Materials For Practice

Cashmere, 5x3 Inches.

Silk A. (To match cashmere.)

Needle, No. 10

Application

In neckwear, trimming for hats, or folds on dresses. Use. - In dressmaking and millinery to hold two edges of cloth together; to hold down a hem where the hemming-stitch would show too much, or to fasten on trimming such as bias bands, cording and folds.

Fitness

The stitch is almost invisible and is well adapted to dressmaking and to millinery.

There are many forms of the stitch adapted to various requirements. Rule. - The form of the stitch is like the running-stitch (Fig. 50). It will hold material securely and yet be almost invisible on the right side. The material or the hems to be slip-stitched down must be carefully prepared and basted in place. The thread must be securely fastened. The stitch is made on the wrong side of the material well under the edge of the fold. The fold is turned back a little with the finger and a long running stitch is taken through the fold and then into the material catching but a couple of threads and not going through to the right side of the cloth. It continues with a long stitch in the fold and an almost invisible one in the material. To fold and slip-stitch both sides of a long bias or straight piece in order to make trimming, first turn the raw edge of the upper side toward you, and second, turn the edge of the lower side away from you in a small fold and again in a deeper fold, which will almost cover the one on the upper side of the strip. All raw edges will thus be concealed and the lower fold will overlap the upper. Slip-stitch one fold down on the other and use the same stitch to sew the folds to the garment. In millinery the stitch may be drawn in such a way that the fold may be fitted into a place, yet the material will not look wrinkled. Fine needles are used in slip-stitching. The work requires practice and neatness of touch.

The same form of slip-stitch is sometimes used combined with a backstitch, where a fold is to be held on the outside of a gown. The stitch is taken on the right side of the material well in as well as under the fold so it will not show, but a good hold is taken in the material under the fold. This form is apt to draw the material.

Another form of the stitch is called slip-hemming. It is used to hold the raw edge of a fold to the material when the double fold used in hemming would show through. It is more used in millinery than in dressmaking. The edge of the material is folded over once. A stitch is taken, resembling the herring-bone, but is made from right to left and does not have the crosses. The stitch is like a running stitch. It is first taken in the fold above the raw edge and then below in the material, but in the latter a very small hold is taken, so it will not show on the right side of the cloth.

Fig. 50. - Slip-Stitching.

Practice

Take a piece of cashmere 5x3 inches. Turn a hem of 1/2 an inch along one long edge. The first turn of the hem must be about 3/8 of an inch, baste this down 1/4 of an inch from the edge of the fold when turning the 1/2 inch hem. Slip-stitch the hem to the cashmere under the edge of the fold according to the rule.