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Dresses for the Girls 
Making Over for Winter 
By Esther A. Cosse 
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L ight-weight clothes.— ideas 
have changed with the times about 
the dress of the little women. Formerly 
they had to have clothes made of heavy 
materials, the heavier the better, since 
parents used to think it was necessary 
to have all heavy clothes. Now young 
girls wear their ginghams, muslins, or 
cotton material all Winter, especially for 
school clothes. Parents in these days 
Plain Gingham Dress. 
have come to realize that what they need 
are heavy coats, furs, etc. They need a 
warm jacket under the coat if it is very 
cold, something to keep their ears and 
hands warm and then they are ready for 
any emergency. In fact, some days they 
wear all their heavy clothes, and the next 
leave some of them off. If grandmothers 
could come back to earth and see little 
folks go out one day bundled to their 
ears in warm clothes and the next day 
with just an ordinary coat they would 
be horrified, and would feel sure that 
they would be down with pneumonia the 
next day. But it is not so, since people 
are now dressing according to the weath¬ 
er. Our seasons are so irregular that 
this is necessary. If we went out every 
day with the same amount of clothing for 
both warm or cold days, many would 
have pneumonia which can be avoided by 
dressing for the weather. If little folks 
wear light-weight clothes when they go 
to school, they can remove the heavier 
outer wraps and be comfortable while 
inside, since the schools are often too 
warm for the good of the pupils. 
Lengthening A Skirt. —Gingham 
dresses will get too short, but don’t 
throw them away. One way to alter the 
length of a skirt, is to use the outside 
skirt as a tunic. From a piece of old 
or new white material, make a skirt and 
sew a fold on the bottom to make it long 
enough for the child. Make the fold 
about three inches wider than is neces¬ 
sary and the white lining will not show 
if the little one sits down, as the skirt 
is apt to draw up a little. If the sleeves 
are too short or too narrow, insert a 
piece of the plain material which you 
are using for the skirt. If the waist 
is too narrow, cut it up the front and 
after making a vest or guimpe of either 
white or colored material, sew the front 
of the waist to the vest. This will give 
the necessary width. If the back is too 
narrow do the same with the back, only 
cut it up the center back and hem the 
insert. 
Altering A Dress. —Many times a 
dress is good, but the child has grown 
tired of its style. To bring it right up 
to date, take a piece of embroidery or 
lace, four inches wide and make a pretty 
little collar which can be sewed to the 
waist to change the appearance. Meas¬ 
ure from the center each side, three inch¬ 
es and make a square corner. Shape it 
out a little in the neck. Get what is 
called collar wire, really light weight 
lace wire and wire it up the center of the 
back and to each point. Many times we 
have this wire in the house. Go to an 
old hat which has been trimmed with a 
bow of ribbon. Rip out the ribbon wire, if 
white, and cut one of the wires from the 
edge. You will find three of these cov¬ 
ered wires in the ribbon wire, but oue is 
sufficient to hold a collar. Turn the 
edges back firmly or they will slip out 
when they are worn. A tiny tuck is 
sewed in the lace and the wire run 
through and tacked on each end. Then 
sew the collar to the waist. Take the 
remainder of the yard and a quarter and 
make cuffs for the sleeves. Perhaps you 
have a piece of plain material in the 
house which would match some color in 
the gingham. Make a pretty belt with 
two ends, one longer than the other. The 
ends should be lined and one cut square 
and the other round. Sometimes the 
waists are too short, insert a belt of some 
material and cover it with the plain color 
just described. Also make collars and 
cuffs to match. 
Making Over. —For silks, woolen or 
heavy cotton materials, laces and ribbons 
are used to redecorate the dresses. Many 
times mother has had a dres.s which 
could be made over into a dress for the 
daughter. These dresses should be care¬ 
fully ripped apart, cleansed, usually with 
warm water and white soap, though it is 
possible to buy special soap for woolen 
materials. I had a blue silk dress which 
was satin on one side and like crepe de 
chine on t u e other. The satin side was, 
of course, the right side. The dress was 
good, but on account of not being used 
very often soon became out of style, so 
I decided to make it over for the little 
girl. She was delighted with the idea of 
having a new silk dre~s. So I ripped it 
Gingham Dress Finished With White 
Collar And Sasii. 
carefully apart, except the lining, which 
was large enough for the child, but a 
little short-waisted. In order to save as 
much time as possible I washed the lin¬ 
ing and put it on a band, which made it 
right. The silk I also washed, and 
pressed on the right side while it was 
wet. I say wet, but it wasn’t exactly as 
it came from the water. I hung it in the 
shade for 15 minutes, then wrapped it in 
a towel and in a short time iioned it. 
By ironing it on the right side it was 
necessary to use the wrong s.de, but 
it was beautiful. All dust and spots 
were taken out by gently rubbing be¬ 
tween my hands while in the lather, but 
I didn’t touch the silk with the soap 
since it would have spotted it. Then I 
laid on the pattern. Every piece was 
pinned to the silk before I staited to cut. 
I found I didn’t have quite enough silk, 
so I tried to match it in color and bought 
a little velvet and some cream lace. The 
velvet was used for a fold about the bot¬ 
tom of the skirt and for a dropped girdle 
with a long end, lined with silk. The 
lace made the front, lined with a small 
piece of white net, and the rolling collar, 
such as was described previously. The 
little girl had a beautiful dress, and it 
cost very little for the trimming, or $1 
for the entire dress. 
Altering A Coat. —One of my long 
coats was made over in the same way. 
but there was very little work attached 
to it. The coat was ripped and damped 
and pressed, which was done by damp¬ 
ening with a wet cloth and ironing on 
the wet material. Of course, the material 
used for wetting woolen material should 
bo a cotton that will not shed lint. Old 
muslin is often used. Then after wetting 
it thoroughly place it over the cloth and 
iron, but the iron should never touch the 
wool, as it will burn and shrink the 
cloth. As the coat was seamed, the 
seams were pressed very carefully. The 
cloth was 1 'own, and after discovering 
that red was to be a popular color this 
season I found some pieces of red velvet 
which had never been used. It was 
wrinkled, so I heated a flatiron, laid it 
upside down on a high pan. then placed 
the wet cloth over it and drew the vel¬ 
vet over it in order to steam out all the 
creases. When this was done I had 
enough to make and trim the eulTs and 
collar. The coat was then lined with 
the lining which had been used in the 
large coat, but. I had washed and ironed 
it. When completed the coat was taken 
to a tailor to have the button holes 
worked in, which cost me 10 cents for 
each one of the large ones, and five cents 
for the small ones. 
Remodeled Hat. —The child needed a 
hat to wear with the coat, so I started 
out to find something to make her a 
new hat. From one that had been used 
the previous season I ripped some black 
velvet, which I steamed. Then from an¬ 
other I ripped makings and found a 
frame which after the crown was made a 
little lower and the brim a little smaller 
was one of the new rolling sailors. This 
I covered carefully with the velvet, put¬ 
ting on the top brim first and drawing 
the edge over the brim to the facing and 
sewing with a firm stitch. Then I cov¬ 
ered the crown. The piece was large 
enough to cover all the way across and 
I drew it to the base of the crown and 
sewed it. I didn't have enough to turn in 
the edges, but afterward drew around to 
cover the stitches a narrow piece of black 
ribbon (No. 5). A tailored bow with 
four loops finished off this band. The 
facing was then put in and fitted to the 
edge. I slipped a wire under the edge 
and sewed in by stitching back and forth 
with small stitches under the wire, but 
with invisible stitches on the top side. 
The girl was very fond of flowers, so I 
made some pink poppies from ribbon and 
silk which I had about the house and 
used some foliage from flowers which I 
had. I tore some old flowers apart to 
get the centers, and backs and the rubber 
stems. The petals were cut out of silk 
with rounded edges at the top and meas¬ 
uring 2R> inches. The two pieces were 
run together on the wrong side and 
turned inside out. Four of these petals 
were made for each flower, then sewed 
Girl’s Hat—Plain Trimming. 
to the center and the back slipped on, 
then the rubber stem drawn ever the 
wire. Two poppies were used and one 
bud, which was made of the silk to look 
like a rose bud. These flowers were 
tacked on the left side. To change off 
with the Powers I made a bow of ribbon, 
which I always pinned on with safety 
pins. The child could then change and 
saved me the necessity of making two 
hats. For school, I made a scarf of a 
piece of fancy ribbon, by sewing fringe 
on the edge and draped it around the 
crown. The hat was practical and it 
didn't make any difference how many 
times it was knocked to the floor, the 
trimming was just as I left it. The 
child didn’t come home from school with 
a bow that was crushed or soiled, but 
was always as fresh as when new. 
Mothers used to think they had to 
make children’s gaiments big to allow 
for growth another year. Now they 
don’t do that. Even the hems in the 
skirts are not doubled under as they 
used to be, but an ordinary hem is used, 
and when it gets too short, face it. or 
if necessary, use a false hem, which is 
made by stitching on a piece and having 
the stitching where it is sewed on cov¬ 
ering the piecing. Materials are so rea¬ 
sonable and ginghams can be bought in 
such pretty designs that mothers can 
make garments of this sort at very small 
expense. 
The Cat and the Door Bell. 
MORE perfect example of worthless 
feline felicity than Ginger never 
lived ; and yet he lives, and no oue sug¬ 
gests that he might better make room for 
a cat with fewer toes upon his feet and 
a greater disposition to lay them upon 
the rats and mice that occasionally show 
themselves on the place. Tops.v, the lit¬ 
tle black mother of all the other cats 
upon the farm, is worth many times her 
weight in steel traps, and the enthusiasm 
that she annually shows for “better ba¬ 
bies,” and more of them, makes her rank 
as almost an expert in eugenics. Big 
brother Mutt lets few days pass by in 
which he does not bring to the house 
some trophy of the chase, and he treads 
the path as proudly when he has robbed 
the cradle of an infant mouse as when 
he carries a rat with tail nearly as long 
as his own and body that makes its cap- 
tor hold his head high to keep it from 
the ground. He couldn’t be spared, but 
Ginger, with black feet that look as 
though they were encased in padded box¬ 
ing gloves, was never known to eat any 
game that was not brought to him, or 
to display a useful trait of character in 
any line. When small, he was so full 
of kinks that G’nger seemed the only 
name appropriate for him, but in his 
adulthood he faces life with sublime con 
fidence in three square mea'ls a day, ready 
provided. Behind that confident, optim¬ 
istic. smile of his lie some brains, how¬ 
ever. and these have probably been the 
means of prolonging his life, and may do 
so indefinitely. If he hadn't them how 
could he have learned that the way to 
gain entrance to the house was to ring 
the door bell and wait for some one to 
open the door? Our sitting-room door 
is armed with an old-fashioned gong that 
is struck by pulling down an outside 
lever. This lever has a porcelain knob 
on the end, and requires some force to 
operate it. When about half-grown. Gin¬ 
ger learned in some unknown way that 
if he would reach up and hook both fore 
feet over that white knob and then pul! 
down until he heard a loud bang some 
one would open the door. No one ever 
made any effort to teach him this, unless 
it might have been Mutt who stands up 
and pounds the door knob with one paw 
when he wants to come in, but, in some 
way, he certainly learned it and lie put 
his knowledge to good use. Through 
the Summer a screen door kept him away 
from the bell, and it wa thought that 
he would probably forget his skill as a 
bell-ringer. The other night, however, 
the screen door was fastened back, and 
it being somewhat cold Ginger evidently 
wanted to come in and warm his 2S 
toes. About midnight a loud ring at the 
door awakened the man of the house and 
brought him to his feet. Upon opening 
the door, in strutted Ginger with his 
everlasting smile and confident purr. He 
promptly went out again at the back 
door, however, and the man returned to 
bed. Nothing again disturbed the family's 
sleep until about five o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing. when the door bell rang. Nobody 
was fooled this time and nobody went to 
the door; again the bell rang, and again 
and again until it was struck six times 
Girl’s Hat Changed By Different 
Bow. 
in succession. Maybe there was a neigh¬ 
bor at the door and, if not, such per 
sistence certainly called for recognition. 
The door was opened, and in gurgled 
His Inky Blackness and padded his way 
to the sofa where he knew that a soft 
blanket lay folded. M. b. d. 
