68 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



Be careful how you choose linen. Don't buy 

 till you have thoronslily tested it. There are many 

 mixtures of cotton and linen, and cotton cloth of 

 a limn finish, which sometimes deceive the^most 

 practiced eye. Get a small piece and rub aiid scrub 

 ii till all its stiffness is gone. Then wash and dry 

 it; dt'terward, iron it. If it looks glossy after 

 ironing you may venture to buy, it is good. The 

 undressed linen is generally trustworthy, though 

 sometimes it has a cotton woof. You can tell 

 whether it is so or not by ravelling a few threads. 

 Cotton threads are rough, and break easily ; linen 

 — smooth and strong. It is well to do the same 

 with a sample of the dressed linen after it is 

 washed. Flannel for under-jackets and drawers 

 if half cotton is less warm, but does not shrink, 

 or mill, so badly as the all wool. Blue-mixed, 

 gray, and scarlet are less liable to shrink than 

 white. These are the only suitable colors for un- 

 derclothing. The French flannel is generally more 

 nicely fini.shcd than the American ; but it is no 

 better than our best kinds. Persons whose em- 

 ployments expose them to great extremes of heat 

 and cold find their health much benefited liy sub- 

 stituUng fianncl .^hirts for the usual plain white 

 cotton, or the blue and white checked, or striped 

 drilling ones. The fancy flannels that are thus 

 used, whether striped, plaid, or figured, need a 

 good deal of care in washing and drying. 



The mo.«t comfortable under garments are fabri- 

 cated of yarn — cither woven, knit, or crocheted. 

 If you have a gf.od deal of leisure knit, or crochet 

 them ; they will last longer than those that are 

 woven. Stockiniis, mittens, and wristlets, are bet- 

 ter knit, or crocheted, than woven. Look out for 

 cotton in the jam. Test it as you would the 

 threads of cloth purporting to be woolen. Cotton 

 stockmgs that are woven will not last one-half as 

 long as those that ai-c hand-knit. They cannot be 

 knit 60 rapidly as woolen, but, in the end they pay. 

 The sup'.riurity of home-made socks and stockings 

 was well shown by the great di.mand for them dur- 

 ing the war ; — the long tramps of the soldiers gave 

 all feet coverings severe tests. 



Next to selecting materials comes the cutting 

 and making of garments. When a girl marries 

 she is supposed to know how to do all plain nee- 

 dlework. But the truth is few, very few, do. Of 

 cutting and fitting they are lamentably ignorant, 

 even if they can sew a straight seam just as it 

 ought to be done. Those who believe that mar- 

 riage is not the goal, but the starting-post, of their 

 lives, will soon learn to do all these thing-; well ; 

 for they will have plenty of opportunity, and they 

 wi'.l be sure to improve it. To all such these sug- 

 gestions will not seem of little consequence. 

 School-studies, music, drawing, embroidery, deeds 

 of charity, missionary-work, teaching, shop-work, 

 mill-work, housework, some, or most of these 

 occupations have so lillcd your time that the plain 

 sewing that you learned so long ago must now be 

 learned over again. Let us begin with a shirt. 

 You remember when you were a little girl of mak- 



ing a shirt for your father — button-holes and all — 

 and how proud you felt at the praises bestowed 

 upon the neatness and nicety of the work. You 

 think you might possil)ly recall that skill — one 

 sometimes docs — and you feel mortified to see how 

 clumsy and awkward you are in mam'ginsr such a 

 simple thing. Don't be discouraged. Pick out 

 the stitches and trj' again. "Even to seven times >" 

 Yes, to "seventy times seven," if it be not properly 

 done. 



Having succeeded in setting your stitches well, 

 you will wish to attempt cutting. 



Take six yards of cotton cloth. This will make 

 two shirts. It is as much as j'ou can handle easily 

 at once. Or, you may take seven, if you wish to 

 line the backs. It is more economical to cut two 

 from the same piece ; because some portions can be 

 cut at the side, and just beyond others. The yard 

 wide, or the thirty-eight- inch width, will cut to the 

 best advantage. If you buy the blcaclied and 

 dressed, wash and scald it before cutting ; because it 

 will shrink at least ten inches in the seven yards. 

 Then dry and iron it very smoothly, being careful to 

 keep it straight, jiarticulaily the selvage. If you 

 bleach the cloth yourself you will u^e the same 

 care in ironing it, and fold it evenly in the middle 

 of the width. 



Some men are always troubled by badly fitted 

 >hirts, — the neck and front are the thief difficul- 

 ties. Accuracy in cutting, and in the allowance 

 for seams, will prevent this. Procure a pattern 

 from one who makes the cutting of shirts a special 

 business ; or, rip an old shirt, and iron every piece, 

 and cut a pattern from it, in stiff paper. Measure 

 the person to be fitted around the chest, outside 

 the vest, directly under the arms. Also around 

 the neck, — thence, to the top of the shoulder. 

 Lay your body-pattern upon the cloth, and with 

 these three measures calculate the slope of the 

 shoulders, and the size of the yoke, before cutting. 

 The back should be two or three inches fuller than 

 the front, and should be gathered between its two 

 shoulder slopes, being previously lined to the depth 

 of twelve inches below the yoke ; the body, about 

 forty inches long. The arm size is cut according 

 to the pattern ; using some discretion as to the 

 size of the person's arm, and the width of the 

 yoke. 



The linen for the shirt front should be about 

 half a yard long. If you wish it closely plaited, 

 one width will only make the fronts of one shirt, 

 fr^ome people make three fronts from a width by 

 having a portion of the front single ; thus obtain- 

 ing fronts for three shirts from one yard. If the 

 linen be dressed, wash it and scrub it soft before 

 cutting. Fold a hem an inch wide along one side, 

 straight, by a thread,— for the left front, on the 

 outside of the doth;— and stitch it very nicely, 

 the whole length, about one-sixteenth of an inch 

 from the edge; for the right front the hem is 

 turned on the underside of the linen, and plainly 

 hemmed. Measure the plaits, very carefully, as 



