106 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Fk3. 



Backs of vests will often outlast two new fronts ; 

 and the padding and stiffening will do to go in a 

 number of times, — as, also, those of coats. Pock- 

 ets, sometimes, will do to use again, after they are 

 washed and ironed. Facings and sleeve linings 

 can be cut over and ironed — if necessary, washed 

 — to be used in repairs. Generallj', a number of 

 buttons may be saved for future use. And of the 

 outs-idc material, if an overcoat, a sack or a jacket 

 may be cut ; if a frock coat, perhaps a boy's vest, 

 or small sack ; if pants, a vest for a man. This 

 should be all carefully ripped, the stitches and 

 the lint that collects in the seams removed, the cloth 

 brushed and sponged ; if it is greatly faded pressed 

 on the right side, and when next used made up 

 wrong side out; if not, still keep the same side 

 out. In a large family this second hand stock is 

 very valuable ; and if not wanted for your own 

 use there are always calls enough for it in the way 

 of charity. 



I, jckties, and cravats, if of gingham, or muslin, 

 should be of fast colors, and hemmed all around 

 as narrowly as possible. If of silk, black Italian is 

 the most common, and the best. Beware of the 

 glossy, shrill-rustling kinds — they are soon frayed 

 and broken. "When the corners of a cravat get 

 worn, cut off the end to a good point and hem 

 anew. When too short for this, cut the cravat 

 across the centre, and sew the two pieces together 

 so as to bring new points for front ends. Very 

 good neckties and scarfs may be made of ribbon 

 folded over two or three layers of cambric or Si- 

 lesia; the seam at the edge, and around the ends, 

 being done with a long needle, in slip-stitch — 

 which is OLly drawing the folded edges together 

 with long stitches that are kept out of sight. 



The most comfortable, and the most economical, 

 garment a man can have for home attire is a loose 

 lounging-eoat,— study-coat, — or dressing-gown, — 

 whatever you please to call it. Its use has often 

 saved double its cost in the wear and tear of the 

 more tightly fitting coat which custom demands 

 for out-of-door costume, and hours of toil for 

 many a housewife, who feels it her duty to see 

 that that costume is always neat and tidy. 



The Russian and other imported robes that are 

 manufactured for this purpose are elegant, but ex- 

 pensive ; and seldom so serviceable as thibet, or 

 merino,— or even cotton and wool cashmere or de- 

 laine ; while common calico, if of fast colors, is a 

 good material for a coat designed for summer wear. 

 Large-flowered patterns, the figures ninning into 

 each other, do not show soiling, or rough usage, 

 so much as plainer styles ; still, fabrics of one 

 color alone— brown, or green, or blue— with fac- 

 ings and trimmings of a contrasting tint, are much 

 handsomer, and, with care, may look well a long 

 time. 



Take for a guide in the cutting of this garment, 

 a common sack-coat, and fit the neck, shoulders, 

 and chest, well, by the measures used for an over- 

 coat. Make it loose and comfortable, yet smooth 



and neat in the fitting. As to its length, suit the 

 fancy of the wearer; — some like such a coat very 

 long — reaching nearly to the ankles, others prefer 

 it short — a mere jacket. These short coats, or 

 jackets, should always be made of plain material, 

 trimming, or embroidery of braid, running along 

 the edges and over the collar and cuffs. The 

 longer garment looks best without ornament, save 

 facings, or cuffs and collar, of a different color. 

 It needs a girdle of large cord ; and to the buck of 

 the coat, at the waist, should be stitched two nar- 

 row bands, to encase this in its proper position. 



A lounging coat for winter use should be warmly 

 wadded — the facings quilted ; — but, between the 

 outer cloth and the wadding, across the back — 

 from the end of the shoulder scam nearly to the 

 girdle-liands — a piece of the same material .should 

 be laid— to guard against the great wear of the 

 shoulder-blades ; also, in the sleeves, from above 

 the elbow to the waist. 



From the remnants left after making a lounging- 

 coat you will have ample cloth for a smoking cap, 

 to be worn with it. The simplest form, a jockey, 

 is the best. For this, take a measure of the head 

 above the forehead ; and from pasteboard — or, bet- 

 ter, stiff padding made of three or four layers of 

 stout cotton cloth pasted together — cut a band one 

 and one-half inches wide, the length of this meas- 

 ure. Cut, then, a circular ring of stiflf paper, one 

 inch in width, whose shorter circumference shall 

 exactly fit this band; and, for a cover, cut a round 

 from stiff paper, whose edge will match the larger 

 circumference of the ring. This top of the cap 

 may be made of six, or eight, points, meeting in 

 the centre ; the outer corners more or less sharply 

 defined, according to fancy. 



This paper frame before putting together is the 

 pattern for cutting the cashmere or thibet for the 

 outside, which, after being stitched, should be 

 tacked to it at the seams. Cambric, silesia, or 

 silk, to which a layer of sheet wadding is ba«tcd 

 or quilted, may line it. "With this, as with all gar- 

 ments, the lining and facing, though cut of the 

 same shape as the outside, should be less in size, 

 — if no wadding is used, a seam's width must be 

 allowed, at least, — or there will be folds and 

 wrinkles to trouble the wearer, and to deface and 

 injure both lining and outer cloth. 



Cord the seams of this cap with piping like the 

 facing of the coat, and cover the head band with 

 the same. If of plain material, embroider the top 

 with brnid, and finish it at the centre with a fancy 

 button or rosette. 



Men's hats and caps are seldom of home manu- 

 facture, but they often need repairing, a new bind- 

 ing, or, a clean lining; which can easily be done 

 by observing how it is when new. Felt hats arc 

 apt to get out of shape : they can be restored by 

 dampening, and pressing, either upon a block of 

 the proper form, or a pail or pan covered with 

 cloth. If a felt hat gets torn "rant" the hole, ac- 

 cording to the directions given for woolen cloth. 



