Page:A complete course in dressmaking, (Vol. 1, Introduction) (IA completecoursein01cono).pdf/122

 Keep a good supply of pins and needles on hand. It is a waste of time to stop in the middle of your work and go to the store for the necessities.

Black headed steel pins are the best to use. They are much easier to pick up than the ordinary metal pin and they are so slender and sharp that they will not mar even fine fabrics.

Elastic bands come in handy for slipping on a bundle of cut-out pieces or the pattern if the envelope is torn.

Paper weights are excellent for holding the pattern to the goods while cutting. No sewing room is complete without paper, pencils and a sharp knife.

If You Have no Sewing Room, keep a chiffonier or chest of drawers in which to put your work. Also reserve one closet or part of a closet in which to hang the partly finished garments.

Where the dining-room table must be used for a cutting table, buy the rubber floor matting such as is used in hospitals. It is thick enough so that a tracing wheel will not punch through. It can be rolled up when not in use.

Another way of protecting the table is to quilt a thick pad, put this on the table and then cover it with table oilcloth.