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The Mary Frances sewing book

Chapter 36: Chapter XXXIV What Was in the Fairy Bag
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About This Book

A young girl spending a summer with her grandmother meets a cheerful cast of personified sewing tools that teach her both through story and demonstration. The narrative episodes introduce step-by-step guidance in stitches, seams, buttonholes, darning, and other practical techniques, alongside patterns and projects for dolls and simple garments. Illustrated chapters mix playful adventures with clear instructions and troubleshooting tips, showing how to set gathers, make hems, and sew on buttons. The book culminates in an imaginative visit to Thimble Land and the girl's safe return, reinforcing patience, careful work, and confidence while providing usable reference material for beginners.

Chapter XXXIV
What Was in the Fairy Bag

THESE are the things Mary Frances found in the bag in Mary Marie’s suit case when she got home:

Rain
Coat

NOTE.—Make rain coat about an inch longer than cape.

To cut out—

1. Cut out by pattern of Fur-lined Cape.

In the fronts, cut open the Arm Flap Opening.

Do not cut a collar.

2. Cut hood, having arrow edge (➸) of pattern on lengthwise fold of goods.

3. Cut four arm flaps.

To make—

1. Make in same way as Fur-lined Cape, but without a lining. Press seams open.

2. Before joining shoulder seams, face fronts back as in making Automobile Coat.

3. Pin two arm flaps together, right sides facing.

Pin two arm flaps together

Stitch one-eighth inch from all edges except the arrow edge (➸). Turn inside out.

Baste along the stitched edges.

Stitch along the basted edges.

4. Sew to flap-opening in position shown by dotted lines on pattern.

Draw up
gathers
to fit
head

As in putting on a band, stitch first through a single thickness of open edge of flap. Turn; baste and hem down other edge.

5. Overhand closely and blanket-stitch the under edge of flap opening.

6. Make a very narrow hem around the circular edge of hood, or line with plaid silk.

7. Three-quarter inch from edge of hood (see dotted line on pattern) run a gathering thread of very coarse cotton. Do not draw up the gathers.

8. Make a three-quarter inch hem in bottom of coat.

9. Matching double notches carefully, pin the hood to the coat, with wrong sides facing each other.

Join hood to coat with French seam.

10. Try coat on doll. Draw up and fasten the gathers of hood to fit head.

To cut—

(Material: white corduroy.)

1. Cut four pieces like pattern of Polo Cap.

To stitch facing

2. Cut a bias strip of goods, two and one-half inches wide, twelve and one-half inches long.

To make—

1. Beginning at the point, baste sections of cap together, right sides facing each other.

Match the notches.

Stitch each seam.

2. Join ends of bias strip or band, in a plain seam.

Scalloped
edge of
lace for
sleeves

3. Turn in one edge of band one-quarter inch.

4. Turn cap wrong side out.

Baste other edge of band to the edge of cap, having the right sides of band and cap facing.

In doing this work, stretch edge of bias band a little.

5. Stitch one-quarter inch from edge.

6. Turn band or facing up on wrong side.

Baste and hem in place.

(See dotted line on pattern.)

7. Turn cap right side out.

Turn up faced edge of cap on outside, nearly the full width.

NOTE.—Cut and make a guimpe of lace. (Pattern 19.)

Do not use bands for sleeves, but cut sleeves narrower than pattern, and place the scalloped edge of lace at ends of sleeves.

Turn facing up on wrong side

To Cut Wedding Dress
See Insert X

1. Spread goods out on table.

2. Pin pattern for Front of Wedding Dress with arrow on lengthwise of goods.

Bring
folded edge
over to
basting

3. Pin pattern for Back of Wedding Dress on goods.

Place the shoulders of both patterns together. Cut out. (See picture.)

4. Prick, with a pin, through lines showing the plaits, or use a tracing wheel. Remove pattern, and run basting thread through these pinholes.

Cut a separate train,—for lining of the train of wedding dress. Cut it like the pattern of the train.

To make—

1. Baste lining train-section to train of dress, right sides facing.

Stitch one-quarter inch from edge. Turn, and baste along edges.

2. To Make Plaits—

Fold goods backward along the lines of basting nearest the center-front and center-back. Baste.

Bring folded edge over to other line of basting.

3. Lay flat, and baste all the way to bottom of dress and train. Press with a warm iron.

4. Stitch plaits down four inches from the waist line in front, and three inches in back.

Pin shoulders together

5. Finish neck with a very narrow hem. Work French knots around the hem.

6. Make a narrow hem from waist line in front, across the shoulders, to waist line in back.

Spider’s
Web

7. Join skirt with French seams.

8. Face the skirt, under arms, with an inch-wide bias facing.

9. Open plaits at bottom of dress.

10. Cut a bias facing one and one-quarter inches wide, for bottom of dress. Baste facing on right side. Stitch one-quarter inch from edge. Turn up on wrong side.

Baste. Turn in, and hem the facing on wrong side.

11. Turn in and hem the facing of train.

Cut bag ten inches wide, and twenty-eight inches long. Make like Laundry Bag. Do not overhand seams, but make French seams.

Or,

Use a large flowered handkerchief.

1. Fold handkerchief through the center, wrong side out.

2. Stitch through the center of the folded handkerchief.

3. Fold over on the stitching.

4. Stitch, or overhand the two folded edges which are lying together.

5. On one side of handkerchief turn down one thickness of goods. (Like an envelope flap.)

Ladies’ Work Bag

Ladies
belt design

Do the same to the other side. “Tack” the center of the upper part of the folded edge of the flap to the single thickness lying just beneath. Do same to other side

6. Make a small “box” plait (or double plait) in each single thickness of handkerchief at top.

7. Sew the plaits together, and fasten a loop between the plaits.

Finish bag with two little cotton balls, sewed to the lowest point.

This makes a many-pocketed bag, and would be a pleasing Christmas gift to your mother.

1. Buy belting which is sold by the running yard.

2. Embroider the design given on this page upon the belt.

Trace design through carbon paper; or transfer by tracing through tissue page, and turning the picture face-down on the material; trace picture again on wrong side.

NECK OF BIB

1. Buy smallest size “huck-a-back” towel.

2. Embroider on it the cross-stitch design given on this page.

3. Through tracing paper, copy outline of neck given on this page. Cut out pattern.

4. Fold towel through center lengthwise.

Cut neck by pattern.

Cross stitch pattern
29. Wedding Dress

INSERT 10
PATTERNS 20⋅29⋅
20. PARTY DRESS
29. WEDDING DRESS

This pattern plate should remain permanently in book
so that tracings on tissue paper can be made from it as required.


5. Bind neck with cotton or linen tape, leaving ends long enough to tie.

1. Trace pattern of collar through tissue or transfer paper. Cut out.

2. Place pattern with double ring (oo) edge on a lengthwise fold of linen.

3. Trace design on collar.

Girl's Collar pattern.
CUT OUT NECK—THEN JOIN A TO A AND B TO B

3. Use zephyr, in a tapestry needle, and work as in picture on this page.

4. Weave, with a contrasting shade of zephyr, in and out of the long stitches already taken.

Cut a hole in a piece of muslin: draw edge together with the fingers, and darn with cotton thread as above. Stockings are darned in the same way. In actual darning never use a knot.

Darning
Stitch

Darning is usually done by use of the running stitch. Use fine thread—cotton is preferred, about the size of the weaving threads of the goods. Draw the edges of the tear together, and weave across the opening with the running stitch. If the tear is very large, first baste a piece of goods like the garment under the tear, and take the stitches into this. Sometimes a raveling thread of the material is used to make an almost invisible darn.

1. Cut the hole to make a small square, clip corners, turn edges back and baste.

2. Cut piece of goods three-quarters of an inch larger, on each side, than the hole thus formed, being careful to match figures of material. Clip corners off this piece and turn goods back on right side one-quarter of an inch, and crease.

3. Pin and baste this under the hole, matching figures carefully, and hem down, on right side and wrong side. Remove bastings.

GINGHAM FLANNEL
Patching

Doll’s Wedding Dress