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48 THE BELT. Make the belt following the pictures given in the Deltor or Illustrated Instructions.

Fasten your belt with good-sized hooks and eyes. Number eight is the best size to use for this purpose. For a belt of average width sew three hooks on the right end of the belt, placing them about one quarter of an inch in from the edge. Sew them through the rings and over the bill.

Sew three eyes on the left end of the belt, letting them extend far enough over the edge of the belt so as to fasten easily when the belt is hooked. Sew them through the rings and at the end of the belt. Except for a very narrow belt always use three hooks and eyes; with only two hooks and eyes a belt of ordinary width will bulge at the center.

PLAITS, SHIRRINGS, DRAPERIES, ETC. Lay in all the plaits, shirrings, draperies, etc., in the outside skirt, following the Deltor or Illustrated Instructions included in every Butterick pattern. Baste the seams. (Chapter 2, page 17.)

ALTERATIONS. Try the skirt on. If the above instructions have been followed at every point and each step of the work has been done carefully, the skirt should fit perfectly with possibly some minor adjustment of the length.

If through some small miscalculation the waist is too large, it can be taken in at the seam or darts if it is plain at the top. If the skirt is gathered, the gathers can be drawn a little closer. If it is plaited, the plaits can be made a trifle deeper.

If the waist is too small, the seams or darts can be let out if the skirt is plain at the top and allows for this alteration. If no allowance is made for this alteration, the skirt could be raised a trifle higher on the belt all the way around. If the skirt is gathered at the top, the fulness can be let out the necessary amount. If it is plaited, each plait can be let out a trifle.

In altering seams or darts the alteration should run gradually to the hip, unless the skirt is large or small at that point, in which case the alteration should run all the way to the bottom of the skirt. Be careful not to fit the skirt too tightly over the hips or the skirt will draw up and wrinkle when one sits down and will get out of shape. If the skirt sets properly, the center line at the front should be perpendicular.

HANGING A GORED SKIRT. To make sure a gored skirt is an even length all the way around, cut a strip of cardboard two inches wide and ten or twelve inches long. Make a notch at one long edge at the distance at which you want the skirt to clear the floor. Put your skirt on and stand on a table. (Ill. 85.) Have some one mark the correct length with the marker and pins. (Ill. 85.) Take the skirt off, turn it up at the pin-line and baste it.

Try the skirt on again, to be sure that the lower edge is perfectly even before hemming or facing it.

There are two ways of hanging a skirt if you have no one to help you. Take a straight, flat stick or a yard-stick long enough to reach from the floor to a line on the skirt which you can reach easily without bending. Just below the fullest part of the hips is the best point. Stand the stick upright on the floor, with one end touching your figure, and place a pin where the top of the stick touches the skirt. Move the stick around the figure a few inches at a time, marking it at each point. Take off the skirt and measure from the pins down to the correct length. Mark the correct length with pins. Turn it up, baste it and try it on.