CHAPTER 8
WAISTS, BLOUSES AND SHIRT-WAISTS. PART II.
Blouse Materials and Trimmings—Seams—Collars—Cuffs—Collarless Neck—Blouse Closing—Plaitings or Frills—Bottom of Blouse—Shirt-Waist Materials—Seams—Front Closing—Blind Closing—Gibson Tuck—Back Yoke—Neckband—Slash in Sleeve—Cuff—Sewing in the Sleeve—Bottom of Shirt-Waist—ButtonholesDetached Collar
THE SEPARATE BLOUSE is made on easier fitting lines than the dress waist with a fitted lining. The style, use and materials demand this easier fit. When a blouse is made of a material that is not transparent the general principles for making it are the same as for finishing the dress waist. (Chapter 7, Part I.) When a blouse is made of a transparent material everything is done to give it the sheerest effect possible.
MATERIALS AND TRIMMINGS. Transparent blouses are made of lace, trimmed with lace, or of net trimmed with lace or embroidery. They are also made of Georgette, chiffon, crêpe de Chine or silk voile and trimmed as elaborately as one likes with embroidery, beading or lace. All the newest designs for embroidery, beading and braiding can be had in the Butterick Transfers illustrated in Needle-Art. The methods of applying lace are given in Chapter 27, pages 134–136. Blouses of cotton voile or batiste may be trimmed with embroidery, lace, hand drawn-work and hand hemstitching. The latter are easy to do on cotton voile or batiste because the threads draw easily. Handkerchief linen is lovely with hand drawn-work or hand hemstitching or lace, or a combination of the two, as they make material look more transparent.
Hand drawn-work and hand hemstitching can be done on crêpe de Chine, Georgette and silk voile, but the threads are more difficult to draw.
Embroidery, beading and drawn-work used on the body of a blouse should be done before the underarm seam is closed. It is easier to handle the work in this way.
On many of the more transparent blouses machine hemstitching is the only trimming. (Chapter 25, page 118.)
SEAMS. Underarm and sleeve seams are usually French seams. (Chapter 17, page 86.) For shoulder and armhole seams the sheerest effect is given by machine hem- stitching. It can be used on any of the transparent materials unless handwork is used on the blouse. In that case if the sheer seam is desired it is better to use Valenciennes or Cluny seaming. Valenciennes seaming is the best to use on batiste. Cluny should be used on cotton voile, handkerchief linen, Georgette or crêpe de Chine, The seaming is put in with narrow rolled hems. (Chapter 27, page 133.)
A very fine cord piping is used to finish the shoulder and armhole seams of many fine French blouses. (Chapter 26, page 131.) The cord piping should be included in the seams and then trimmed off with the seams to one-quarter of an inch width. The edges are finely overcast. (Chapter 16, page 82.) This effect, of course, is not as sheer as the seaming or machine hemstitching.
A tailored effect can be given a sheer blouse by turning the shoulder seams toward the shoulder, and the armhole seam toward the neck, and stitching close to the seam on the outside of the blouse. The seam should then be trimmed off to one-quarter of an inch depth and finely overcast. (Chapter 16, page 82.) At all times seams should be made as inconspicuous as possible.
COLLARS. Collars may be single or double according to the transparent effect desired. When a single collar is to be joined to a blouse of a material sufficiently transparent for
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