More Mourning Attire Etiquette 1908

Collar and cuffs sets of white crepe. – Worn with mourning attire, they serve to relieve the gloominess of all black. Dull fabrics for whites are required.

Collars and cuffs are worn with mourning and serve to relieve the gloominess of all black. Organdy generally is worn by widows throughout the entire period, and linen and several other materials are worn by other members of the family. These dainty accessories require care and thought to arrange properly. Organdy does not launder satisfactorily and must be discarded after a short time. 

One way of adjusting is to cut foundations from stiff black crinoline the width of the cuff, smaller on the wrist edge. On this the organdy is basted, after being folded to fit it, a single edge one inch deep being turned under to represent a hem. On one side of the cuff sew small white linen buttons, three or four, according to its width, and opposite these cut buttonholes through both crinoline and organdy. If carefully done this will be neat.

The finishing of seams, methods or hemming, setting in of lace, etc… are of unfailing interest to women who like to sew well. In any white work it is exceedingly bad to leave a raw edge. In years gone by many women in making the long seams on underwear would stitch it on the wrong side on the machine, then have a quarter inch edge left which was overcast together in the finest possible manner. The reason for this was that it was supposed to lie so flat, iron more easily, and look better when done. But the French or felled seams, if not clumsily done, make a fine finish and are generally preferred.

When one can take the time and can sew evenly these seams are sometimes done by hand. This almost seems a waste of time, when nearly all of us have so many calls on our time. But if the work is to be hand sewed, the first sewing of either of the seams named is done by taking several running stitches and then a back stitch. In the finish of the felled seam it Is hemmed, and in the French seam it generally is run. To look neat the stitches must be tiny ones and perfectly even. 

A French seam is made by running and back stitching a seam on the right side or stitching it on the machine, trimming it off close, creasing it well. and, turning to the wrong side, a second row of stitch- ing is put in, which covers the first row. The finished seam should not be over an eighth of an inch wide. A felled seam is stitched first on the wrong side, then one edge is trimmed close to the stitching, and the other edge is turned over and hemmed down. It is a nice finish to do this hemming by hand. The finished width should be the same as the other. _San Francisco Call, 1908

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