Garment cutting in the twentieth century

by Günther F. Hertzer

I throw the above out as a hint for cutters who may go to female tailoring. The time will soon come when men will pay more attention to cutting and fitting female garments because it will pay better, and some one may possibly be benefited by the above suggestions. Knowing what I know to-day, I would, if I were fifteen years old again, or even twenty, go to work and learn Female Tailoring.

Angle of Fifteen Degrees for Coats and Vests.

(SEE DIA. [XIII].)

If we take a square piece of paper and encircle the body from under the arm to the waist it will fit perfectly, although, when on the body, the front will be 15 deg. higher than the back; and if we want to form a level waist, we must attach a piece to the bottom of the front, amounting to 15 deg., as shown in Dia. [I] and [IV]. If we extend that piece of paper, or cloth, down to the side of the thigh and seat, we must cut it open at the side of the hip and below the waist, and insert a piece to accommodate the spread of the body, as shown in Dia. [I]. But the spread of the garment all around the lower body could be made better if two cuts were made—one at the side and the other near the back—representing the front and the back seam of the frock coat sidepiece.

Dia. [I] represents the body of a coat, that is, from arm to hip, in a position which it has to assume, when upon the body, and it must be observed that a garment, spread on a flat table, can only be in harmony with the body at one point; all other points must differ, and can only be correctly located by their true relation when on the body. This, I claim, is nearly the natural position of the garment when upon the body, and would require no seam at all below the arms and above the waist. If this piece was not wide enough we could enlarge it to the size desired, and wherever necessary, and would make no difference in the fit so long as the seams are allowed for. When taken off the body it will fit the flat table just as well as it did the form of a man. In this position of a coat, as on Dia. [I], or a vest, as on Dia. [IV], it makes but little difference if the side seams are cut a trifle more forward or backward—the fit will be the same.

I therefore claim that all changes in the seams, as the vest, frock and sack coats, must be made while in position, as in Dia. [I] and [IV], or at least must be made on lines 9 and 14, etc., whenever the back is obliged to assume an unnatural position, as in Dia. [II]—all of which is further explained in the article on “[Narrow and Broad Backs].”