a round close thread, and is
perfectly white; for, if it be not white, at first, it will never
afterwards become so. Much that is called linen, at the shops, is half
cotton, and does not wear so well as cotton alone. Cheap linens are
usually of this kind. It is difficult to discover which are all linen;
but the best way, is, to find a lot, presumed to be good, take a sample,
wash it, and ravel it. If this be good, the rest of the same lot will
probably be so. If you cannot do this, draw a thread, each way, and if
both appear equally strong, it is probably all linen. Linen and cotton
must be put in clean water, and boiled, to get out the starch, and then
ironed. A long piece of linen, a yard wide, will, with care and
calculation, make eight shirts. In cutting it, take a shirt of the right
size, as a guide, in fitting and basting. Bosom-pieces, false collars,
&c. must be cut and fitted, by a pattern which suits the person for whom
the articles are designed. Gentlemen's night-shirts are made like other
shirts, except that they are longer. In cutting chemises, if the cotton
or linen is a yard wide, cut off small half gores, at the top of the
breadths, and set them on the bottom. Use a long rule and a pencil, in
cutting gores. In cutting cotton, which is quite wide, a seam can be
saved, by cutting out two at once, in this manner:--cut off three
breadths, and, with a long rule and a pencil, mark and cut off the
gores, thus: from one breadth, cut off two gores, the whole length, each
gore one fourth of the breadth, at the bottom, and tapering off to a
point, at the top. The other two breadths are to have a gore cut off
from each, which is one fourth wide at top, and two fourths at bottom.
Arrange these pieces right, and they will make two chemises, one having
four seams, and the other three. This is a much easier way of cutting,
than sewing the three breadths together, in bag-fashion, as is often
done. The biased, or goring seams, must always be felled. The sleeves
and neck can be cut according to the taste of the wearer, by another
chemise for a pattern. There should be a lining around the armholes,
and stays at all corners. Six yards, of yard width, will make two
chemises.

Old silk dresses, quilted for skirts, are very serviceable. White
flannel is soiled so easily, and shrinks so much in washing, that it is
a good plan to color it a light dove-color, according to the receipt
given on page 301. Cotton flannel, dyed thus, i