The ends in _your_ hand, _left_ you twist; To the _right_, I turn _mine_ with the wrist; By the _center_, _I_ hold the twisted strand: Let go! A rope for dolly,―grand! A knot in each end next we tie, Then fringe each end, both you and I. A girdle for a queen not neater, No queen than dolly could be sweeter.”
“Isn’t that a lovely girdle!” exclaimed Mary Frances.
“It is!” agreed Fairy Lady, “and now, with the Needle-of-Don’t-Have-to-Try, finish the bath robe, ready for tacking the girdle in place.”
[Illustration: Twisting each end opposite way]
“It’s the loveliest thing I’ve ever made,” cried Mary Frances, holding up the soft woolly robe to view, “and it’s all finished for my darling Mary Marie,―except the hook and eye.”
[Illustration: “It’s the loveliest thing!”]
“Not quite,” said Sewing Bird Fairy Lady; “we like to teach little girls to be neat,―and how can Mary Marie hang up her clothes without
Flat loops are sewed to inside of coat or waist collar, or skirt bands.
1. Cut narrow tape one-half an inch longer than the right length for the space in which it is to be used.
2. Turn under the ends one-quarter of an inch, and baste in place.
3. Hem down each end on three sides, the width of the tape.
4. Sew with a double row of stitching across the tape just beyond the hemming.
Are used on towels and on inside of sleeves.
2. Overhand the two ends together in center, for a distance of three-quarters of an inch from the ends.
3. Turn back the two ends one-quarter of an inch, and baste to the hemmed edge of towel, or muslin, and hem down.
4. Turn to right side. Hem down the cloth to the tape at the lower edge of the hem. Fasten thread.
“Of course,” exclaimed Mary Frances. “Why, my dear Sewing Bird Lady, I couldn’t be neat myself without ‘hangers.’”
“Neither can Mary Marie,” sang Sewing Bird.
“Could she be sweet, Could she be neat, From her dear head To her cute feet; Without the stitches Made with care, Without a comb For her fair hair, Without some mending Of her clothes, Without clean hankies For her nose,
Without a patient Mother’s sewing? But hark! Dear friend, You must be going! Peep-Peep!”
[Illustration: “Just the thing!” exclaimed Fairy Lady]
THE sun shone brightly into the sewing-room; everything was neatly in place. Sewing Bird was sitting on her perch on the sewing table. Mary Frances’ work basket was at one end.