The work shown was plain sewing, the cutting and making of new
garments, and the mending of old ones.
The first principles of sewing were shown on neat little squares of
cloth--running, hemming, stitching, gathering, and buttonhole-making. Then
there were garments in which all these first steps were applied.
While every country has sent specimens of clothing made by its children,
and each exhibits its own system of teaching sewing, none of these systems
seem so complete nor the finished garments so perfect as those of our own
country.
In foreign countries no particular attention seems to be paid to the
cutting, shaping, and ornamenting of garments. The little underclothes
from Switzerland and Germany, especially, were made of such coarse cloth,
of such a hideous pattern, and so utterly without ornament, that it is not
pleasant to think there are really people in the world contented to wear
such unsightly clothes.
In the American exhibit, every garment, for rich child or poor child, had
its little frill of lace, or its row of feather-stitching, which gave it a
finish that was very pretty.
The daintiest set of garments came from the Industrial School for Colored
and Indian Children, in Hampton, Va.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40