62 • The Bulletin. 



a moral effect upon the character. This training of the hand maizes it dexter- 

 ous in other employments. Habits of thrift, cleanliness, patience, and accu- 

 racy are inculcated, economy taught, and the inventive faculty developed. 



There certainly is a strong sociological, economic, and ethical argument for 

 the teaching of sewing. It is not alone to prepare for a trade ; it is to give 

 mental and moral strength, to increase appreciation of the true and beautiful, 

 and to develop a love for doing and a desire to do for others. As soon as 

 reasonable skill has been acquired in sewing, a systematic study of correct 

 lines, symmetrical curves, and harmony of color should be given. A well de- 

 signed, well cut, and well finished garment requires as high a type of art as 

 the painting of a picture or the rendering of a difficult musical composition. 



Since the home neglected this important training, the public saw the neglect 

 and incorporated a course of sewing in the public schools, and, under the 

 circumstances, this is right and well. But the majority of girls would gain 

 much if this course were given in the home. When girls are in the grades 

 that usually carry the sewing course, they are just at the age when the least 

 mental strain, the fewest number of hours in the schoolroom, and the least 

 amount of excitement is best for them. How much better that she learn 

 these lessons in the quiet, healthful atmosphere of the home than in the often 

 overcrowded, overheated, and underventilated schoolroom. In home instruc- 

 tion she saves the time taken up in a class lesson. Any one knows that in 

 teaching one pupil time is saved, because the teacher can fix individual atten- 

 tion upon the one pupil and can be ready to give the necessary help and 

 instruction whenever needed. Then, when learning sewing at home the girl 

 is generally given articles to make that are to be put to immediate use ; thus 

 she can see more plainly the advantages and disadvantages of the way the 

 article is made, and can improve on the next copy. She is more likely to take 

 an interest in the work if she sees that it counts for something, and some 

 member of the family is to use her handiwork. 



To teach sewing a mother must go about it in a methodical manner or 

 failure instead of success will be the result. A certain hour each day should 

 be set aside for the sewing lesson, and as in the days of Priscilla, when all 

 the maidens worked and kept their samplers, fraught with happy memories 

 of girlhood dreams, so let our modern Priscilla keep her sample sewing book 

 not onlv as a living memento of joyous girlhood, but as a reference book. 

 At any "time when she has need for a stitch that has not been used for some 

 time, "instead of racking her brain to recall it, or taking time to run to a 

 neighbor for the information, she can tuni to it in her book and find it done 

 in her own handiwork and with any directions necessary written on the oppo- 

 site page. 



You will never regret having your little girl make a sewing book, nor is 

 their construction difficult, and they may be made a work of art if care and 

 pains are taken with them. Any composition book that carries ink well may 

 be utilized, and a tube of printer's paste is necessary for pasting in the sam- 

 ples. There are several ways of arranging them. Probably the best plan is 

 by a classification of stitches. Begin with the plain stitches, including the 

 running stitch, back stitch, half-back, overhand, overcaste, gathering, hem- 

 ming and buttonholing. Have the child practice on any material till she can 

 make these stitches nicely. Then let her make a sample on a small piece of 

 muslin, or cambric, paste it on a page in her book, and write the name under 

 it. On the opposite page write directions for making it, its use, and list of 

 articles made by it. In making the buttonhole on the sample piece for the 

 book, allow room enough to sew on button. The sewing on of tape, hooks, 

 and ej-es could well come in at this point. Patching and darning might be 

 given next. A neatly done patch of all the various kinds should adorn sep- 

 arate pages, with name and directions for making each. Last, take up orna- 

 mental stitches, such as heron bone, feather stitch, fagot, hemstitch and cross 

 stitch, and end with all kinds of embroidery stitches, making a sample of 

 each. 



This book might be, although not necessarily, completed before garment 

 making is begun. In garment making the beginner should be taught accuracy, 



