Note.—Fig. [I] and Fig. and Dia. [XV], and Dia. [II], [X], [XIV], [XV], [XIX], [XX], [XXI], [XXII], [XXIII], were drawn and finished in ink by myself, and they are in my own writing. All others were made by regular artists, as they claimed to be, after my pencil drawings. But the above mentioned had so many mistakes that I had to throw them away and make new drawings. All Dia. in the [Supplement] are my own drawing. It may be that my lines and figures are not so nicely drawn, but I know that they are correct and that they are plain. It may also be, that in the opinion of some, I have drawn too many lines and put on too many numbers, but this book is not written for professors alone, but for students and new beginners in cutting, as well as for tailors, and can not be made too plain.
Under Sack Coats.
For a three seamed under sack, Dia. [III] and [VIII] answer all purposes. The parts of Dia. [III] place the height of back at 13½. A five-seamed sack is to be made, for three reasons: 1st. In order to put in more waist proportion in the side of the waist. 2d. To fit the over-erect form. 3d. To make an overcoat. The normal form can be fitted with a three-seamed under sack from the smaller sizes up to size 38, but the larger sizes out to be cut as five-seamed, because they usually require more waist. It is true smaller sizes have sometimes very large waists, but from one-half to three-fourths addition to the side at line 17½ will cover it. Boys usually wear sack coats; and, guided by this work, the breast measure for a boy should not be taken looser than that for a man, because the scale of one-half breast and 2½ in. will provide for that, to the full extent.
To make a five-seamed garment over Dia. [VIII], for the purpose of giving more waist proportion, simply enlarge the square, say 1 inch, and cut out the surplus thus obtained from under the arm, or still better, leave it on the coat as an outlet but allow the seam on the under arm cut. I wish to add, however, that it is easy to stretch the side-piece on the under arm cut when it is sewed up, and it tends to improve the side if properly done; but if it is stretched at all, it must be done so upward, and whatever it is so lengthened, say perhaps half an inch, must again be reduced over the center of the back. All this may look trifling, but you must remember that half an inch more or less cloth in the length of the back will make quite a change in the fit.
To make a five-seamed garment, for the purpose of fitting an erect form, examine Dia. [VIII], and you will notice a dotted “V” on line 17½, or at the hollow of the waist. At the side seam this wedge is five-eighths of an inch, and to fit the erect form this wedge must be folded up in the pattern; and to accomplish this on a flat paper the pattern must be cut through under the arm and above the point of the wedge, when the fold can be laid smoothly, but the pattern will divide at the arm as an artificial gore, representing the gore sidewise. The square will enlarge in proportion to the gore cut, and the upper portion of the back will fall downward and shorten from its original position five-eighths, or the width of the fold at the side seam. But although the back appears to shorten on top it retains its balance over the shoulder blade. The actual shortness is at the hollow of the waist. In folding up the gore across the side piece will cause the side piece to make a sharp curve at the side, and a sharp hollow or kink behind, and both must be straightened by cutting away the curve at the side and by filling out the hollow behind, so that the under arm cut will represent two straight lines. In regulating the under arm gore, two seams must again be allowed at the armhole, and the balance may be cut away, or it may be used as an outlet, which may come very handy sometimes. In sewing up that gore, the side piece usually stretches easily upward, say another three-eighths, and said three-eighths must again be taken away from the length of the back over the shoulder blade, and for this reason Dia. [VIIIa] has the height of back at 12¼, or 1¼ less than Dia. [VIII].
For further explanation of this fifth sack coat seam, or under arm gore, and as to the difference between the erect and the large waisted form, I refer to the article on [large waists].