Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1918 — SHORT CUTS IN NEEDLEWORK [ARTICLE]

SHORT CUTS IN NEEDLEWORK

Suggestions That Will Save a Few Minutes' Time Are Most Welcome in These Busy Days. Time is way above par nowadays. Everybody is busy. No one has' time to devote to fine stitches if big stitches vjill do. Hence any suggestion which will save a few minutes by the clock are welcome. What about these? If you need a casing for the top of a camisole or nightgown or kiddie’s frock in a hurry, try making a wide cat-stitch on the outside of the garment with a heavy silk or mercerized cotton. You can run a ribbon or tape through this and make it decorative, as well as useful, in a much shorter time than stitching on the usual bias facing. There Is another way, too, of crocheting a row of open filet mesh and sewing It on. This takes a little longer but wears well for wash clothes. White-bone knitting needles slip through the wool much quicker if they are first filed on a plain kitchen file, as you would a 'cad pencil, into a long smooth point. In hemming towels or table linen don’t stop to make knots. They are unsightly, anyway. Just run the stltchc* for the first half-inch very small with a back stitch or two, and do the same at the end of a thread. With the new thread begin over the last few stitches in the same way and you will never need a knot A loose feather stitch for sewing tucks into dresses for growing girls is much better than either hand embroidery or machine stitching. It wears well, takes but a short time and does not show the marks of the stitches when removed. Don’t pin patterns if you are In a hurry; you are sure to pin crookedly. Use weights of books, heavy desk articles or small bags filled with sand for the purpose. They hold as well as pins and are a much simpler proposition.