Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/413

 391 NEEDLEWORK HEEBILEWORSi FOR CHARITY By Mrs. F. NEVILL JACKSON {Author of " A History of Hand-made Lace^" etc.) The Organising of "Working Parties, and so forth— The style of Garment Required by the Poor— Good Materials and Good Workmanship an Essential — How to Make Petticoats, Overalls and Knickers HE busy housekeeper is seldom too busy to spend an hour every week making clothes for the little ones whose mothers have no time to spare. The poor woman is so often a bread-winner that it is difficult enough for her to keep her home tidy, and impossible for her to make and mend. By means of a ribbon in a slot the flannel is drawn into a cosy and warm hood I ^^H Some charity workers like to join a guild ^^B^ party, and to sit at home sewing such clothing as the guild sets its members to make. Occasionally assistance is given in cutting-out, and parcels can be obtained all ready prepared, for workers who take the sewing home to do. Then the task is simple. Good, strong clothes only are re- quired, and the garments should be forwarded to headquarters at a time specified in the rules of the society. Sometimes a dozen or so of ladies form themselves into a little band and arrange to meet at a centrally situated school- room, parish hall, or at the houses of the members suc- cessively one afternoon a week, or perhaps twice a week during Lent or Advent. With such a club or charity work society a small subscrip- tion would be asked of each member, so that materials could be bought. It is a good plan also to solicit subscriptions for the cause from non-working members. Many women whose social engagements will not How them to spend an iternoon in sewing, will m Infant's hood and wrap of Saxony gladly lend financial assistance to so excellent a cause. It is pleasant if the secretary or some promi- nent member has a room large enough to accommodate the working party ; then diffi- culties with regard to the lighting and heating of the meeting-place do not arise. It is a good plan if each member has the party in turn. Tea, with plenty of bread-and-butter and cakes, should be served at 4.30, if the working party is held in a private house, but no elaborate preparations are necessary. If the meeting is held in a parish room, the little meal is usually omitted, or reduced to the simplest elements Avhich can be undertaken by a caretaker at the hall. A good, firm table without a cloth should be provided for cutting-out, and much confusion is saved if there is but one cutter. Complicated patterns and a diversity in the style of the garments will be thus avoided. Quality of Materials Materials of good quality only should be used ; it is cruel to give to womea who move about much in the performance of hard bodily work, shoddy garments which wear through directly. Ruskin advised that in working for charity only the best stuffs should be used, and if good enough quality could not be obtained it should be specially woven. Few charity work guilds could undertake to obtain specially woven stuffs, but all can strive to. work only upon material which is sound, pure, and durable. One or two sewing machines will prove in- valuable for joining up long seams. The day has passed when hand-work was considered the only desirable type, and many women consider it a waste of time to sew tucks and seams in useful garments by hand, and reserve hand -work for ornamental stitching, such as the tiny tucks in an orna- mental nightdress or cambric camisole. For buttonholes, strong, good work by hand, of course, is essential, and since compara- tively good needlewomen often profess inabiUty to make ser- viceable buttonholes, it is an excellent plan to instal one member as buttonhole-maker- in-chief. This ensures uniformity and good workmanship, but tact will be required in arrang- ing the matter. The sewing on of buttons is another subject which should receive special attention. Two or three fairy stitches ever so neatly set in with No. 60 cotton, are of no use to the made with one yard mother of a family who has to flannel delegate the fastenmg of the