first stitching as shown in Illustration 240. This gives a firm edge.
Pin the closing edges together with the upper and lower ends even. Place a tape-measure along one edge and with pins mark the position for the hooks and eyes. For a waist they should be one and one-quarter inch apart. The hooks and eyes are sewed on alternating (Ill. 240). for this arrangement holds the edges closer together and prevents them from unhooking.
The hooks may all be sewed on one side and the eyes on the other side of the opening if preferred but the alternating arrangement is usually considered better.
Separate the two rings of the hook at the back to make it lie flatter. (Ill. 240.) Place the hook well inside the edge and sew through the two rings and over the end of the bill. (Ill. 240.) This last sewing should be one-quarter of an inch from the edge of the garment. (Ill. 240.)
In sewing on the eyes let the eye extend just far enough beyond the edge of the garment to fasten easily. (Ill. 240.) Sew the eye through the two rings and at the edge of the garment. (Ill. 240.)
Sew them securely for the sewing will give a little if there is any strain on the closing.
Be careful in sewing the hooks and eyes on the second side of the closing to have them exactly opposite the eyes and hooks on the first side.
After the hooks and eyes are sewed on, turn back the edge of the hem or facing and hem the fold edge by hand to the row of stitching near the edge of the closing (Ill. 240), covering the sewing of the hooks and eyes. (Ill. 240.)
BLIND LOOPS are used on garments fastened with hooks and eyes, to take the place of the eyes. The process of making them is shown in Illustration 241. Mark the position of the loop opposite the hook, knot the thread and bring the needle up through the material. Make a bar tack the desired length (Ill. 241) by taking three or more stitches one over the other. Working from left to right, hold the thread down with the left thumb, and insert the needle, eye foremost, under the bar and over the thread. (Ill. 241.) The use of the blunt end of the needle facilitates the work. Draw the thread up, letting the purl come to the lower edge of the loop. (Ill. 241.) Repeat the stitches, covering the entire bar tack, and fasten on the wrong side. (Ill. 241.) Sometimes the bar tacks are made in the form of a cross-stitch.
Ill. 241. Blind Loop
