The trade of the Tailor is one of which very little can be said in the way of explanation, since it mainly consists in cutting out cloth to the shapes necessary to be applied to each other in order to make the various garments; and as this cannot be described without numerous diagrams, and even with them could not easily be understood, we must be satisfied to quote the instructions of a practical Tailor on the subject of sewing.[3]
[3] From the Industrial Library.
And, first as to the different sorts of stitches, which are:—the basting-stitch, the back and fore-stitch, the back-stitch, the side-stitch, and the fore-stitch; also the back pricking-stitch, the fore pricking-stitch, the serging-stitch, the cross-stitch, and the button-hole-stitch; besides which there is a distinct kind of stitch for hemming, filling, stotting, rantering, fine-drawing, prick-drawing, over-casting, and also for making what are called covered buttons.
The basting-stitch is a long and slight stitch, intended to be merely temporary, or to fasten together some of the inner and concealed parts of the garment. It is commonly used to keep the work in its proper position while being sewed.
Sleeve Board.
The back and fore-stitch is made, as the name implies, by the union of back stitching and fore stitching; in this stitch the needle is first put through the cloth, and turned up in as short a space as is possible, so as to make a neat and strong stitch when completed; it is then put through the cloth again in the same place as at first, and again turned up, taking care that it passes through the cloth as nearly as possible within the same space as before. This being done, the first back-stitch is completed. The second stitch is made by passing the needle forward upon the surface of the cloth, but without taking hold of it, over a space equal to the length of the first stitch; the needle is again put through the cloth, turned up, and brought back to the place where it was last put through, so as to form another back-stitch; which is followed by another putting of the needle forward, or, in plainer terms, another fore-stitch, and so on in the same order, until the seam is finished. This kind of stitch is used for sewing linings, pockets, flannel garments, and other thin fabrics. There is no need to say much respecting the back-stitch, as this may be understood from what is said above respecting the first stitch in back and fore-stitching. This stitch is used for seams where strength is required; it is also used for ornament instead of the side-stitch, but in this case it must be very neatly and regularly made.
Goose. Flat Iron. French Chalk. Thimble. Measure Book. Rule.
The side-stitch is used for the edges of garments, to keep them from rolling over, or from being drawn out of shape. It is always intended for ornament as well as use, and requires a very quick eye and a careful hand to do it well. In this stitch the needle is put through the cloth a little above or below the place from which it came out in the former stitch, but it must be at a very little distance from this place, or the sewing-silk will be visible on the surface of the cloth, which is a great blemish, and yet it must be far enough away from where it came out to prevent its breaking through, in which case the stitch is lost both as to use and ornament. Care must also be taken that the stitches are at regular distances from each other, and that the whole of them are placed at the same distance from the edge of the cloth. In the fore-stitch, as has been already hinted, the needle, when drawn out from the seam, is always put forward, so that an equal quantity of thread, or a stitch of the same length, is visible on each side of the cloth.