Chapter 1 of 24 · 3971 words · ~20 min read

Part 1

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To Mother.

Twenty years—the best of thine: Twenty years—a quite long time; Twenty years of thy devotion, Twenty years of my queer notion. Twenty years of expectation. Twenty years of tribulation; Twenty years of hope and fear, Twenty years of wear and tear. Twenty years of great vexations, Twenty years of few vacations; Twenty years of silent praying, Twenty years of hopes delaying. Twenty years? near twice that time To train eight children—a work sublime. The first—six years old—she has gone; Emma found a heavenly home. All the others, I must show, Put grammar in this book. You know Upon the slightest call from me, They spelled or wrote as it should be. Quite trusty places they now hold, And all are worth their weight in gold. Twenty years thus we did spend, Until this book has come to end.

GARMENT CUTTING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

CONSISTING OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON

GARMENT CUTTING AND MAKING WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY DIAGRAMS,

_SHOWING THE COMMENCING POINT AT THE CENTER OF A CIRCLE IN GENERAL, AND RADIATING ON ESPECIAL ANGLES OF 135, 120, 90, 60, 45, 30, 22½, 20, 15, 10, 7½, 5, 2½, Etc., BUT MORE ESPECIALLY TWO ANGLES OF FIFTEEN DEGREES EACH, JOINED AT THEIR WIDEST END._

COPYRIGHTED 1892.

THE B. F. WADE CO., PRINTERS, TOLEDO.

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PREFACE.

Nothing is claimed in this book pertaining to Styles of Fashions. It is true the fashionable parts of all the diagrams are taken from the latest Fashion Reports; but these will not last, and consequently the fashionable part is of little value. What I claim of my own work is the _BASES_, which must be considered permanent, and from which all changes must be made for different styles, or for abnormal forms. The principle laid down in this work, is: _To fit the form of men, making the change of fashions_ to conform to the fit. The Bases I have adopted are new, in the science of GARMENT-CUTTING, and all calculations are based upon horizontal, perpendicular and parallel measures and lines. The slope of each shoulder, as 22½ deg., is taken as a Base for a garment worn around the neck and shoulders, and the garments built downward from that Base.

All Bases are clearly defined by illustrations and description; and all gores cut out, or wedges put in, either natural or artificial, are minutely described according to the spreads or hollows of the body. The illustrations or diagrams are given both from a corner of a square, and from the center of a circle, with the same result.

I know that, after the publication of this work, some men will hew off some rough corners, and give it more polish; but this is the case with all inventions and new things, and I do not expect to be exempt from that rule. In fact, I know that this work is incomplete; but I can leave it to future time, either through myself or others, to take up the thread where I leave it at present, to unravel any mysteries that may yet be hidden. But the Bases and their application will remain, and will be so used in the twentieth century and thereafter, as long as clothing is worn and men retain their present general form. Some will no doubt say that certain of my methods cost extra study, all of which I admit; but cutting and making garments have been, are now, and always will be, a study; and so far, no man’s life has been long enough, and likely no man’s life hereafter will be long enough, to complete it. This work indicates the right direction for study, and does not allow the cutter’s nor the tailor’s brain to become dormant. My experience is this: Better study one extra hour over a garment than spend a whole day in altering it. The Merchant Tailor’s success depends upon one thing only, viz.: How he succeeds in pleasing his customers. Some cutters will ask for something definite in the shape of a new system; something that requires no study nor constant watching. To such let me say this: Whenever an infallible system of garment-cutting is to be invented, it must be something like a machine, which always does the same thing with the same result. Such an invention cannot be acceptable so long as the fashions and the styles are constantly changing. If, however, such a machine could become acceptable, the occupation of Custom Cutters would be “_forever lost_.” Nothing of this kind is claimed in this work, but _this_ I do claim: that it is better and more practical, and far more comprehensive, than anything heretofore known. Neither do I claim that it will work equally well in the hands of every cutter, because no machine will work well unless directed and supervised by a skillful operator—one who knows every detail of its construction, and attends to it carefully.

I call this work a scientific calculation within both the square and compass. But I do not claim any knowledge of science, nor even of geometry, except perhaps what may be called “home-made.” What little I know about geometry, I learned after I became forty-five years of age, and had begun to jot down my experience. Neither do I claim to be a Fancy Cutter; I do not even claim to be a Fancy Tailor; nor do I believe that I ever was cut out to be a tailor. But somehow I started to learn the trade, and when I was once at it, I made up my mind to learn it as well as anybody, even if it took me a few years longer perhaps than some others. Yet all of this is no reason why I should not be able to make a better survey of the human form than any other man has done so far; and in fact anyone, not a tailor, could have done so if his interest had been directed that way. It is a fact that the sewing machine was not invented, nor perfected, by tailors. It was accomplished by others, who knew nothing of tailoring, but they learned to make one good stitch in a quick way, and that was all.

I have been on the bench and cutting-board forty-four years, and I do claim that I have observed and learned something in that time which is worth while to preserve, and I have written it in language so plain that all tailors may understand. In 1878 I began to jot down my experience, illustrating everything by diagrams, and have up to this time written and illustrated each year two books like this, all of which I have in my possession and intend to preserve. I presume I could write ten years longer without exhausting the subject; but I feel the weight of fifty-nine years upon my shoulders and have come to the conclusion that I must clear away all old rubbish and publish what I know is reliable. This volume is the result. For the last ten years I have been carrying on a Merchant Tailoring business for the purpose of testing every garment which I cut. Any new idea that came to my mind I carried out by making a garment accordingly; and if I was wrong, and made a misfit, I made the necessary alteration. I could do this because I had no “boss” to curse me—I was my own “boss” and _I paid for the music_.

The above remarks are made to show that this work is not a mushroom idea, but based upon the experience of nearly half a century. For the reason that this century is nearly ended, and that, at best, this work will not be generally known, until the next century, I have named it GARMENT CUTTING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. If any one doubts that I have been working for years to prepare this work, let him look up the “American Tailor” of December, 1883, and November, 1886, or the records of the Patent Office in Washington for 1878.

I will here say that this book has been written between working hours, or at odd hours, or days when I had the time to spare, and that from time to time the manuscript had to be changed as well as the diagrams, and then revised again. This has been the case from 1878 down to the present time. I do not wish to convey the idea to any one, that the Bases, as laid down in this work, were caught on to in one great lump and that this work is the result of the grasping of one great idea. When about eighteen years of age, I came to the conclusion that no system of garment-cutting, then existing, had an intelligible Base to work from, and that all so-called Bases were nothing but imaginary lines, to suit this or that cutter’s fancy, and this is the case to-day. That being my conclusion, I tried to find something on which I might have a better hold.

Like Columbus, I had an idea that there was something beyond, but had no conception of its form. Of geometry I knew nothing, except, that “a square is an angle of ninety degrees, or the fourth part of a circle,” but I found that I was helpless without geometry, and, at so late a day for me, I had to roll up my sleeves, as it were, and learn at least enough of geometry as this work requires. (Who will throw the first stone at my ignorance?) After I was able to divide the circle, the Bases, as laid down in this work, were gradually adopted, one by one, and so arranged that they harmonize with the slopes of the body. I have a hold now, and I can always tell whence I came, and whither I am going. I have a starting point at the center of a circle, I can tell that I sink my shoulders twenty-two and a half degrees; that the center of back and the center of front rest on one angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees; that the front of armhole is forty-five degrees from the front, etc.; all of which may be understood by the whole civilized world. And if some cutters and tailors do not understand it, they can learn it in a few hours, and can learn it as quickly as they can any other rule.

It may be asked, can such angles always be drawn correctly? to which I will answer: No, not always; but it serves the purpose. Our grocer never sells us an actual pound of coffee, nor does our dry goods dealer sell us an actual yard of calico, but what they sell us is as near as they can come—it serves the purpose, and everybody is satisfied. The variations of the lines from the center of a circle are not greater than are the right angles from a square or from a straight line.

I have been advised to write this book as though it were written by a person residing in a large city, but I do not deceive any one, and admit that at the present time “Tiffin” has only about twelve thousand inhabitants, but that it is located in the big State of Ohio, and that Tiffin has more natural “gas” than New York and Chicago together. I do anticipate the question, “How much knowledge may come from a small city like Tiffin?” but I console myself with the fact that a like question, “_What good can come out of Nazareth?_” was asked two thousand years ago, and it has been answered in favor of that little village, and to-day these questioners are regarded as a set of conceited asses.

Advanced ideas do not necessarily come from large cities, or come to a focus there. Moses, the great law giver, caught his inspiration while among his flocks; and so did the poet, King David. St. John, the Baptist, and Christ himself took to solitude in the wilderness before entering upon their mission. St. John, the evangelist, wrote his Revelations on the lonely island of Patmos. Dr. Luther formed his reformatory ideas within the walls of a cloister. The great emancipator, Abraham Lincoln, no doubt caught some of his ideas while working on a flat boat, or while splitting rails. In the face of such facts, I do not see why a common tailor, living and working in a small city, cannot have some advanced ideas about GARMENT CUTTING, even if they are written down without a perfect knowledge of English grammar.

I was born in the village of Niederwillingen, in the Principality of Schwartzburg, Sondershausen, Germany, on the 10th day of April, A. D. 1833. I received a good common school education. In the spring of 1848, when the revolutionary cannons were shaking Germany for freedom, I was sold as a slave (apprenticed) for three years to learn the tailor’s trade, and came to America on the 17th day of September, 1852, then but nineteen and one half years old, and have never had any schooling in the English language,—but what I know I have picked up here and there, in the tailor’s shops, stores, lodges and churches. For this reason, this book may contain words which might have been different, but it is written plainly, and in such terms that tailors and cutters will comprehend.

During the year 1891 I have worked mostly on this book, comparing diagrams and writings, and changing anything that I thought would improve it. But I find that if I keep on comparing and trying, I shall never be done, for I always find something else to write. A little over a year ago, I thought I would go to work and cut it shorter, the manuscript then having about fifty thousand words, and now it contains about one hundred and twenty thousand words. This is the way I have cut it shorter. But I do not see what I could strike out again, even if I should make the attempt.

G. F. HERTZER.

TIFFIN, OHIO, MARCH 2D, 1892.

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SCALES AND MEASURES.

All dimensions mean numbers of the scale, unless specially called inches or referring to the size.

All scales are one-half breast or one-half seat, and two and one-half inches, divided into twenty even parts. The two and one-half inches addition to the one-half breast or seat measure makes the small sizes large enough and the large sizes small enough for all purposes.

Take the breast measure over the vest for both undercoat and vest.

The circumference measure of the breast and seat must be taken tightly over the vest and pants. The breast measure is to be taken with the tape touching the extreme point of the shoulder blade, with the lungs empty. The seat measure must be taken over the largest part of the seat, which is about three to three and a quarter above the fork or junction of the legs.

The half coat as well as the half pants take up about one and a fourth inches for seams, leaving about one and a fourth inches slack for other purposes on the half garment. This measure is to be taken with a small tape, and all the diagrams are calculated accordingly.

In taking a measure around the human form, there will be found a difference of from one and one-half to two inches between a narrow tape and a strip of cloth ten inches wide. The narrow tape cuts deeper into the flesh, and therefore will record less surface measure than a strip of cloth ten inches wide. If we take a narrow tape and a strip of goods, say ten inches wide, and with both measure over the seat or chest, drawing one as tightly as the other, we will find that the broad strip will record about one and a half inches more on the whole circumference. Now, if the broad measure gives three-fourths of an inch more over the half breast than the narrow tape, then it follows that, after sewing seams, there will be left half an inch on the half frock coat only for expansion of the lungs and the movements of the arms.

The same is true of the pants, and though they require nothing for expansion of lungs or movement of the arms, yet it requires a certain space for expansion while sitting, for it will be found while a person is in that position his seat, hips and waist will expand anywhere from one to five inches, but the waist will expand the most. The seat, hips and waist require their circumference measure while sitting—nothing more nor less—and, consequently, seams must be added to that measure, and must be applied at the point which I have termed “the seat line,” as shown in Dia. XIV., and on the back on the upper line. If stitches are drawn in, on that line, it will be found that when the pants are on the body said line is a horizontal one all around, and at the largest part of the seat.

A large and fleshy person, particularly one with an extra large abdomen, cannot be fitted with the old maxim, viz.: Make the half-waist one-half the measure and add three-fourths of an inch. This usually holds good as to persons with small waists, who do not spread much in sitting, but when a large-waisted person, who perhaps weighs 250 to 300 pounds, assumes such a position, his legs will press his stomach upward, decreasing it in length and expanding it in circumference. There may be persons with sole-leather stomachs who can stand any pressure for a short time, or while taking a meal, but when compelled to sit most of the time, they want their pants large enough to be comfortable while in that position. It is true, such pants must hang loosely while standing, and must be supported by suspenders, but this difficulty cannot be overcome.

This work takes the seat measure as a guide to select a scale, no matter if the hips are larger or smaller than the seat; nor if the waist and hips are larger than the seat, proper allowance must be made there. And it should be observed here that whenever the hip measure is larger than the seat measure, it may be concluded at once that said large hip measure is caused by the unusually large abdomen directly in front.

In regard to the taking of measures close or tight, the following must be observed: A person may be measured over the breast very close, like a stove pipe, and will not object to that pressure, for it lasts only a short time; but subject him to that pressure for five minutes and he will not endure it. He _cannot_ endure it, and the pressure would be still more intolerable if the tape should be ten inches wide. It is very important for the cutter to know what he is measuring, and _with what_ he is measuring. Old and experienced cutters have learned this at much cost, therefore young cutters should be told this in the beginning. Young cutters should be instructed to always request their customers to remove their coats at the time of measuring, and take the breast and waist measure from behind, because the breadth of the two will not always agree.

To obtain satisfactory length of sleeve is often a difficult job. There is the style, then the notion of the cutter, then the notion of the customer, and lastly the notions of the wife, mother and aunt—all of which frequently have a word to say in the end. Therefore the best of cutters are often obliged to alter the sleeve length. The young cutter should locate for himself a permanent mark at the wrist, so that he is able to take such measure always the same, and whenever he finds that his sleeves become too long or too short, he can readily make the necessary change in measuring. But to obtain a thoroughly satisfactory sleeve length, the cutter must know at what point to transfer the measure to the cloth. Different systems produce different sleeves, and the seams are located differently. The sleeve, as given in this work, has its centre at eight on the back, and there the sleeve length must be transferred, no matter where the seam is located; for if the back sleeve seam is further down, and the sleeve length is transferred at the seam, then the sleeve will become too long, and _vice versa_.

The angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees, cut from a piece of pasteboard or tin, and as large as both shoulders, is a very important measure, and should be applied as shown in Fig. I. I do not claim that this measure can always be taken exact even over a good-fitting coat, but it can be taken with as much certainty as the breast measure, and it serves the purpose.

To measure the slope of the shoulders, the angle must be adjusted at the highest points of both arms at the side of the shoulders, and if the sides of the neck extend up higher, or lower, that amount is to be noted down, and it will be found that only extreme cases require alterations. Extreme cases, and I should call all such in which the difference is three-quarters higher, as on low shoulders, or that much lower, as on high or square shoulders. No attention is to be paid to the variation, if it is only one-quarter inch more or less, as in fact the sides of the shoulders, at the arms, are not to be fitted as close as the body itself indicates. It may not be out of place to mention here how to draw that angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees, for it is a new measure and an unknown quantity to the great majority of cutters at present:

Form a right angle; from its point draw a circle as large as you can, and form two points, as shown in Dias. XI and XII; draw a line from the starting point to the second point of the circle, which will make one angle of one hundred and twenty degrees, to which is added fifteen degrees in front, to make the angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees. The fifteen degrees are two lines spread one-quarter of their length, as a part of a circle twenty inches long and five inches wide. The angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees is also one square, and one-half square, and may be found as follows: From the center of back and through the starting point draw a right angle, as shown by the front sleeve bases in all the diagrams, and on that line, go down, and square across and forward at equal distances, say twenty inches, and through that point draw the front line of the angle of one hundred and thirty-five degrees. Forming a right angle, and marking each line at equal distances, and drawing a line through said equally distant points, is equal to cutting a square in two from point to point, and consequently, said points will form an angle of forty-five degrees. The square contains ninety degrees, and the half square contains forty-five degrees, and the whole of it is _one hundred and thirty-five_ degrees. (See Dia. II-A.) In all cases where an angle is to be found, the dimensions should be taken on a large scale, because on a large scale the variations are less than on a small scale.