., of any dross can s' bo cut from tho remainder of tho nia- ] terial. ' And ‘‘blouses’’ suggests to mo that it r j might be wiso bo remind you —in view * j of sale time purchases—that the one pre--7] dominant feature in spring and summer J blouses will bo tho over-biouso effect, either real or simulated. This is of course rather a help when picking up A bargains at the remnant counter. You 1 ! no longer need for your little drossy 3 : blouses tho former quantity of silk or ’ j crepe-do-cheno in its integrity, since your ' | smart blouso may- bo composed of two J \ or throe materials all caught into an 'I harmonious whole by virtue of tho link A of colour or tho contrast of garniture, ,! Nor is this all. In these hopelessly wet days many an old blouse, of good silk, crepe, or satin, may bo unpicked, spong- ’ ed, pressed, and converted into a skimpy little under blouso which may be veiled most charmingly- with an Qver-blcv.se of ninoQ chiffon, or lace —a mere scrap of stuff ; which, bought as a remnant at sale prices, will make as smart a little triffle 1 os yon would pay two or three guineas 1 for at tho shops. Fashions for children especially do at ’ tho present moment lend themselves to economical and dainty dressing. The over-dress in all its varied forms enables clever planners and good needlewomen to devise suck charming little frocks out of mere scraps, so to speak, of material. Tho remnant counter should b© in greater request than ever at the forthcoming sales, and I would specially recommend mothers to take advantage of bargains in odd lengths of wide flouncing and good all-over patterns in Brodine Anglais© since if we follow the English and Continental fashions—as we always do— Brodine Anglaiso will bo very much used for children and young girls, as well as for “grown-ups." One more reminder for clever workers —just the little up-to-date touch that will give individuality I and charm—the growing popularity of ; cross-stitch as a decoration for our own I and our little folks' garments. "With a simple design worked in flax thread or!: French cotton of two shades of Indian i blue, or blue and red, or red and black, a perfectly plain frock of tunic becomes ! a most stylish little -thing. Cross-stick, on linen blouses, too, is a welcome change from eyelet and French embroidery. | —ZEALAND! A.