Garment cutting in the twentieth century

by Günther F. Hertzer

Pants.

Scale: One-half seat measure and two and a half inches, divided into twenty parts. Form an angle of seven and a half degrees, and mark it ten numbers wide, at a length of eighty numbers, or one-eighth of its entire length.—The angle of seven and a half degrees has a width of one-eighth of its length. At the top of said angle, or at the width of ten numbers, start the top of pants, and go downward ten numbers for the fork or crotch, and continue downward a distance of thirty-two numbers from the top; again mark eight numbers from the top, or two numbers above the crotch; at the points eight and thirty-two is an even division for the purpose of dividing the angle of seven and a half degrees into three equal parts, or two and a half degrees each; at eight go sidewise three, six and nine, and forward three; at thirty-two go sidewise two, four and six, and forward two; strike lines through two and three, four and six, and six and nine sidewise, and through two and three forward. Each line will represent an angle of two and a half degrees. Except for equal divisions, points eight and thirty-two have nothing of importance about them, neither has the line through four and six, which is also only an even division of the angle of seven and a half degrees in three equal parts; but it will be seen that the angle of seven and a half degrees spreads one-eighth of its length; consequently it contracts one inch in eight, and four inches in thirty-two; hence the width of the angle of seven and a half degrees is six inches at a length of thirty-two whenever it is ten inches at the starting point.

The front line of the angle of seven and one-half degrees I use as a base to work from, but either one of the other lines would be just as suitable a base, particularly the line from two and three sidewise, which is to be the center line of the pants leg, and from which line a right angle each way will be nearer horizontal than any other right angle, when the pants are on the body. Consequently it is a good line to square from for both a level top and a level bottom; but for reasons hereafter explained, it is not a sure line to square from to nick the seams when the foreparts are cut smaller and the backs wider; in fact, no square line is sure for that purpose. But a sweep from the point of the angle of seven and a half degrees will make true connections at any point, no matter how narrow the front or how wide the back may be, or if both be even.

After having formed the angle of seven and a half degrees, and having it divided into three equal parts (or in two and a half degrees each), two and a half degrees, or one part, is placed in front of the angle of seven and a half degrees for the crotch or fork. The seven and a half degrees furnish the outside of the pants leg—that is, one front, one side, and one back, except a small fraction of say three-quarters, which is thrown forward on the top of the front of waist, and is further explained elsewhere.

The top and the front edge of all pants is about one-eighth of the whole waist measure, taken close. But if the question should be asked why it is one-eighth of the close whole waist measure, I must say that I can not give any other reason than that it has proven true in years of practice.

The angle of two and a half degrees forms the crotch, to which is added about one and a quarter for dress and extra straddle—as shown in the diagram. The angle of seven and a half degrees, with a width of one-fourth seat and one and a fourth inches, or ten numbers, at the top of waist, will produce three-fourths of one leg; and the angle of two and a half degrees added to the angle of seven and a half degrees will produce the fourth quarter, or enough to cover and to fit one leg, the whole being one angle of ten degrees.

Whatever fashion, or notion, or a larger boot or shoe, may require further at the bottom, must be allowed equally on each side and inside; and again, whatever the forepart may be decreased, must be allowed on the back. Or, in other words, the seams are not placed in the center of either the outside or the inside, but more to the front.

The angle of seven and a half degrees forms the top of the side on a straight line, and the back has from one to one and a half inches gore cut in its center. This gore, however, may be better divided into two small ones—one in the middle of the back and the other at the side seam. The back is sloped off fifteen degrees from the seat line upward, as shown in the diagram. The width of the angle of fifteen degrees is one-fourth of its length, and to draw it, go up ten numbers and sidewise two and a half numbers. Three and a fourth numbers above the crotch is the so-called seat line, from which point the top of the back is sloped off fifteen degrees. The seat line, as shown in Dia. [XIV], is a horizontal line over the largest part of the seat when the pants are on the body, and there the seat measure must be taken. It must be taken as tightly as you would measure a stove pipe, or else the pants will become too large.

The angle of seven and a half degrees, with its width of ten at the top of the waist and the back slope of fifteen degrees taken off, and the back seam formed as shown in the diagrams, will produce the two seat lines about nineteen and one-half numbers for the dress side, of which must be used about one and one-quarter inches for all seams, leaving three quarter inches for extra width over the seat for the half pants, which is enough.

Elsewhere it is explained why a narrow tape will record a shorter measure around the fleshy parts of a person than a broad strip of cloth, say ten inches wide. It should also be observed that a broad strip of material, drawn around the seat while standing, will record, say about one and one-half inches more than a narrow tape half an inch wide, both being drawn with the same strain. When a person is sitting, the length of the abdomen contracts, but increases in circumference, and may expand anywhere from one inch, in a person of light build, to five inches in one that is quite fleshy. Therefore, while in a sitting position is the time to make a correct circumference measure over the seat as far as such a measure can be taken, or as far as a correct measure is actually necessary for cutting a garment. This measure, if transferred to the seat line, requires no allowance except for seams. When a person assumes a sitting position, his entire body is on a strain. The seat and abdomen grows very rigid, and in this condition a more correct measure may be taken with a narrow tape. If a pair of pants should be made up as large as such a measure, it will be large enough for a close fit, providing all other parts are correct. There is no question but that a trifle surplus cloth at this point, allowed at the side, will be quite in its place, and will never come amiss, but instead contribute to the comfort of the wearer.

By taking into consideration the sitting or standing position of the body, in connection with the circumference measure of the seat, it is absolutely necessary that the location of the seat line be positively known when the garment is apart and spread upon a flat table, like a pattern. Always bear in mind that the seat line in front will be three and a fourth numbers above the point of the crotch and about two and a half numbers higher on the back, or whatever the spread of the angle of fifteen degrees across the back may be. When the pants are on the body, this extra length in the back of the pants will be taken up in winding around the seat, and pushing backward and downward with the seat; and whatever that takes up must be allowed again on top, as shown in Dia. [XIX], or must be obtained from below, as shown in Dia. [XIV], which shows the true length as far as necessary. But another inch may be added to the length on the top of the back, in order to make the back that much higher than the front when on the body. In Dia. [XX], this extra height of the back is four numbers, and is a permanent thing, even if a larger waist requires the front to be higher. Raising the top of the front for a large-waisted pants is caused by the same principle as raising the top of the back, only less prominent. As the seat requires extra length behind, so does a larger abdomen directly in front require extra length. Hence, large-waisted pants require some extra width at the top of the side in order to throw the fore-part forward and downward, forming a curve over the front of the abdomen; and, that length being supplied from the top of the front, the same must be allowed again from where it was taken. By extra width on the top of the side, I mean an extra width outside of the angle of seven and a half degrees, which is to be the portion thrown forward, and need not in any case be more than an inch. The same amount is enough for the extra length on the top of the front.

To regulate the waist of pants, it is necessary that the waist must be made as wide as the measure indicates when the person is sitting, and it may even be wider if a customer so desires. Some individuals are very sensitive around the waist, and for such pants it will be better that they be two inches too large there, than half an inch too small, or even a close fit. In no case should an extra waist proportion be allowed behind, unless it is to be buckled up or to hang loose; for if it is to be used to supply the waist proportion in front, it must necessarily be drawn forward, consequently will wrinkle the whole pants, and may produce tightness in the crotch. Surplus waist may be allowed behind, as long as it remains under the buckle strap, and such surplus will buckle up straight. But if surplus cloth is allowed in front or at the side, and is drawn backward under the buckle strap, it will draw wrinkles across the seat. Pants too loose at the front or at the side may be all right as long as the wearer will carry them on his suspenders.

The angle of seven and one-half degrees, with the back sloped off fifteen degrees, and three-quarters allowed in front, must be considered a permanent thing, and within that space and along and around the hollow of the back of the waist, all surplus must be cut away in one or two gores, according to the measure taken in a sitting position. Surplus waist proportion is best allowed by a spring within the back gore, as shown in Dia. [XXI], which will remain where it is cut and can not be drawn backward under the buckle strap.

Pants can usually be worn pretty close at the soft, or hollow part of the waist, but they must be plenty large as soon as they come in contact with the short ribs, and such width must be at the sides, as shown in Dia. [XXI]. Now, if the waist requires more, that amount must be divided into three equal parts, one part being added to the front and two parts to the side; so that when the pants are on the body, the whole will be equally divided,—one part in front, one part on the left side, and one part on the right. The waist, when it grows large, expands forward and sidewise, and extra waist proportion must be supplied accordingly.

The center line of the angle of ten degrees should be perhaps more fully explained. Said center line runs on and along the whole center of the leg when the garment is upon the body, unless, by some miscalculation it is drawn out of shape. From this line all bottoms and tops of the fore-part may be squared, and from it the top and front of the fore-part is one-eighth waist, actual measure. It forms the crease line, and from it the bottom is made an equal distance on each side. The knee also is formed from it as a center. But as the inside of the leg is a straight line and the outside of the leg is hollow at the knee, it follows that, for a close-fitting pants leg at the knee, the outside first requires a reduction of say three-eighths to one-half an inch, on double cloth, which again is allowed at the inside, after which the width may be reduced equally on each side, if such reduction is necessary.

The angle of seven and a half degrees runs in slope with the leg, though on a perfectly straight line, and if the pants leg is to be shaped in accordance with the shape of the leg, as it must be if a close fit is desired, then wherever the leg has a hollow the garment must be reduced, and wherever the leg has a swell the pants also must be enlarged. This is the case with all legs. The side of the knee should be hollowed out, while at the calf the side seam must run outward. If the person be “bow-legged,” then the outside must receive more cloth and the inside less, if the form of the leg is to be followed; but, as a general thing, bow legs in pants should be so formed that the inside is pretty full, in order to hide such a deformity. So-called “knock knees” require more cloth on the inside of the knee, and therefore more must be taken from the outside. Knock knees are not so much a deformity as bow legs, and such pants legs may be cut and made according to the shape of the leg.

There is one more bend in the leg which requires mentioning here, and that is the knee itself. A close-fitting pants must have the shape of the side of the leg and the shape of the knee in front as well. If the pants leg is not cut or worked according to the knee, the knee itself will work it out by stretching the front or wrinkling the back. By fulling the fore part one-fourth to three-eighths of an inch over the knee, and “fulling” the same on both seams, the whole difficulty will be overcome. Or, what is still better, stretch the back that much. If this is to be done correctly, it must not be left to the sweet will of the pants makers to stretch or shrink as much as they please or where they please, but everything must be distinctly notched, say five inches above and five inches below the knee.

This is also true when you cut spring bottoms. Spring bottoms have come and gone regularly for the past forty years, and they will soon come again, and when they come again some cutter or tailor will be glad to know something about them. When spring bottoms were first introduced they were made with a piece or wedge set in the center of the fore part, on the same principle as leggings are made to-day, but it was soon discovered that by allowing that wedge on each side of the back, and by stretching the sides of each fore part toward its center, the side of the fore part would spring forward, and the wedge added at the side of the back filled the vacancy at the stretched side. If there could be a seam in the center of the fore part we would simply add say one-half to three-fourths more on each seam in front, and the spring would be there; or if we could cut our fore part to a point at the bottom, leaving the whole width at the back, the spring would also be there, and all without stretching or shrinking anything, because the spring would be cut where it belongs. But style and economy of material require all seams to be at the side, and for the reason that the spring must be worked toward the center of the front, all such fore parts must be as narrow as possible, because a narrow fore part of six inches will stretch more easily than a fore part of eight inches. Now, in springing the bottom and forcing both seams of the fore part forward as a spring, all must be done by stretching the sides of the fore part before the seams are sewed, and in such manner that the fore parts will fit into the spring on the back. It will be of no practical use to do the stretching at the sides but a part of the way, and attempting to force the spring forward by shrinking the center of the front, as all such shrinking will return. Nor will it do any good to hold the back full on the fore part, and sew the seams, and then attempt to stretch the fore part; for, even if the stretching could be accomplished in this way, the sewed-up seam would soon draw back, because a sewed seam, and particularly a machine-sewed seam, can be stretched but very little, and if it does stretch will soon return to its former condition. The stretching of the side of the fore-part must also be alike on both sides, as well as alike on both legs, or else the springs will not run in the same direction; or they may not spring to the center of the foot, but to one or the other side. The stretching must also be done as far down as possible, and must never be started higher than about five inches above the bottoms, all of which must be indicated by correct nicks in the front and back.

All nicks, and particularly on pants, should be cut small and distinct. It would be best to make just a small, straight cut; and the maker should be required to put them together with the utmost precision, and not one side a quarter of an inch up and the other a quarter of an inch down. Why I claim that the nicking and putting together are very particular features regarding pants, for this reason: All parts of pants are very long, and while a small twist, say in the sleeve of a coat, may not show much, the same twist will show plainly in a pants that is three times as long. In order to convey a correct idea of what I mean by the term “twist,” take a pants pattern and pin it together at each side of the bottom, then throw it out of gear, say one-fourth of an inch at the hips, and see what twist will be at the whole length.

Now, the foregoing points are figured down pretty close, but figuring on paper and practicing on garments are two different things. Fine garment-cutting and making are something more than can be learned from a multiplication table. It requires a practical knowledge of what a customer really requires, and what he ought to have; it also requires practical knowledge of the proportions of the different parts of a garment. It is, for instance, of little importance if a pants leg is half an inch larger or smaller, so long as the garment hangs nicely when on the body, and the bottom corresponds with the knee and thigh, and so on—all of which is something that cannot be learned from the books. 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.

On top of front, the pants diagrams are thrown forward from five-eighths to two numbers. Persons who stand very erect, and have small waists, have enough if one-half is thrown out. Large waisted persons stand naturally very erect, and a form of forty-four seat, and forty-six waist, made up, can be fitted with one and one-half, while two numbers, like Dia. [XX], is enough for forty-six seat and fifty waist, made up. Forty seat, forty hip and forty waist, made up, can be fitted with one and one-fourth, and the same is true of thirty-seven seat and thirty-seven waist, made up, all such waists to have the angle of seven and one-half degrees complete at the side, or even one inch allowance, as per Dia. [XX]. The gore in the back is to be one inch at the top of fore-part and running out to nothing at the top of back, and which may be called extra looseness, but which can not be drawn backward under the buckle strap, but will remain at the side and prevent the waistband from striking the short ribs.

Outlets on the waist of a pants would do more good if left on the top of side, running out to nothing at about line sixteen, but the outlet, if left on there, requires too much work to let out, and the outlet is usually left on behind. When such a crotch must be let out, the back crotch seam from line sixteen upward, should be stretched upward say one-quarter to one-half inch, and the whole back seam, above the crotch should be stretched, as much as possible, and that may easily be stretched one full inch, and the stretching should be done mostly at, or near, the seat line, and as far sidewise as possible, and if the seat is lined and the lining is straight, and will not stretch, a wedge must be put in the lining, as shown on the outside of Dia. [XVIII]. The outside can almost always be stretched any amount desired.

Stretching the back thus, the outlet, left behind, will fall sidewise, where it really belongs, but when said outlet is simply let out behind, it will remain behind, and must be pulled forward, and even if the pants feel wide enough at the waist, the wearer may not feel at home in them when sitting down. On the other hand, when pants have too much seat, but not too much waist, the best way is to rip up the side seam, from line sixteen upward, and stretch the side of the back, say one inch, and cut it off on top, all of which makes the seat shorter behind. Stretching the side of the back upward from the side of the crotch is equal to cutting a larger gore between the front and back on top of side, and allowing it behind. If the pants are lined in the seat, or all the way down, a large fold should be laid in the back lining in place of cutting it in as some do, to imitate the gore, or as others do, who baste the lining flat over the gore, whereby the effect of that gore is destroyed. In short, all linings in the pants should be put in plenty large on both back and front, both in width and in length, on the same principle, as the lining in the back of coats is put in large. The larger it is, the better it will be. The outside of a pants mostly stretches, but the lining does not, and often shrinks from the moisture of the body.

If we should cut two pairs of pants over the same pattern, and make one up with, and the other without lining, we would find that the one without lining feels the larger when on the body. All pants lining should be cut bias.

To shape the crotch seam Dia. [XIV] should be observed, especially when the fore part is to be cut larger and the back that much smaller, which sometimes may be done to advantage, and may enable the cutter to cut the back without much piecing. In the shape of Dia. [XIV] the seam may be thrown anywhere, without losing the balance.

Some years ago, Mr. J. B. West brought out what he termed a new style of pants, by cutting the front fork larger than the back fork. But that new style did not last long, for the reason, I suppose, that most of the cutters did not get the points of the forks correct. There is no question but that it can be done satisfactorily. The only objection I could make is this: When the inseam is thrown too far backward, the dress part on that seam locates too far backward, while really the dress requires to be located as far forward as possible, and for this reason I have the undress fork located, near the angle of ten degrees, and it may be made just even with that angle, and all other width allowed on the back.

If for any reason it is necessary to cut a pants with a very large fork on the front, and a small fork on the back, the pattern should be cut like Dia. [XI], but the fork should be spread so that whole can be cut without piecing; whereby the crotch seam can be thrown anywhere, by the help of the sweep from point 80, without losing the balance. If the cutter is able to cut that seam anywhere, it may save him a great deal of piecing where such piecing is not desired.