Cutwork

“ The modern method is that of numerous facets, geometrically disposed to bring out the beauty of light and colour to the best advantage. This is done at the sacrifice of material, often to the extent of half the stone or even more—the opposite of the Oriental idea. There are various forms of such cutting, but three are specially employed, known as the brilliant, the rose and the table-cut. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Murray's series of Handbooks, which seem destined to embrace all the arts of life as well as all the sights in the world. Miss Lambert's [ii] treatise is one of practical utility, its information being the product of experience: after sketching the history of needlework, it proceeds to describe the various kinds of materials used, such as wool, silk, gold thread, beads, &c.; the canvas, patterns, frames, and implements, required; the different kinds of stitches; the mode of working certain patterns and shapes; the processes of embroidery, knitting, and netting. ”

“ Here we can find the reasons why certain parts can be worked the very contrary, and both ways will fit, and for this reason a newly-arrived jour. should be thoroughly instructed by the cutter, as to how things must be put together according to his cutting, and the cutter himself should be a good tailor, or at least he should know how it is to be made, even if he can not do the sewing. A cutter who is a thorough tailor himself will always be a better cutter than the one who only knows how to cut, all other things being equal. ”

“ The first cut should, if possible, be deep enough to get beneath the scale, especially if turning cast iron, as a tool which just grazes the hard outer surface will be dulled in a comparatively short time. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In practical garment cutting, a cutter is often compelled to cut some backs narrower or smaller on the same kind of a garment in order to save material, or in some cases, when a larger garment is to be cut down to a smaller size, where the points around the back of the armhole, or at the shoulders, cannot be made even with our patterns, then it comes handy for a cutter, if he be able, to place certain quantities on either back or front and take it off on the other. ”

“ At my right hand is a woman cutting wood. This is part of the women’s work, and they have learned the art of using their cutlasses so well, that, in a short time, they cut and carry on their heads more than I can raise from the ground. ”

“ As you have watched work on a house, have you ever stopped to figure how very much of a workman's time was spent in first measuring, then cutting, then trying and perhaps refitting the material—all this is against the very small amount of time required for fastening and nailing? Well, we save you all that fuss and waste by furnishing the material not merely cut, but cut to fit more accurately than hand labor ever could. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If a cutter will go to the expense and trouble to cut and make for himself a skeleton coat, cut over Dia. III, omitting all seams sidewise, and for this reason reducing the square of 18 to 17, and using nothing in front and outside of the angle of 15 deg., in fact cutting nothing out except the armholes and the shoulder seams, and using some stiff material, such as heavy vest padding or French canvas, he will be able to form for himself a correct idea of the workings of the angle of 15 deg. ”

“ Very rarely, if ever has a work so comprehensive been published in connection with the art of cutting. For though nominally a work on Juvenille Cutting, it embraces nearly every garment made by tailors. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The fit of a seamless coat must be put in by the maker, and it takes a cutter and a maker who knows what he is about, and one who don’t care how long it takes to make one and what it costs; in fact, it must be a work done for pleasure—not for profit, except perhaps to gain knowledge, for “Knowledge is Power.” ”

“ Obviously then the direction of cutter and work revolution and of feed, in cutting angular grooves in which one angle of the cutter is at a greater degree of angle than the other to the side of the cutter, should be so arranged that the work revolves towards that side of the cutter on which its teeth have the greater angle, whether the spiral be a right-hand or a left-hand one. In cutting grooves not truly circular the same principle should be observed. ”

“ And as to cutting, it is only necessary to place the number of pieces of fabric desired to be cut in cutting dies, or upon a table, and over them an “over-board” cutter, which comprises a reciprocating band-saw, or a rotary knife, all quick, keen and delicate, in an apparatus guided by hand, in order to produce in the operation a great pile of the parts formerly so slowly produced, one at a time, by scissors or shears. ”

“ Some are of such a soft and yielding nature that any attempt to cut them is an utter failure, for in place of a perfect section being obtained, nothing remains upon the knife but a mass of diffluent pulp; others, again, are of such density as to resist the action of any cutting instrument. ”

“ When the eccentric cutter is used, always set the tool exactly in the centre of the work, at its lowest degree, before you begin any pattern, or you will never be quite sure that your work is done straight; when once you have settled the centre, the patterns will diverge regularly and evenly from it. In the patterns we are going to describe, the slide rest fixes the position of the tool; the chuck must be screwed down to the proper situation to meet it, and the cutter tool must then be screwed out to cut the circle required. ”

“ In fitting clothing according to the present style, a cutter must see, though he is compelled to cut a coat for a long neck higher than usual, that it gets not too high, but as low as possible for that purpose, and cutters who are not above trying on will often find it to advantage to change the height of the collar a trifle, thought the fit may be the same for all. ”

“ One man was working in iron over a little charcoal fire, with a boy to blow up his bellows, and several more were busied over some pottery, while the women alternated their grinding between two mill stones, and other domestic cares, with spinning, weaving, and beautiful embroidery. ”

“ Fig. 15 illustrates the feeds that are often used when turning cast iron. The view to the left shows a deep roughing cut and the one to the right, a finishing cut. By using a broad flat cutting edge set parallel to the tool's travel, and a coarse feed for finishing, a smooth cut can be taken in a comparatively short time. Castings which are close to the finished size in the rough can often be finished to advantage by taking a single cut with a broad tool, provided the work is sufficiently rigid. ”

“ Nothing in the way of sewing or stitching, can equal this blind-stabbing, one half of which is done in the dark, the skill being acquired by constant practice, and the extreme delicacy of the touch; from twenty to thirty stitches have been done to the inch in this way, and in prize-work as many as sixty, every stitch being clear, sharply defined, beautifully regular. ”

“ But the Bases and their application will remain, and will be so used in the twentieth century and thereafter, as long as clothing is worn and men retain their present general form. Some will no doubt say that certain of my methods cost extra study, all of which I admit; but cutting and making garments have been, are now, and always will be, a study; and so far, no man’s life has been long enough, and likely no man’s life hereafter will be long enough, to complete it. ”

“ But the length of cutting edge in action, with a given tool and under a given depth of cut, increases as that edge is made longer to carry the coarse feed, and the long cutting edge produces a strain that tends to spring or bend the work, and that causes the tool to dip into seams or soft spots, or into spongy or other places, where the cutting strain is reduced, and also to spring away from hard spots or seams, where the cutting strain is increased. ”

“ The eccentric cutter, the drill, the eccentric chuck, and the universal, or vertical cutter, are all indispensable for those who wish to perform ornamental turning, and with them the most delicate and intricate patterns can be worked with a precision and accuracy that are truly wonderful. A sliding, or parallel, rest is absolutely necessary for turning patterns, as upon it, in some degree, depends their exactness. Fig. 1, plate 5, is the drawing of one. ”

“ Furniss can afford such a machine for cutting his hair.' Then everyone cries: 'Oh, he does not believe hair should be cut!' Why, I say nothing of the sort—hair-cutting is an excellent thing, a necessary thing perhaps, but why have in a small establishment tremendous machinery to do it? ”

“ If a cutter is what may be termed a “natural-born” cutter, all such things will come to him; but if he is not so gifted, then he must train himself to it, and in no other way will he succeed as a cutter. ”

“ With works of wood-cutting and stump-grubbing near at hand, we look over the tools and see that all are in readiness for winter work. Axes and hand-bills are ground, fag-hooks sharpened, picks and mattocks sent to the smithy to be drawn out, the big cross-cut saw fresh sharpened and set, and the hand-saws and frame-saws got ready. ”

“ The production of reticulated work is the especial function of netting, knitting, crocheting, and certain varieties of needlework, and a great diversity of relieved results are produced, no figure being too complex and no form too pronounced to be undertaken by ambitious workmen. ”

“ A common practice is when making the cutter to so regulate the depth of the grooves or recesses in its face that the cutting edge will be of the required shape when the length of the bevelled facet is equal to three times the thickness of the cutter. ”

“ There are three or four cutters, and one piece of wood may be placed under each. Under the middle cutter, replaced by a dummy tool that does not really cut, the workman places his cast or model, and makes the dummy cutter pass over every undulation of its surface. ”

“ Appliqué underlaid is accomplished by stamping the design on the wrong side of the material and then cutting it out. The background is left intact like a stencil. A piece of material of a different colour is laid under the cut piece of material. The raw or cut edges may be treated in many ways. The material may be turned back and stitched by machine or the edges may be finished with buttonholing stitches, couching, fine satin-stitch or chain stitch. ”

“ In cutting from block patterns, provision may be made for this by the insertion of wedges, but it should be understood that the insertion of the wedge at any part will have a purely local effect, and, indeed, it is in this feature of it that its greatest value consists.
In attitude we have a principle of the greatest importance, for unless the attitude of your customer is duly considered, it will be impossible to produce a fit. Many cutters meet this successfully by the aid of a trained eye ”

“ After so much careful work, it does seem as if not one pen out of a thousand could be faulty; but every one has to be carefully examined to make sure that the cutting, piercing, marking, forming, tempering, grinding, and slitting, are just what they should be. ”

“ Occasionally, as in the metal cuts in the best editions of the French Horae, in the Florentine and Venetian woodcuts of the last ten years of the century, and in the best work of other countries, these early pictures possess real beauty. Often they are badly spoilt by the incompetence of the cutters, who were working without the aid of modern gravers or modern methods of preparing the wood. ”

“ The man who cuts in the quick way, the "block-cutter," as he is called, spreads out the skin on a big block made by bolting together planks of wood with the grain running up and down. He places a die in the shape of the glove upon the leather, gives one blow with a heavy maul, and the glove is cut out. ”

“ This constant backward and forward movement of the neck, waist, and shoulders is one of the greatest studies any cutter will be obliged to go through, as it is, in fact, the only variation to be found in the normal form which cannot be measured, but must be taken by the trained eye of the cutter, and his practical knowledge of how to alter. ”