Cutting, Basting And Fitting Waist

Follow the directions for these processes given on p. 96. Note carefully the placing of the pattern for a back or front opening. Make all necessary alterations after fitting, and try on again.

Finishing Seams, Etc

Both waist and sleeve seams should have a uniform finish. Use a French seam, a plain seam with edges turned in and run together, or set entre-deux or lace insertion into the seams; fagoting or hemstitching may be used. The box plait may be stitched by hand, sewed with a running stitch, feather-stitched, hemstitched, tucked or corded, in keeping with the rest of the waist. The hem on the under side need only be run. The bottom of the waist should be finished with a narrow hem.

Waist Line Finish

An elastic run through a narrow hem makes an excellent finish. A narrow tape, either linen or twilled cotton, may be used for a belt. Place it as you would for a shirtwaist. Should you prefer to keep the waist without gathers at the waist line, in order to make laundering easier, one of the clever devices sold by the stores for keeping waists in place might be substituted for the belt.

Sleeves

The sleeves may be gathered or set into the armhole without fulness. The seam may be plain, with a bias strip of material basted in with the sleeves holding the material toward the waist. Stitch all together, and fold the binding inside the sleeve and hem it down to the stitching of the sleeve. A cord may be set inside a bias strip of material and placed between the sleeve and the waist; the edges of this seam will need to be overcasted neatly. Some prefer to set the sleeve with a French seam, but it is very difficult to keep a good line on the armhole in using this method. The sleeve, if long, may be finished at the hand by rolling and whipping the edge, by setting on dainty ruffles of material or lace, or both. These may be gathered on a cord, shirred with a heading, or rolled and whipped to place. Small turn-back cuffs, trimmed with insertion or edged with a frill of lace or footing, or a tiny plaiting of the material, are placed with the right side of the cuff to the wrong side of the sleeve, a narrow seam sewn and overcast and the cuff turned over the right side of the sleeve. The seam of the sleeve may be left open for about two inches and finished as you would a placket on a lingerie skirt (p. 254), using very small snaps for fastening. When a deep cuff is applied, it may be left open its entire length, faced on both sides and finished with buttons and loops, or buttons and buttonholes, or it may be seamed to within two inches of the bottom and this opening finished like a placket (Fig. 208). Turn the edge of the cuff in at the top and baste to the lower edge of the sleeve which has been gathered to fit it. Then turn the sleeve to the wrong side and turn in the raw edge of the cuff on the line of the outside edge. Stitch through cuff at the top, or finish in any way that the waist is finished. The cuff may be finished at the hand with a hem, with or without frill of lace, or in almost any way fancy dictates.

Fig. 208. - Cuff finish for lingerie blouse.