894 



NEW ENGLAND FAR:MER. 



Aug. 



to his expanding powers. Just as you are getting 

 used to the tiptoeings and the cbest-dilatations 

 brought forward by "Jackin-galluses," you have 

 forcwaniings of sailvs, and box-coats, and even of 

 "swallow tails," till, unless you are of a very cool 

 and conservative disposition, you find yourself 

 some fine morning on the way to the tailor's for a 

 pattern by which to cut one or other of these de- 

 lectable garments ; and, you have lost little John- 

 nie in the tall young man who proudly offers you 

 Lis arm when he dons the new garment for the 

 first time. 



Boys' hats and caps of straw and felt should be 

 kept, in order according to the directions given for 

 the care of men's hats, in Chap. VII. Straw and 

 palm-leaf hats unless well bound with galloon or 

 twilled tape will soon get "used up!" they need 

 cleansing and pressing;— this can be done by 

 sponging them with borax soap suds, rinsing 

 in clean, cold water, and when half dry pressing, 

 either on a block of the desired shape or on a tin 

 pail, or pan, covered with layers of cloth. If they 

 are very yellow after washing, cover with a mix- 

 ture of sulphur and cold water, (made about as 

 stiff as thick paste), and hang them in the sun for 

 a few hours before pressing; Sometimes they need 

 a second application of the sulphur-paste. This is 

 an easier and safer way than to smoke them over 

 slowly burning sulphur in a barrel or box where 

 they are hung and then covered over air-tight, as 

 is commonly practiced. 



Verj' good hats for boys can be made by cover- 

 ing a straw hat, or a pasteboard frame that copies 

 its shape and size, with cloth cut from the rem- 

 nants left when making jackets or trousers. Line 

 them with cambric, bind with galloon, and also 

 fasten a band of galloon around the crown. To 

 make a cap : measure around the forehead, and 

 make a band of this size, one inch and a half wide, 

 from layers of cotton cloth, pasted together ; then 

 from stiff paper make a ring of thQ same width, 

 the shorter edge of which will fit this band, and, 

 unless you wish for a perfectly flat cap, shorten 

 the longer edge of this ring six or seven inches by 

 taking out gores at regular inten'als. For a top 

 to cover this, cut a round from stiff paper. These 

 are the patterns by which to cut the woolen cloth 

 of the cap ; they are also the frame to which it is 

 attached to keep it in shape. Line it with cambric 

 to which a little wadding is tacked or quilted, bind 

 the edge with galloon, and put around it a fold of 

 cloth fastened with a knot of ribbon, — in winter 

 substitute fur for the fold of cloth, if you choose. 

 Quite a pretty cap is made by using a headband 

 two inches wide and fitting a surface piece directly 

 to the top of it,— the circular being formed of six 

 or eight equal pieces meeting in the centre and 

 ornamented there with a button. Give it the same 

 lining and fold and binding as the other cap. If 

 you wish for a visor to the cap, as a protection for 

 the eyes, cut from paste-board a crescent, whose 

 inner edge is oucthud the length of the head- 



band and which measures one and one-half inches 

 across the centre, the*i cut a covering for this from 

 the same material of which the cap is made, and a 

 lining from kid or stout silesia. Stitch its inner 

 edge to the head-band and bind the outer with 

 galloon. 



Men's fur caps, after they are too much worn for 

 their own use, may be cut over for their boys, or 

 may be made into neck-ties or collars. The mak- 

 ing up of these things is simple, — the only trouble 

 to be overcome is in piecing and sewing the fur ; — 

 for it often happens that the pile is so worn off 

 that the skin is bare in some places. The only 

 way to remedy these ugly spots is to cut them 

 out and fit in nice, well-covered pieces. And 

 this cutting and fitting is very careful work. 

 But anybody can do it, if willing to take pains 

 and to use a little patience. Cut the skin on 

 the wrong side; slip the point of your scissors 

 under it so closely as to cut it with short 

 clips and yet not to touch the fur— not a hair of 

 which should be started. To fit a piece— find t)ut 

 which way the pile (or fur) naturally lies by pass- 

 ing your hand over it ; the fur of the piece to be 

 inserted must fall the same way, and it must also 

 match the color and natural shading of the por- 

 tion to which it is fitted. Having cut it according 

 to these directions, the edges meeting exactly, 

 without puckering, sew them together with strong 

 thread, in flat overstitch. Be sure that you sew 

 nothing but the skin — not a particle of the fur 

 should be taken by the needle. Furs are lined by 

 sewing the materials to the edge of the skin, the 

 pile — the fur itself— standing untouched. .A little 

 wadding is generally placed between the lining and 

 the skin. Muffs and women's fur capes may be 

 repaired and made over in this way for boys or 

 girls. 



Girls' common hats should be of stj-aw or felt, 

 simply trimmed. When of these materials they 

 can be altered by a little ripping or cutting, which 

 the wearers by the time they are twelve years old, 

 ought to be taught to do,^r rather, which most 

 girls of that age are ingenious enough to do with- 

 out teaching. After that age they will find much 

 pleasure in fabricating them of materials left from 

 theif best dresses ; and as they get older will want 

 to undertake bonnets in order to display their 

 taste. Straw and felt are the best materials for 

 both bonnets and hats, because they can stand all 

 weathers, and can be so easily altered. If kept 

 for Sunday and other particular occasions, for one 

 season, they do not seem unsuitable for everyday 

 wear the next ; which is not the case with those 

 made of other goods. Palm leaf hoods (from their 

 form sometimes called Shakers) are excellent for 

 those who are exposed much to the sun, — they 

 need a gingham cape, and a bonnet of the same 

 shape, made entirely of gingham, lawn, or pique, 

 is quite nice for very small girls ; the bonnet being 

 kept in form with stiff cords or narrow strips of 

 whalebone. 

 Little girls' dresses should be made with 



