There are almost as many ways to drape dress goods as there are varieties of the goods themselves, and many of them are good ways, too. Ask any window trimmer, no matter what experience he has had, if he can drape dress goods, and he will answer “certainly!” and be surprised at the question. But how well he can drape is another question. Whether his drapings are modern and up-to-date is also worth investigating. An experienced trimmer finds himself inventing new drapings almost daily, and these are more or less serviceable. It is a good plan to use those methods that commend themselves to you and that you find you are able to reproduce easily.
The stands have much to do with your success. In fact, there can be no real success without proper fixtures. We show a diagram of an excellent dress goods stand, which is suitable as well for silks or almost any class of dry goods. The frame work is light and made of soft pine and covered with heavy roofing paper. The measurements are shown in the drawing. By referring to Plate No. 1, accompanying this article, you will find that draping No. 4 is made on this stand. In Plate No. 2 drapings Nos. 10, 11 and 12 are also made on the dress goods stand. Plate No. 3 shows six styles of drapes made over this same stand. The illustrations are from photographs and are so distinct that even the novice will find little difficulty in understanding the folds. For an “all-round” stand I recommend this highly. It should be made in three heights, 3 feet, 4 feet and 5 feet, and is then suitable for blankets, comfortables, muslin underwear, tablecloths, and many other lines. At the right of the dress goods stand is a diagram of my silk stand, which will be found useful where many silks are shown. Its size renders it especially appropriate for silk widths and by referring to drapes Nos. 5 and 6 in Plate No. 1, and drapes Nos. 7, 8 and 9 in Plate No. 2, you will find examples of drapings over this stand. The dimensions are plainly given in the drawing.
DRESS GOODS DRAPINGS—PLATE 1.
Examples 1, 2 and 3 are made over the Skirt Stand.
Example 4 is made over the Dress Goods Stand.
Examples 5 and 6 are made over the Silk Stand.
DRESS GOODS DRAPINGS—PLATE 2.
Drapings 7, 8 and 9 are made over the Silk Stand.
Drapings 10, 11 and 12 are made over the Dress Goods Stand.
DRESS GOODS DRAPINGS—PLATE 3.
Six Modern Drapes, all made over the Dress Goods Stand and suitable for displaying almost any material for Dress Goods.