Fashion Design Drawing

Run the bone into the pocket at the bottom of each casing and fasten it at the top by sewing through both bone and casing. Sew through again three inches above the waistline. Then push the bone very tight, so it will stretch out the seam and give a curve at the waist (Fig. 236), and sew again there. If the finished edge extends below the waistline, fasten the bone again one-half inch from the bottom. (Fig. 236.) Do not spring the bones in the front so much as at the sides and back. The greatest curve is required at the under-arm seams, less at the front and back.

For Covered Featherbone, the method of boning a waist is somewhat different, since it is stitched to the lining by machine, without an applied casing.

The seams of the lining are pressed, bound and marked as for whaleboning. The covering is ripped about half an inch on one end of the featherbone, the bone is cut away, and then the covering is turned over the end, giving it a neat finish. This end is placed over

the seam at the mark. Keep the center of the bone over the seam; stitch it in position. Care must be taken to push the bone up and draw the lining down while stitching, as otherwise the lining is likely to be held in on the bone, causing it to wrinkle. Its inexpensiveness and convenience are qualities that have made featherbone very popular with dressmakers. It is obtainable in many different styles, and in twelve and thirty-six yard lengths, so that it can be used without waste. The bone is cut off a trifle shorter than the mark for the length of the waist.

The hooks and eyes, alternating, are sewed on after the bone has been slipped into the casing. (Fig. 237.) Separate the two rings of the hooks at the back to make the hooks lie flatter. Place them well inside the edge; sew through the two rings and also around the end of each hook this latter sewing a quarter of an inch from the edge. Sew completely through, to insure durability, allowing the stitches to go through to the right side. Be careful when sewing the hooks and eyes on the second side of the front to have them exactly correspond in position to those on the opposite side.

When all the hooks and eyes have been sewed on, turn back a seam at the edge of the facing piece, and hem it over by hand to the row of stitching nearest the edge, thus covering the stitches for the hooks and eyes, as shown in Fig. 237.

Many dressmakers prefer to have all the hooks on one side and the eyes on the other side. If this method is preferred, take care again that the hooks and eyes are sewed on in such a manner that the waist will not gape. The bill of the hook must be one-quarter of an inch back from the edge of the waist and sewed on firmly through the lining at both rings and bill. The eye should extend just far enough beyond the edge to be easily hooked one-eighth of an inch and should be sewed firmly at the rings and at the edge of the material. The sewing of the hooks and eyes will give a trifle, even with the greatest care, when the waist is worn.

Hem back over the hooks and eyes in this case also, the hem or facing, bringing it close up under the turned-over part of the hook, and covering the sewing.

Baste an inch-wide bias strip of soft crinoline around the bottom of the waist three-eighths of an inch from its lower edge on the inside. Turn the edge of the waist under a seam's width and catch-stitch it to the crinoline. Cut a bias strip of lining one and a half inches wide. Turn under one edge and hem it down as a facing on the turned-under seam at the bottom of the waist. Turn under its other edge and hem it neatly to the waist, covering the crinoline. (Fig. 238.)

Cut a belt of silk or cotton belting sold for this purpose. Make it three inches longer than the waist measure. Turn back an inch and a half at each end,

Fashion Design Drawing - Lined Waists 5.jpg

sew a hook on one edge and an eye on the other, and hem the raw edges over them as shown in Fig. 240. Mark the center of the belt and sew it to the center-front seam if the waist opens in the back or the center-back, if it opens in the front and to the next seam on each side, with the lower edge of the belt one-half inch above the waistline. (Fig. 239.) Sew across the width of the belt with a long cross-stitch to the inside of the seam. If the material of the waist is thin and transparent, the fitted lining should first have a scant draping of mousseline which serves to cover the seams of the waist and holds out the outside material.

Sew the eyes to the back seams of the lining to correspond to the hooks on the skirt, making the waist belt overlap.