IV A Doll’s Skirt and Sewing Case, Bindings, Doll’s Bed Linen and a Pin Case
Let us suppose that Sally Ann measures twelve inches from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet and that you would like to make her a gored skirt like mother’s. Would you not feel happier if you made the pattern and then cut the skirt yourself?
Take a piece of paper twelve by nine inches wide, mark every inch on both the long sides of the paper. Lay a ruler so that it touches the centre of the space between the first and second dots on the upper edge, and between the second and third dots on the lower edge. This will form the half of the front gore of the skirt. Mark it, “half of front.”
Now draw a line from the second dot on the upper edge to the centre of the space between the fourth and fifth dots of the lower edge. Connect the sixth dot on the upper and lower edges, mark this section “side gore.” Connect the eleventh dot on lower and upper edges and mark this section “back.” The remaining inch mark “belt.” (Figure 52).
Cut the pattern apart along the lines drawn.
Take a piece of muslin twenty-four by nine inches. Tear off two inches of the muslin on the length for the band and then ten inches for the back of the skirt.
Fold the remaining piece of muslin with the two short edges together so that the doubled piece measures six inches by nine. Place the straight edge of front of skirt pattern on the fold of the material and the edge of the side gore on the other edge. Pin the pattern down securely and cut through both thicknesses of the material (Figure 53).
Pin the skirt together, placing a straight edge of a gore to a bias. Baste a quarter-inch seam along the finished edges of each gore, holding the bias edge toward you. Sew the seams up with combination stitches. Press open the seams and over-cast each one to keep it from fraying.
Fold a hem at the bottom of the skirt an inch and a quarter wide. Baste the hem so that seam comes to seam. On the front gore there will be a fullness. Gather this fullness in with fine running stitches and baste. Use a separate thread for the gathering. Now hem around the whole skirt.
Cut the placket two inches down through the centre back. Turn a hem on the right side one half inch wide and on the left one eighth inch. Sew the hem.
Lap the wide hem over the narrow at the bottom of the placket and stitch across the wide hem two rows of stitching one eighth of an inch apart.
Turn in the strip you cut off at first for the band one quarter of an inch on the two short sides and on one of the long sides.
Fold lengthwise, find centre of band and crease; one inch from this, crease again.
Place and pin band in the same way as for the gusset described in the last chapter, placing the middle crease at the middle of front of skirt. Then pin the band also at the creases on either side of centre. Gather each side of the skirt that is left. Draw in the thread to fit belt. Spread the gathers so that most of the fullness is in the back.
Over-hand the ends and hem second side of the placket. This finishes the skirt (Figure 54).
A basket or box of some sort is very nice to have, as we have said above, for your sewing, but suppose you were going to sew with another friend and you wanted a handy case in which to carry your sewing implements? A cloth case that can be folded or rolled is very much more convenient and may be carried in the large pocket of your apron. One made of denim is inexpensive, wears well, and is highly practicable. One yard will make you a case.
Cut a piece of green denim sixteen by fifteen inches long. Turn up four inches of the material, baste down both sides. Baste a four-inch pocket on the left-hand corner of your case. The rest of the case divide in two. This will hold your darning cotton that comes on cards.
We have a pretty way of finishing this case, which is not only ornamental but strong, and that is to bind it. Get a piece of tape long enough to go around the whole case. Crease it lengthwise so that one edge comes slightly below the other. Open it and lay it on denim and then neatly back-stitch the right side and hem the wrong. The hemming should be just below the back-stitching, and must not be seen on the right side. Allow enough tape at the corners to make a good angle. Both sides of the corner must be treated alike.
It will be well to have a needle case to match the sewing case. Cut a strip of material thirteen inches long by three and a half inches wide. Cut this strip in four parts. Get a piece of cardboard that is not too thick or of such kind that will break easily, as some of the cheaper grades of brown cardboard are apt to do. Cut four pieces, three inches wide by three and a half inches long. Thread your needle with a piece of No. 40 cotton and put a big knot at the end. Take one of the pieces of denim and a piece of the cardboard. Catch the material from side to side with stitches about one quarter of an inch apart (Figure 55). After sewing these two sides sew the third and fourth in the same manner. Cover each piece of the cardboard in this way (Figure 56). Take two of the covered pieces and over-cast them carefully together.
You should have leaves of flannel to stick your needles in. Pink the edges of the flannel. Pinking is snipping out the edge in little points and can be done with scissors. Connect the two pieces of the needle case with two tiny bows, or a heavy thread can be made to answer the purpose. The flannel sheets are tacked through the centre like the pages in a book (Figure 57).
The third or middle compartment between the spool case and darning thread can be used for a miscellaneous pocket to hold the tape-measure, emery-bag, small scissors and other necessary articles.
A piece of tape stretched down on the denim with just enough spring for the package of needles to pass through is a handy way to carry them (Figure 58).
It is rather dangerous to travel with a pair of scissors with the points unprotected. In Canada and the states that border it the Indians sell the little sweet grass protectors. A cork, however, that comes in small bottles such as you get from drug stores will protect the points of the scissors as well as the sweet grass protectors, if not as elegantly. If the scissors are too large to put in the pocket a piece of tape could be stitched down to slip them in lengthwise. The case should be folded in three parts when it is not in use and a piece of tape the same colour as the binding tied around it (Figure 59).
Now that you have your sewing apron and a work box, you will love to be sewing every chance you get. Suppose we plan a set of bed things for Sally Ann. First let us make a mattress. The mattress on your bed is covered, probably, with ticking, but this is too harsh for your fingers to sew, so let us select percale or zephyr, and half-inch tape for the binding; the filling can be cotton, hair, or feathers. If it is impossible to get any of these three, newspapers chipped up very fine will make an excellent padding. Many people use newspaper chippings to fill pillows for summer use.
Measure the bedstead and cut two pieces of percale or zephyr exactly the same size. Now cut a stripe of the material, one inch wide, long enough to go around the four sides of one of the pieces of the material that you have just cut.
Baste the long narrow strip around one large piece. Lay the wrong side of the strip to the wrong side of the material (Figure 60). The edges must be even. Use the combination stitch of one running stitch and one back-stitch just below the basting. When the strip has been securely sewed to the four sides of the material, join the two ends together on the wrong side.
Now take your tape, which may be white or the colour of the figure in your material, and bind the edges by first running one side down and then the other (Figure 61).
The other piece of material is sewed in the same manner—the wrong side of the strip to the wrong side of the material. Do not sew, however, around the entire four sides but leave about six inches open through which the filling may be passed. After basting the strip with combination stitching fill with cotton or whatever material you have on hand. Do not fill the mattress so that it will be bumpy. Put a little stick in and flatten the filling at the top. Now sew the opening up and we are ready to quilt the mattress.
Thread a large needle with two pieces of heavy cotton floss or wool. Push your needle through to the other side, letting a short end extend above the mattress. Bring your needle back again close to where it came out (Figure 62). Unthread the needle and tie the ends tightly. Cut off what is left and repeat again two and a half inches over. It is best to quilt in rows; that is, to start two inches in from the long side and make a row parallel with the tape. The next row is made two and a half inches farther over and the next row of knots should come in between the first row of dots.
This mattress is made just like yours and the pillow is the next article we will make. The pillow should be half the width of your mattress, as we will use two on the bed. Take a piece of material twice the length desired for the pillow. Use the same kind of material as that used for the mattress. Fold the piece in two with the wrong side out. Join the two long edges and one of the short sides with the combination stitch (Figure 63). Make the stitches one quarter inch from the edge. Now turn the case inside out and fill with cotton. Turn in the edges of the open end and over-cast them together (Figure 64). As I have said before, it will be necessary to make two pillows.
The pillowcases can be made of lawn, cambric or muslin. Cut the material a little larger both in length and width than the pieces used for the pillow. The seams of the pillowcases will have to be felled. Along the one short side and the long side make fine running stitches, one quarter of an inch from the edge. Cut the raw edge from one side so that the other is about an eighth of an inch wider. Now fold the wider edge over like a hem so that it completely covers the cut edge and hem neatly to the material. The open end has a wide hem of say three quarters of an inch. When the hem is finished turn the case with the work inside.
For the sheets cut two pieces of muslin or lawn large enough to cover the mattress and to turn under. The selvage edge of the material should run the length of the sheet. Turn in a quarter-inch hem on the two long sides of each sheet and hem. Now turn a one-inch hem at the top and bottom of each sheet. This completes the sheet (Figure 65).
A blanket is of course very necessary to have and it can be made of a piece of an old blanket or of canton flannel, cashmere, or plain flannel. If a piece of blanket is used, finish the edges with the blanket stitch which is described in Chapter twelve of the book.
The flannel, cashmere, or canton flannel is finished by turning the edges over a quarter of an inch and herring boning or cat-stitching them to the material (Figure 66). For cat-stitching see diagram in Chapter nine.
No bed is complete without a counterpane of some sort and this can be made as fancy as you desire. A pretty one is made of strips of insertion joined together by fine over-casting or fagotting. Fagotting is explained in Chapter twenty. A row of edging will have to be sewed like a ruffle around the two long and one short sides to complete the counterpane.
If a very fancy counterpane is desired get a piece of checked gingham of some light colour. The check should be a quarter of an inch square. With your needle threaded with white or a shade deeper than the darkest check make spiders on the dark squares and crow’s feet on the light. Directions for making a spider are given in the chapter on “Lace Stitches.”
A crow’s foot is made by taking one stitch on the diagonal of the square and two on each side of it, the stitches on each side of the first one being a trifle shorter than the previous ones (Figure 67). A counterpane like this is very attractive and does not require a great deal of time to make.
A dainty little pin case that will make an acceptable little gift for a friend that is going to travel is the envelope pin case. Take a piece of material such as linen, cretonne, or silk and another piece of different coloured material for lining and shape one end as shown like the flap of an envelope (Figure 68). A good size is nine inches long by four inches wide.
Cut a piece of stiff paper a half inch smaller than the pieces of material. Baste the material which will be outside over the paper so that the edges are folded back one quarter on the paper. Turn a similar fold on the lining and hem it to the material as shown on the flap of the envelope opened.
Now take two papers of pins and place them in the case so that they look like leaves of a book. Be careful to see that the heads of the pins are on top. Now catch the pins to the case with several long stitches which are taken below the points of the pins. Stitch a ribbon to flap of envelope and one at the bottom. Close the case and tie the ribbons and you have a handy pin case (Figure 69).