Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/254

 DRESS 232 CAL LESSONS IN TAILORING FOR HOME WORKERS AND OTHERS By M. PRINCE BROWNE Examiner in Dressmaking, Tailoring,. French Pattern Modelling, Millinery, and Plain Needlework, of the Teachers in Training at the University Colleges of South Wales and Monmouthshire, Cardiff, the London Technical Examination Centre, etc. Author of '■'■ Up-to-Date Dresscutting and Drafting^'' also " Tlie Practical Work of Dressmaking and Tailoring. Continued from pa^e 13, Part I. SECOND LESSON. SEAMS Lapped Scams— Strapped Seams — How to Make the Strapping — Cording and Piping Seams ■yHERE are various methods of making seams in tailoring. In the one most fre- quently used the two pieces of material are placed together, the right side of the one piece facing the right side of the other, and machine stitched together on the wrong side. The width of the turning left beyond the stitching depends on the make of the material — e.g., if a firm, closely woven cloth is being used, a narrow turning, about half an inch in width, is sufficient ; but if the material is of a loose make and likely to fray, such as serge, etc., the turning must be wider, or the seam will not wear. When stitched, the turnings of this seam are usually separated and pressed flat. In a skirt the lapped seam usually turns towards the back. In a coat with lapped seams the centre hack seam must be stitched slightly to one side, so that when the seam is lapped the centre of the back of the coat is exactly between the two rows of stitching, otherwise the back of the coat will be crooked. The centre back seam is not always lapped, even though other seams may be so made. In that case, the back seam would, of course, be stitched down the centre. The shoulder seams usually lap over towards the back. Sometimes the hack seam of a sleeve is lapped (towards the back), but the inside seam is never lapped. Lapped Seams There are two methods of making lapped seams. One is to stitch the seams together as just described, but instead of separating the turnings, they should be turned over, the same side, and pressed double. The pressing must always be done on the wrong side. It is advisable to cut the one turning slightly narrower than the other, so as to graduate the thickness to avoid, as far as possible, marking the material on the right side by a thick edge of turnings. A row of ornamental stitching can then be made on the right side of the garment, on and close to the edge of the seam, or about half an inch from it. Another method is to turn in the raw edge of one piece of the material on the line which has been marked (for stitching the seam) by tailor tacking, and tack it down so that the row of tailor tacking is along the edge. The piece of material to which it is to be joined should be placed flat on the table, right side uppermost, and the piece with the tacked down edge placed on it, also right side uppermost, covering the raw edge of the piece on the table, pinned and then tacked, so that the turned down edge just meets the tailor tacked line of the under piece. A row of machine stitching must then be made on the right side on, and close to the edge of the seam. A second row can, if desired, be placed about a quarter of an inch or more from the first row. strapped Seams Strapping is used on the seams of coats and skirts ; it is also used as a trimming, put on in rows and in patterns. The material to be used for the strapping should be cut just double the width the strapping is to be when finished, and exactly on the bias. The simplest way to do this is to place the material on the table, face down- wards, measure the number of inches of the width of the material, measure the same number on the selvedge, and make a chalk mark. Take a tailor's square or a long rule and draw a straight line from the chalk mark to the opposite corner (see diagram 9). This line will be exactly on the bias, or cross, of the material. Diagram 9 How to find the bias of a material N.B. — Crepe, serge, or any diagonal material should be cut across the diagonal, and not with it (diagram lo).