File:NEEDLEWORK. (1910) - illustration - page 146.png

English: Illustration from page 146 of NEEDLEWORK..

Image reference: "54"

Caption: "NEEDLEWORK. Quote: "Meanwhile, the mistress of the house may begin her needlework. Needlework is the first qualification of the Japanese housewife. As all clothing for both sexes is made by hand, the wife who is a good needlewoman effects a great saving to her family. Clothes for daily wear are remade every year, sometimes oftener; those belonging to one person may be taken to pieces and remade for another member of the family; and old clothes which show signs of wear are redyed, turned inside out, or resewn to hide the torn seams. The underwear is also subjected to similar transformations. Sometimes a cloth may be remade from the unlined to the lined or wadded, or vice-versa. It is no light task to make shifts to enable the whole family to present a decent appearance, so that even in an ordinary-sized household there is no end of needlework to be done, and unless she is very active or well-assisted, the housewife finds it pretty hard to keep abreast of the seasons with a stock of neat, newly-made clothing. Even in a family where she has no need to sew herself, she must have a fair knowledge of needlework so as to be able to cut the cloth before giving it to the needlewoman in her employ or sending it out to a seamstress; for unless she can by her knowledge check the amount of cloth used, she may be robbed with impunity of odd bits and ends. The Japanese needlewoman’s work-box is commonly a square or oblong case with two drawers, one above the other, of nearly the same breadth as the case itself and another pair of half the breadth side by side on the top. Into these drawers are thrown threads wound round square, flat pieces of wood or cardboard, odd bits of rag, scissors shaped like shears, and a bone cloth-marker. On one side of the case is an upright post with a flat hole for inserting a bamboo foot-measure, and on the top of it is a little box for the needle-cushion. To the post is attached a small loop of string, to which the cloth to be sewn is hitched with a needle, as pins are, or rather were until recently, unknown. Sometimes the needle-cushion is on an upright of its own, apart from the work-box, and has a long base which is pressed under the knee while the cloth is fastened to the loop. The thimble is not of metal, but of leather or thick paper and is nothing more than a ring put over the first joint of the middle finger. In sewing, the needle-cushion upright is put to the right of the worker, and an end of the cloth is hitched to the loop. The threaded needle is held and the tip only is moved up and down while the cloth itself is gathered in small folds on the needle; and when there are enough folds on it, the needle is pushed forward with the thimble and the folds are pulled over the thread and straightened out. The needle is then drawn out until it is stopped by the knot of the thread at the first stitch. The same process is repeated. The cloth is re-hitched to the post from time to time as the stitching goes on. This manner of sewing is often mentioned as a peculiarity of Japanese needlework; but the Japanese woman is so used to it that she can sew very rapidly in this way. It cannot be resorted to when the stitches have to be very close or the cloth is too thick or stiff to be doubled into little creases, in which case the needle has to be passed through at every stitch. The Japanese needle is of a very primitive kind; it is made of iron or badly-tempered steel, for it is very brittle; and it rusts rapidly while the eye is square and apt to cut the thread. The danger of the Japanese way of sewing with beginners is that when they bring back the needle after passing it through, they not unfrequently scratch their right cheeks with it if the thread is long.
After a cloth has been sewn, it is ironed. The iron is a deep metal pan with a flat, smooth bottom and a long handle. Into it red-hot charcoal is put and the pan is heated enough to blacken any paper that it is laid on for a minute or less. It is then moved rapidly over the cloth to be smoothed; sometimes when there is some danger of the cloth being burnt, a piece of paper is put over it before ironing. For ironing edges and corners, a small thick trowel with a long handle is used. The end is put into a brazier under the charcoal, and when it is hot, it is wiped and pressed over the part to be smoothed. The degree of heat is judged by holding it close to the cheek; and the beginner often burns her cheek by bringing it too close. The housewife, therefore, who is an adept in needlework, has plenty of work before her. The clothes and underwear for herself and her husband and children require making and unmaking. Those for holiday wear do not need remaking every season; but everyday clothes have to be taken to pieces, washed, and remade, For the children she would want two or three suits for each season, as the Japanese children have, notwithstanding their proverbial gentleness and tractability, as great a capacity for soiling and tearing their clothes as the little folks of any other country; besides, Japanese clothes are more readily soiled than European. The wife has also the bed-clothes to make. These, when they are soiled, are taken to pieces, washed, and remade with fresh layers of cotton wadding. Cushions for squatting upon are also remade when they are soiled, which may be once in one or two years. In the matter of sewing, then, woman’s work is never done in Japan any more than elsewhere. Of course a lady who employs servants does not undertake all the sewing herself. She sets the servants between hours to work on clothing and bedding that do not require skill or delicate handling; but she has to assist in putting in the wadding and probably gives the finishing touches to the clothes. ""