William Deskitt Foot Vincent

“ IT is with some degree of pleasure I look upon this, the first Part of "The Cutters' Practical Guide to the Cutting and Making every kind of garment;" for while I have done my utmost to make the work as complete as possible, so as to be of greatest service to the cutter in daily practice, the publishers have brought it out in a style and finish which not only maintains their reputation, but excels, I think, any previous effort. ”

“ These are not so often used in tailoring, still we do occasionally see garments braided without any apparent design—a sort of higgledy-piggledy arrangement, but in the midst of this disorder, these must be order introduced, if it is to become ornament: thus the outline of the braiding must be clearly defined, either by a border limiting its outline. In nature we frequently find a fine disorder which produces a beautiful effect, but the charm which nature throws over her works by careless foliage of trees, the dasies in the field, the stars in the heavens, cannot be reproduced in costume. ”

“ The waist length of all Tunics should be cut to the nett measure, as no such thing as a "fashion waist" exists in garments designed to be worn with a tight-fitting belt. In any case, it is better to cut the length of waist 1⁄2 inch too short than too long.
A stand of 5⁄8 inch is left on down the left forepart for the button holes, but the button-stand should always be seamed on down the right forepart so as to ensure a snug fit down the front edge. ”

“ Diagonal folds have a very graceful appearance, as they neither produce length at the expense of width, nor width at the expense of length; there is a grace about the curve which take away all hardness of outline, and makes it generally a favourite. It should be remembered that whenever a fold is introduced, the artistic effect is the same as if a line was placed on the figure, which makes it appear longer in the direction it is running. In arranging drapery it is always advisable to keep the straight thread of the material straight down the front ”

“ When collar-facings are used, great care must be used to avoid soiling them, a caution which is very necessary, seeing so many of them are of a very light colour. We have not yet referred to the finish at the waist, but it should be borne in mind that the waist is to be made to fit closely. It is customary to put a waist-belt and clasp on the inside, the colour harmonising with the lining. ”

“ There is no golden rule for this; nothing but practice and experiment can teach you how to drape artistically for all your customers, inasmuch as every figure has its peculiar feature, its points of beauty to bring out, its points of ugliness to tone down ”

“ The human body is symmetrical. When we stand face to face with a human being, his body appears to be composed of two halves united in the centre, and these two parts, without being identical, correspond in such a manner that the right side, if folded over on the left, would exactly cover it. This repetition in reverse is what is called symmetry, though the original meaning of the word signified what we now understand by proportion. Diagram 132 is a capital illustration of symmetrical braiding, and is a copy of a military design for a cuff. ”

“ It is now a generally acknowledged truth that the ladies' tailor must do something more than fit the body. The seams must be located with due regard to harmony and proportion, and, whenever possible, going over the prominences and hollows of the body; for then, plain sewing only is necessary, whereas as soon as the seams are placed on either side of a prominence, then that part which goes beyond the prominence must be fulled on in order to get the receptacle for it in the proper place, but this we have dealt with in the letterpress referring to diagram 35. ”

“ Ere we lay aside our pen, we will only state by way of conclusion, that we have aimed at the production of a work that should supply the young cutter with all he may require to fit him for the post of a ladies' tailor. Such has been our aim, our readers will judge whether we have succeeded in carrying out that aim to a practical issue. We desire to instruct, to improve, to encourage, and it may be that even in the defects of our work, others may take courage and persevere midst adverse circumstances and innumerable difficulties till a successful issue results. ”

“ Many accidents to ladies thrown from their horses, having been very much aggravated by their Habit Trains catching in the saddle, has induced some of the inventive minds to prepare a Train in such a style as would not offer the least resistance to the complete fall of the lady from her horse. We have recently had several of these through our hands, and the diagrams on Plate 36 is a reduced model of one of these, and which, if our readers will reproduce by the ordinary tape, will be suitable for an average lady of 24 waist and 40 side length. ”

“ But if the cutter once realises that the human figure has its points of depression and prominence, and that the garment he is cutting has to fit that, and not to lie flat and smooth on a board, then he will realise the importance of the form of fit.
The form of style
May then claim his attention. Fashion must be consulted, but if he would be an artist tailor he must tone down fashion follies by the application of art rules. If the' garment is loose and baggy, vertical lines may be introduced to take away the shortening tendency of the amplitude of width. ”

“ This must be a continuous study on the part of the cutter, for fashions change so rapidly, one style succeeds another so speedily, that unless he is on the alert, he will soon drop back into the second rate: for it is well known that ladies' make a study of dress; they not only know what is the latest style, but they also understand every application of art, and very often some of the laws of science. They will often tell you where the seams of their garments must be placed, and they know the effect certain styles of ornamentation will have on the body ”

“ We know in practice that suppression at one part causes fulness at another, and if that suppression is done in the form of a fish, it throws fulness both above and below, and as the breasts are usually much more prominent than the stomach, it follows as a natural consequence that there is too much material below the waist in front. There are two ways of avoiding this difficulty. The first is illustrated on diagram 35, and is the one mostly used in the country, and consists of coming back from the straight breast line 1⁄2 an inch at the waist, and drawing it through to bottom. ”

“ It is the tailor's aim to make the outside fit; the lining is merely an accessory; it is the dressmaker's aim to make the lining fit. Have your bone casings put in very long over the waist; let them be made from material on the bias; do not let them come higher than the top of the darts, or nearer the bottom than 1⁄2 an inch; let the bones be carefully prepared and firmly secured. In sewing the seams, full on the round ones a trifle, especially when they are joined to a hollow; put the collar on long in the gorge hollow, and keep the sleeve tight round the back scye. ”

“ Let us suppose the edges of our garment is to be bound. Lay the fall of the outside collar quite flat on the sleeve board, and on this place the fall of the collar lining, and put a basting thread along the crease row, and then the fall is basted from the outside, the collar being slightly bent to allow of the outside being a trifle the longer, then turn the collar over and put in a row of stitching about 3⁄8 of an inch from the crease, this keeps the stand in its place The collar is then bound and sewn on. ”

“ The former slavishly follows the run of every seam, whilst the cutter merely takes the essentials of fit from the old garment, and then goes to work to infuse as much art as he possibly can, so as to, as far as possible, bring out the points of beauty or tone down those prominent features which would detract from the grace of the garment on the figure. ”

“ The slashed sleeve head, the pleated topside, those arranged with sleeve capes, as well as the high puffed sleeves, all have the same result, though the extreme to which they are carried clearly indicate that the original purpose of merely providing sufficient room for the shoulder has been lost sight of, and fashion has been allowed to hold the reins of fancy.
Variations in the width of the elbow should be made equally at fore and hindarms, though the preference should be given to the hindarm, to make the larger share of the increase, and the forearm to decrease. ”

“ All that requires to be done is to extend the skirt to the length desired. It will always be well for the cutter to bear in mind that the ladies' Ulster does not bear the same relation to the ladies' Jacket, that the Chesterfield does to the Lounge for gentlemen; on the contrary, the ladies' Ulster is in reality nothing more than a very long Jacket, preferably cut a trifle easier on account of it being often made from thicker material and being more used in Winter when thicker underclothing is being worn. ”

“ We are frequently asked on which side to put the holes in a lady's jacket. To this Ave can only reply, that there appears to be no universal custom amongst ladies' tailors. There can be no doubt, however, that ladies' are more accustomed to have them on the right side, and by ladies' tailors this is most usually done; and as habit beomes second nature with many, it will be well to consider this matter carefully before putting them in the left side as is occasionally done by some ladies' tailors, and universal with all gent's garments. ”

“ That length should govern length, and width govern width, seems such a common sense rule, that we can hardly realize any other plan being adopted, and yet many cutters of the present day cling to the relic of a byegone age, fixing every point of the garment by division of width. Of the fixed points in the body two stand out prominently as starting points of great value to the cutter. These are the centre of back and the centre of front, and it will be well for every cutter to realise that at these parts the body is hollow, that is, there are decided depressions ”

“ The stand of the collar should not be made too deep, neither should there be too much fulness in the sleeve heads, but we shall deal with the sleeves as we proceed, taking one of this size as an example. Although we are showing the working of the system by means of a Dress Bodice, yet as far as the principles of fit are concerned, they would be applied in the same manner to Jackets, Ulsters and Dolmans, the variations in style being produced by altering the position of the seams, and increasing in a more or less degree the allowance for making. ”

“ These are often worn with blouses, sometimes separate, sometimes fastened to them; being generally of a contrasting colour, they add much to the effect. They are very simple to cut, the system being as follows:—Take a forepart and back of the size breast desired, and place the shoulder seams together, mark down the back seam for the centre of the collar, and then round the back neck and down the front as low as desired; the length and width being quite a matter of taste, we can only refer our readers to the diagram as a guide, which is but an example to be varied from as desired. ”