A textbook from the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences (Scranton, PA) on the materials used in sewing. It opens with the development of textiles (fiber preparation, spinning, weaving, knitting, cloth finishes, dyeing). Separate sections cover cotton, linen, wool, silk and rayon: production, manufacture, tests for quality and adulteration, and tables of fabrics with weave, width, price and use. The last third is a history of lace, with methods of making it and an alphabetical guide to many hand- and machine-made laces, illustrated with paired photographs.

A 1923 textbook from the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences (Scranton, PA), serving as a reference volume in its dressmaking series. It covers the development of textiles (spinning, weaving, knitting, finishing, dyeing and printing) and chapters on cotton, linen, wool and silk, with tables of fabrics giving weave, width, price and use. A long chapter on laces describes hand-made and machine-made varieties with photographs, followed by embroideries and findings, mending (darning, patching, stocking repair), household sewing (linens, curtains, bedspreads, cushions) and an illustrated dictionary of trade and sewing terms with an index.