PREFA0E, -^_.
in music, discord offends the educated ear, and has a demoralizing effect on the symphonious aspirations of the uncultivated, so in dress, a badly fitting garment is very offensive to the artistic eye, and detrimental to the growth of the aesthetic sentiment in those whose artistic tastes have not been educated and developed. It is like a weed in the garden of Fashion, marring the beauty of its surroundings, and encouraging the growth of more. How requisite it is, therefore, to encourage an art, the acquirement of which makes it easy to avoid the defects and imperfections which result from the clumsy though probably labored efforts of the unskilled. In the "good old da}'s" the women were celebrated for their needlework, but the sewing-machine work has in a great measure superseded hand work, until the latter is almost a lost art. Happily, educators have awakened to the fact that a girl's education is incomplete without this useful art, and needlework is about to be an important part of every girl's education. To become a dressmaker without a thorough knowledge of the rudiments of plain sewing is impossible, hence the necessity of beginning at the foundation, and acquiring the desired knowledge step by step. In presenting this work to the public, the writer aims to make plain the rules and methods of scientific dressmaking. To give all the various ways of doing each part would require unlimited space, and would only tend to mystify the beginner. Any complicated or difficult methods are to be avoided, while simplicity, accuracy and artistic effect are to be the aim in this study. In the hands of competent teach-
S
ers,
this
work may be made highly
useful
in
schools,