Development and use of an objective rating scale to evaluate the extent of home sewing

Abstract

An objective rating scale was developed to evaluate the extent of sewing done by homemakers of Bozeman, Montana. With the aid of committees of homemakers and professional home economists, rating scales were formulated to measure three major aspects of sewing and from them a score was derived for 47 articles of sewing. These values were then applied to the sewing reports of 276 homemakers. The resultant scores were used as a basis for the study of factors thought to influence the amount and kind of home sewing. Lower cost, satisfaction and enjoyment were the chief reasons for home sewing given by the homemakers. The greatest difficulties reported were in pattern alterations, and the construction, fitting and style of garments. These homemakers devoted an average of four hours per week to their sewing activities. Eighty-two percent of the homemakers were doing some sewing and had increased the total amount done during the two war years. Garments most frequently made were house dresses, aprons, and skirts for girls and women and pajamas for all family members. Many more articles were renovated during the two-year-war-time period than for the corresponding pre-war period. The data were secured by questionnaires in which homemakers gave information concerning their family status and their sewing activities and problems. They were requested to estimate the amount of sewing done during the past four years, 1940-1943 to allow a comparison of the amount of sewing done in two years of war time with that done during the two pre-war years. The development of the rating scales which make possible a quantitative evaluation of home sewing is considered the most valuable contribution of this thesis. This device should prove of value to those responsible for clothing curricula, to students as a means of judging their progress, to homemakers desiring an evaluation of their work and to those people interested in making studies relative to home sewing practices.