"Make It Yourself"

by Sarah A. Gordon

Home Sewing, Gender, and Culture, 1890–1930

22 of 40

Susan Sews a Skirt

Marking Darts

Susan uses wax tracing paper and a tracing wheel to mark the fabric where the darts need to be sewn. The V-shaped darts, once sewn together, will shape the waist of the skirt. Before this paper was available women would sew through the pattern with colored thread to make their markings.

Photograph by Sarah Gordon.