SEWING 



SEWING 



for making towels, sheets, tablecloths, or any 

 of the household linens or for clothing for the 

 family. There have been times when every 

 article, excepting the boots or shoes but in- 

 cluding the straw hats as well as the men's 

 suits and other articles of wearing apparel, have 

 been fashioned by our grandmother's hands. 

 She braided the straw, and from the raw fiber 

 she spun the yarn and thread and wove the 

 cloth; then she cut and made every article. 

 In those days the spinning wheel and the loom 

 were seen in every home. It is such a picture 

 Longfellow gives us in Evangeline when he 

 says: 



Close at her father's side was the gentle Evan- 

 geline seated, 



Spinning flax for the loom, that stood in the cor- 

 ner behind her. 



Silent awhile were its treadles, at rest was its dili- 

 gent shuttle, 

 While the monotonous drone of the wheel, like 



the drone of a bagpipe, 



Followed the old man's song and united the frag- 

 ments together. 



And again, later in the same story, how much 

 these words tell us of the women of that day : 

 Simple that chamber was, with its curtains of 



white and its clothes press 

 Ample and high, on whose spacious shelves were 



carefully folded 



Linen and woollen stuffs, by the hand of Evan- 

 geline woven. 

 This was the precious dower she would bring to 



her husband in marriage, 



Better than flocks and herds, being proofs of her 

 skill as a housewife. 



A Revolution in Production. But in the be- 

 ginning of the nineteenth century great changes 

 came about in the social and economic life of 

 the American people. The growth of purely in- 

 dustrial activities and the rise of manufacturing 

 centers and the growth of cities brought about 

 a complete revolution. Mills and factories 

 sprang up all over the eastern part of the conti- 

 nent, and soon the rag carpets and the beautiful 

 coverlets and the homespuns were laid away in 

 the attic or given away, and their place was 

 taken by the new commercial products. 



But this was not all. The girls and women 

 found employment in these factories and soon 

 the arts of the home sewing and cooking, 

 sometimes called the Home Sciences were rap- 

 idly becoming lost arts. Not only were spin- 

 ning and weaving forgotten, but even plain 

 sewing and mending were no longer familiar 

 subjects to the girl; and since such a very large 

 percentage of girls marry and have homes and 

 families, this ignorance was soon very evident. 

 When the women of the country realized the 



existing conditions, it was apparent to some of 

 them that a solution must be found by which 

 sewing could be revived and encouraged. The 

 home had given up teaching the girls how to 

 sew, and since this knowledse is so necessary to 

 a girl's complete education, the school was con- 

 sidered the logical place for such instruction. 



The women of Boston, assisted financially by 

 Mrs. Hemenway of that city, were the first to 

 succeed in having sewing taught in the schools. 

 That was in 1854. The legislature of Massa- 

 chusetts legalized the teaching of sewing in 

 1876. From this modest beginning the teach- 

 ing of sewing has spread until it is included in 

 the course of study of every up-to-date ele- 

 mentary, high and normal school and of most 

 colleges. There are many commercial institu- 

 tions specializing in the teaching of sewing, and 

 new books on the subject are being added to 

 the list every week. There are also many 

 courses in sewing offered by correspondence 

 schools. 



To-day no girl's education is complete unless 

 it includes enough instruction in sewing to ena- 

 ble her to prove her skill as a housewife, to 

 be able to purchase materials intelligently, to 

 appreciate what is good in design, what ma- 

 terial is appropriate for each garment or house- 

 hold article and the proper clothes for all oc- 

 casions. Every girl should know how to make 

 her own clothes and also how to alter ready-to- 

 wear clothing and add those little touches which 

 make her clothes individual and characteristic 

 of the well dressed woman. The courses and 

 instruction offered have done so much to revive 

 the appreciation of sewing that we find such 

 quotations as the following, taken from Por- 

 ter's Laddie: 



The gay belles of fashion may boast of excelling 



In waltz or cotillon, at whist or quadrille; 

 And seek admiration by vauntingly telling 



Of drawing and painting and musical skill ; 

 But give me the fair one, in country or city, 



Whose home and its duties are dear to her 



heart, 

 Who cheerfully warbles some rustical ditty, 



While plying the needle with exquisite art ; 

 The bright little needle, the swift-flying needle, 



The needle directed by beauty and art. 



The location of the school, the economic con- 

 dition of the people, their customs, the fashions 

 of the day and the aim sought, largely deter- 

 mine a course of study in sewing for the girls 

 of any institution. 



Hand sewing should be taken up first, and 

 the student should become familiar with all the 

 stitches used in plain sewing. There are articles 



