772 
THE RURAI> NEW-YORKER 
May MO 
i THE HOME DRESSMAKER i 
■ ===== Talks on Home-made Clothes 1 --= < 
■ . .. i 
4 A GIRL’S SUMMER CLOTHES #- 
A Plain Talk on Clothes. 
Catalogue Styles. —First let me urge 
you, no matter what fashion books you 
have, to get catalogues of the best stores. 
New York leads us in fashions, so try 
to have catalogues from two or three 
stores. “The fashion books show what 
may be worn, but the good store cata¬ 
logues show what will be worn.” said the 
best dressmaker I ever knew. Only 
avoid the cheap mail-order houses; they 
often give good value, but their garments 
lack the distinction in cut and line of 
those from more exclusive stores. I know 
a poor little country bride who made the 
garments in her trousseau at home most 
carefully from fashion papers and paper 
patterns. Only when she went to her 
city home scarcely one of the styles she 
had chosen was worn there; she felt 
dreadfully about it. Don’t expect too 
much of your clothes; you can’t look 
like the illustration of costume figured if 
you make it. Iteally, you don’t want to, 
for many illustrators admit using an im¬ 
possible type. Don't be afraid to dress 
your hair in the way you like if it is 
becoming, and if one general style of 
dress and hat should suit you best, keep 
on wearing it, changing only enough so 
you won’t be noticeable. 
Skirts and Blouses. —A close study 
of fashion periodicals and catalogues has 
shown me but one waist with the old- 
fashioned high collar. Many have a col¬ 
lar just across the back, and the front 
is gathered on a cord and ties at the 
neck. Many have the corners of the 
fronts turned back at the neck like rev- 
ers, with collar across the back. Some 
have elastic bands at the waist. All 
seem to be loose and slouchy. By the 
way, how important the corset is in the 
new “corsetless effect.” Skirts seem to 
show a width of from 1 yard to 1%. 
The skirt one yard wide is draped and 
open for some distance in the front. 
Some one who has been studying the 
subject says that a small person can just 
step in a skirt 54 inches wide. Does 
that mean that she could step across a 
mud-puddle or into an open car with 
ease? I know a little lady who once had 
a modish house-gown made, very scanty 
and clinging. It looked well until mad- 
ame attempted to do something out at 
the barn; then things happened to the 
seams. 
Odds and Ends. —Silk underwear is 
especially comfortable under the narrow 
skirts. One Boston store catalogues full- 
length silk bloomers, reaching to the 
ankle. I wonder who wears them? Shoes 
are very noticeable with our present 
styles, as are hose. The latter should 
match the dress. Many shoes show the 
new “Konkave” heel, but I have seen 
several styles with a new, low, broad 
heel. 
Minaret flounce distenders can be 
bought, opening to any distance up to 
two yards. They remind one of a hoop 
skirt not fully grown. 
At the Easter church parade in Bos¬ 
ton it was noticed that all bright colors 
had disappeared; only dark colors were 
seen. The skirts were noticeably short 
and scant. 
Have any of you tried ripplette for 
morning wear? I thought it needed no 
ironing, but it does; only smoothing 
with a warm iron will do nicely. 
Cravenette makes the most delightful 
skirts for rough and outing wear. It 
does not crush and wears for ages. 
A New York catalogue show's a de¬ 
lightful beach or automobile bonnet of 
silk and fine straw, that would do as 
well for driving or would stay on in the 
open cars this Summer. It comes in 
various collars and is not expensive. 
Tassels seem to be the latest in trim¬ 
ming, and appear on all sorts of things, 
in all sorts of places. 
Anyone who is chilly will find a little 
gown of thin wool or cotton and wool 
made with V-neck and short sleeves very 
comfortable on chilly days. I am plan¬ 
ning one of white poplar cloth with black 
lines. The sailor collar and cuffs will be 
inlaid with silk, and the girdle made like 
directions given in The II. N.-Y. The 
skirt will be draped slightly and have 
three big smoked pearl buttons for deco¬ 
ration. The back of the waist will come 
over on the front to form a yoke, and 
the front will be draped to match the 
skirt. The hat to go with __ it is black 
hemp, with white crown and black rib¬ 
bon bow standing up at the back. The 
bow catches the wind like a sail. 
I fancy the reason some readymade 
frocks are so cheap this year is because 
it takes so little cloth to make them. I 
have seen wash-dresses for five dollars 
that would make a woman look well- 
dressed anywhere. A little bolero suit 
recently seen took only 3]/ 5 yards of 3G- 
inch goods. 
A novel jabot recently seen was laced 
together in the center with ribbons. I 
make my neckwear from designs in the 
catalogues, and find the materials in 
piece-bag and lace-box. 
EDNA S. KNAPP. 
A Dressmaker’s Hints. 
General Details. — Dame Fashion, 
it seems to me, was never so kind 
to her votaries with lean pocketbooks as 
this year, for while the dresses require 
a little more material this year than last, 
they combine so many materials that all 
the old dresses can be made over, and 
where there are little women and men 
in the family, it is a small piece, indeed, 
of good cloth that cannot be utilized. To 
begin with the grown-ups’ clothes first, 
there are a few general details to be 
observed which show the dress to be of 
this season’s make; but aside from these 
there is a great diversity in the styles, 
and anyone can have what she likes. 
The skirts are somewhat fuller this sea¬ 
son—in fact, full enough to 'be comfort¬ 
able in walking, although they have the 
appearance in most cases of being as 
narrow as last year at the bottom, but 
they are all full at the top; that is, 
there are always some gathers at the 
top, and there is in most cases a bulging 
effect, beginning at and just a little be¬ 
low the largest part of the hips. The 
only exception to this is where one of the 
extremely long, full tunics is employed, 
this tunic being really a full skirt of 
three-quarter or seven-eighths length over 
a narrow underskirt, of contrasting ma¬ 
terial usually. 
Tunics and Ruffles. —Now this bulg¬ 
ing effect at the hips is obtained in a 
great variety of ways, and incidentally 
they are the means or, rather, part of 
the means, by which you can make a 
“new” dress out of two old ones; or if 
the right materials are not on hand, by 
buying a yard or two of new material to 
combine with the old. There is the 
short, hip-lengtli tunic similar to that 
worn last year, only it must ripple or 
flare at the lower edge. Then there is 
the skirt with two or three (depending 
on the height of the person) rather nar¬ 
row ruffles, generally about seven inches 
wide, placed anywhere from three to five 
inches down from the waist-line. This, 
of course, is only suitable for soft mate¬ 
rial, and the skirt should be draped up 
in the back under the lower ruffle so as 
to give the desired narrow effect at the 
bottom. An allowance of several inches 
must be made from the sides to the back 
in the length of the skirt for this drap¬ 
ery. For the skirt of heavier material 
it is better to use circular ruffles, and 
these may be put on straight around or 
slightly higher in front than in the back 
or vice versa. Another type of ruffled 
skirt has the circular ruffles, beginning 
at the waist and continuing to just be¬ 
low the broad part of the hip, being from 
three to five in number. Sometimes 
these ruffles do not meet in front but 
start from under a graduated box-pleat. 
Still another skirt is the one with all 
flounces, three or more, but in every case 
the widest flounces are at the top. 
Paniers. —Then there are the skirts 
with paniers, and those that give the 
panier effect—puffs around the hips; and 
some of them have a bustle-like effect in 
the back. To make the ordinary panier 
or puff, if a regular pattern is not to be 
had, a pattern for one of the short tunics 
like those worn last year can be used 
by allowing extra fullness at the back 
and the front (where the goods is cut on 
the straight) ; also the hip seams should 
be slanted so as to give the greatest pos¬ 
sible width to the bottom of the puff. 
It must be cut longer than the ordinary 
tunic so as to allow for the puffing out. 
The easiest way to finish the bottom is 
to put a narrow hem on the tunic and 
then run a cord through it, as it is 
easier to keep the gathers in the right 
place than if gathered in just the ordi¬ 
nary way. Sometimes these puffs are 
finished with a ruffle. While this may 
be made separately, and put on at the 
last, much the easier way is to allow 
the additional length of the ruffle on the 
tunic itself, and then either put a tuck 
in the material or sew a bias piece of 
some soft material where the top of the 
ruffle is to be and shirr on a cord. 
The New t Bustle. —The bustle effect 
in the back can be obtained by making 
quite a full skirt and allowing extra 
length both at the top and bottom of the 
back breadth. Then start a little away 
from the side seams and gather the full¬ 
ness of the back breadth until it makes 
the skirt the usual width, and tack it to 
the lining yoke of the skirt. The width 
of the puff will depend, of course, on the 
person who wears it, for, of course, a 
very thin person would look better in a 
very full puff, w'hereas a person at all 
inclined to stoutness should have a small¬ 
er puff. The depth of the puff to get 
the best results in effect is usually about 
a third of the length of the entire skirt, 
but this can be determined individually 
by trying on in front of a glass. How¬ 
ever, to get the right effect the skirt 
must be draped up in the back so as to 
give the narrow effect at the bottom of 
the skirt. In fact, nearly all the skirts 
this year are draped up in the back in 
contrast to those of last year, which 
were draped up in front. 
Waists and Sleeves. —Now as to the 
dominant note in waists and sleeves. All 
the waists open in front, and the major¬ 
ity have the V-shaped opening at the 
neck, although occasionally you see the 
rounding and the square effect in front. 
But they all have the flaring collar of 
some sort, which is loosely fitted to the 
neck—in fact, that loose effect must be 
given to the entire dress—there must 
be no look of tightness anywhere. The 
opening in the front is filled in with all 
sorts of soft materials, depending on the 
character of the dress; lace, tulle, net, 
chiffon or little vestees of washable or¬ 
gandie (sheer lawn or batiste will an¬ 
swer), with flaring collar to match, usu¬ 
ally finished with machine hemstitching. 
Sometimes there is a shaped collar of 
satin, or whatever the girdle of the dress 
is, and inside of that a frill of lace, 
wnred to stand up at the back like a 
Medeci collar. As to sleeves, anyone can 
have what they want so long as they are 
plain at the armhole—that is, no gathers. 
The kimono sleeve is still used, also the 
extra large, slightly enlarged and ordi¬ 
nary armhole, and all lengths are per¬ 
missible. On the elbow and three-quarter 
length sleeves there is usually a cuff of 
some sort with a frill of lace, net or 
batiste, whereas the full-length tight 
sleeve has no cuff but is finished plain 
with a frill. As to girdles, anyone can 
also have what they like. There are a 
great many Roman striped girdles and 
girdles of contrasting materials, some 
finished with a bow, while others have 
a little bunch of flowers of contrasting 
colors to hide the fastening. 
Coats, or Wraps rather, are of three 
general styles—the short, flaring Eton 
jacket; the big, voluminous wraps, all 
shirrings and frills; and the capes, 
which seem to be mostly in military ef¬ 
fect. As figured and striped goods are 
combined with plain materials, and coats 
are sometimes of different material than 
the skirts, only being trimmed in some 
way to show that they belong to the 
skirts, or else being of a color contained 
in the skirt, it is easy to make over old 
dresses and coats. 
MRS. BELLE BEARDSLEY. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns always give 
number of pattern and measurements de¬ 
sired. Price of each pattern 10 cents. 
Drcts for Misses and 
Small Women. 6775 Girl’s Apron, 
16 and L years. 8 to 14 years. 
8214 Child's Petticoat, 
2 to 6 years. 
8228 Boy’s Box Plaited 
Suit, 2 to 8 years. 
8224 Fancy Blouse, 8210 Tucked Blouse, 
34 to 42 bust. 34 to 42 bust. 
208 Girl’s Long 7872 Gathered Blouse 
Yaisted Dress, 4 to 8 with Square Yoke, 34 
years. to 42 bust. 
