Chapter VII: A Vest for a Large Waist (1)

Breast, 45; waist, 48; hip, 48; seat, 40. Dia. IV as the model. Breast measure taken over the shirt. The under arm cut is ½ inch at the hollow of waist, but both back and front meet below and above. This ½ inch is simply to give form to the seams. Top of back is 4¼—side of neck 4 for top of collar band—bottom of neck band 5¼. Side of shoulders at 60 deg., 9¼—shoulder seam even, but ¼ inch spring at the neck may be good. Center of back is on the line and spring of ½ at the bottom—height of back, 14¼. From the point of the angle of 135 deg. go down 7 numbers for the front edge of the vest and go forward a ¼ at line 9—1⅛, at line 15—1⅜ at 17. Cut a small gore in the forepart, below the pocket, in order to make the front to conform to the oval form of the body. The description of this vest and Dia. XX will fit the same person. This vest, made up and placed on a person of 36 breast and 32 waist measure, will fit at the shoulders, and if it is left to hang alone, will simply be too large all around the breast and around the waist, but hangs good. There is one peculiar feature in this or all large vests cut according to this work, which should be considered. You can draw all surplus cloth together behind, or in front, or at the side, or you may pin it up even all around, and the fit of the shoulders will remain. For this reason, vests one size too large will fit the same, and are better than if one size too small. Cut all vests ½ waist and 2½ inches at the waist line, and pay little attention to the hip line, as long as the sides have an opening over the hips. If no opening is left there the hip line must also receive ½ hip and 2½ inches. Allow all extra waist proportion, by allowing one half of it in front and one half at the side of the back. Any other surplus width, which may be desired may be allowed at the center of the back, where it may be buckled up smooth.

VIII.—Frock Coat for a Very Stooping Form, and with Very Round Shoulder Blades.

MODEL: DIA. II.

Very hollow breast—front of waist and back of waist very erect—square of 18—front of armhole ⅝ in front of 45 deg., where armhole and sleeve meet at 10¼—back sleeve seam laps ¾ at line 8—top of back at 3—side of neck at 3½—height of back above line 9, 15¾—width of back at 9½, 7⅜. Centre of back is hollowed out ⅜ at the hollow of the waist, meets base at 22 and at line 35 the edge for the finished hook is 1¼ outside. Gore between the side and back: ¾ at the armhole—⅞ at 15¾—1¼ at 15—1½ at 17½—1⅜ at 20—1 at 25—1 at 30. Underarm cut: ¼ at 15—¾ at 17½—¾ at 19½. The shoulder seam laps ⅜ at the neck and ¾ at the blade. Front edge: 1¾ in front of 3—1⅛ in front of 9—meet at 14—3¼ at 20—2½ at 30—1 at 35. No gore in breast, but ¾ gore in the front waist seam. Drop front skirt ¾ at the base.

IX.—FAT MEN’S OVERCOAT.

Breast, 52; waist, 60. Form, very erect; front of waist band forward and abdomen very large and round. The shoulders are normal, and the shoulder seam have the same spring as Dia. X. The model is Dia. X. The square is 19¼ numbers, and 1¼ numbers are cut out as a gore under the arm, and the sidepiece stretched upward ¼. The large square and the large gore under the arm, throw extra waist proportion into the center of the forepart. Neck from 135 deg.—top of back 3⅜—side of back 3¾—at 60 deg. 3¼—base 3¼—armhole from 135 deg.: front sleeve nick at 10¾—at 60 deg. 8⅞—at 45 deg. or top square 9⅞—width of back at 8 is 6⅞—bottom of armhole is ¾ above line 11¼, and the front sleeve base is forward two seams. The front of armhole is on 45 deg. Center of back: height of back above line 9 is 12½ numbers—from line 15 spring out 1¼ at 25. Center of front from the plumb line base: top ¾—½ gore, ¾ to edge—at 11¼, 4¾—at 20, 6—at 30, 6—drop front of bottom 1, and set the buttons back from the edge about 2½ inches.

Now, while I am describing “_Odd Forms_,” which in reality are not odd at all, only a trifle different from the so-called normal form, it may be well, to point out another fact: For coats and vests all large-waisted forms require either a proportionately smaller scale with extra allowance in front of the breast, or if the measure and the scale are used the same as on a small-waisted form, the square must be made smaller, and the front must be that much larger.

It is the same on the full-breasted and on the erect forms, and the description of Forms V and VI, as well as Dia. VIIIa, with their different squares ought to be sufficient to give a general idea of what is to be taken off behind in the square, and what is to be allowed in front. Large-waisted persons have mostly erect forms even if they should have prominent shoulder blades, or throw their necks down in front. At the hollow of waist they may be considered erect and mostly throw their arms backward, and all such forms require a smaller square and a larger breast. The best way to measure is this: Take all measures even and close, and reduce the square, and enlarge the breast according to the above description, and according to your judgment, and remember, that ½ inch more, or ½ inch less in the breast, or in the square, may be considered the outside limit, and that ¼ inch goes a good ways.

In regard to the amount, you better learn to depend upon your judgment, for if that should be ever so poor, it will be better than a so-called proof or balance measure, from the center of back forward. That measure, even if taken with the utmost care, will mostly depend upon the coat which the person wears, and not upon the body, which is to be fitted.

LOW SHOULDERS.

Low shoulders and long necks are the same. Dia. IX shows the correct alteration for such forms as well as for the stooping form. The body between the arm and neck becomes longer than usual, and consequently the coat must be lengthened on each back and front alike. Attempting to cut the shoulders lower at the arm will never lift the coat up to the neck. If that alteration is correctly made no other portion is to be altered. All allowance for a longer neck should be given sparingly, as ¼ in. on each back and each front goes a great ways; only extremes may require more, and from ⅜ to ½ in. may be called correct for the average long neck. The front of the neck hole should not be raised on a long neck, for the very length of neck requires extra depth there. Addition for a longer neck should be started at the middle of the shoulder seam, as indicated by dotted lines in Dia. IX.

Raising the side of the back up higher requires the center of the back higher also, all of which may be run out to nothing at the sleeve base. Adding say ½ in. to the top of the neck will make the shoulder look broader, that is, the shoulder on top of the slope will contain more space from arm to neck, though the diameter of the shoulders from side to side may not be any larger. The armhole must be considered the same for all long or short necks, and the changes must be made upward, and above the armhole, as shown in Dia. IX, and if that is correct, the so-called “front shoulder point” exists in the imagination of each individual cutter only.

If the shoulders and the neck of all men were formed the same, there would be very little trouble to fit coats. But the longer, or shorter, or forward or backward leaning neck play smash with the fitting points. All kinds of imaginary proof measures have been invented, but they all will prove that they are not proof, unless the measure is a straight one, either horizontal, or perpendicular, or parallel. The proof measure, as shown in Fig. I, and which consists of the application of the angle of 135 deg., is a new measure, of my own invention, and it will do away with all the so-called long or short balance measures which have been used for the last century.

When I say give so and so much more for a long neck, I mean so much more than what is shown in Dia. II, all of which may be divided between the forepart and the back, but so that the top of back is never less than 2½ in. wide. I will repeat here that a long neck not only requires the shoulder straps longer, but the top and the side of the back must be cut closer toward the center, gradually running out at the front. If the shoulder seam has 1 in. spring, that is, ½ to ⅝ more than Dia. II, the top of back may be placed at 2½ and the side of neck at 3, and this will make a good proportion for the average long neck. So far I have found in my practice, that very few cases require more. The worst case I ever found was fitted with 1⅝ spring allowed on the forepart, with top of back at 2¼ and side of neck at 2¾, and I do not think that there is any shoulder which requires more. In all cases the collar must be sewed on easy, on each “_side of the neck_” not behind.

But here I will give another idea of fitting a long and straight neck: At the center of the back and from the back sleeve base upward, go outside of the base and allow say ½ in. “extra,” and at the same time allow ½ in. on top of back and at the side of neck. The ½ inch extra allowance on the back may again be reduced from the front of neck downward, but this is of little consequence, for if not cut off, the lapel and the breast will simply be that much larger, which is mostly a “_good fault_” for such a coat, and may often be quite necessary, as all such forms are mostly full breasted. If for any cause, the top of back and side of neck are placed closer toward the center, do not drop the front of the neck hole, because the extra spring at the shoulder seam will produce all extra length required.

The low and the high shoulders may be considered very indefinite terms, and a cutter must learn to use his judgment as to what each particular customer requires, but for the reason that Dia. II will fit at least 49 out of 50 persons, all changes must be made with great caution, because the actual shoulder is not to be fitted at all, and if anybody attempts to do this, he must cut low shoulders for most all, and the majority he will have to alter, more or less.

About a year ago, while at church on a Sunday, I noticed a man who sat in front of me; he wears different coats according to the weather. Two of such coats fit him as good as any can be made, but one coat makes him low shouldered while the other gives him the appearance of a square shoulder. The square shoulder coat don’t fit as close around the arm as the one with the low shoulder, but the square shoulder hangs good, sleeve included, and no one will ask anything better. Any cutter can satisfy himself on that point by trying on different good fitting coats, on the same person, and by doing so he will soon find that a solid measure around the arm and shoulder, or a so-called “_Balance Measure_” is one of the greatest delusions the Nineteenth century has brought forth, in so far as fitting garments is concerned.

But I must point to another reason why a coat can be fitted to the same person with either a square or a sloping shoulder. A coat cut too high up at the back and at the side of the neck will have the appearance of a lower shoulder, because the coat starts higher up. At the present time the style for the shoulders is toward a square shoulder, and I think that will be the style for some time to come. Looking back to continental styles and pictures, we find all coats high up at the back and at the side of the neck, and consequently all are represented as low shoulders.

In fitting clothing according to the present style, a cutter must see, though he is compelled to cut a coat for a long neck higher than usual, that it gets not too high, but as low as possible for that purpose, and cutters who are not _above trying on_ will often find it to advantage to change the height of the collar a trifle, thought the fit may be the same for all. This is another point which cannot be learned by rules, or from books, or in cutting schools, but must be acquired by practice, after a cutter’s mind has been directed to it, and his mind must be clear always, and never be benumbed by whisky, or by tobacco, nor by fast women.

EXTRA SQUARE SHOULDERS.

Real square shoulders are seldom to be found unless the form is classed among the humpbacks, when the shoulders may even be higher at the arm than at the neck. By the term “Square Shoulders” is usually understood to be squarer shoulders than are ordinarily found. But right here let me say, that as long as the shoulders are cut on the angle of 135 deg. there is not much danger of getting them too low or too square for almost anyone, for the reason that coats are not to be cut skin-tight at the armhole. The armhole must be larger than the body all around, and no coat feels agreeable or looks well if the armhole is tight-fitting on the top of the arm or at the shoulder seam.

The shoulders should fit at the neck, but not tight. They should hang and balance themselves between the arm and the neck, where neither the movement of the neck nor that of the arms interferes with the coat. At the arm, the shoulders of a well-fitting coat should be loose, and as long as the sleeve fits so that it will not drag the armhole out of place such looseness will remain there, forming a square shoulder.

A shoulder that appears flat on the top, and breaks behind or in front, will always set better when the sleeves are out, because the sleeve-head is too short, pulling the shoulder downward, and it must make a break either in front or back of the arm; and it is for this reason that whenever they try on coats the journeyman is required to baste in one or both sleeves. For this reason, I claim the sleeve system, as laid down in this work, is far superior to any other. To fit the shoulders and the sleeves together is really a question of how not to fit the body of a person, and still, produce a garment which will take the eye of the public. A tight-fitting shoulder at the arm, and a tight-fitting waist in the back, are not the present conception of fit, or of style, for men’s garments, and in all probability never will be.

The shoulders are based upon a slope of 22½ deg., not because they slope just that much, for they may be 22 or 23 deg., or anything near that, but that is a good average; and 22½ deg. is the fourth part of a square, and is an even division of a square, and a known quantity.

I will here say: Extra square shoulders are seldom found which cannot be fitted by Dia. II, by simply cutting the spring between the shoulder seam ¼ less at the neck and placing the top of the back and the side of the neck say ¼ to ⅜ of a number lower, while the armhole remains as it is, including the sleeve. There is no question but that the lower, or the higher shoulders, can be fitted by making the change at the armhole, but in either case the whole armhole and the whole sleeve, as well as the waist, requires a re-adjustment. But I do not want to earn glory by giving a description of it.

SCIENTIFIC CALCULATIONS IN THE SQUARE AND CIRCLE.

(SEE DIAS. XI AND XII.)

These are not given for practical cutting, but are given as an example of scientific calculation in garment cutting. Although they are quite plain they may be called scientific conundrums, because the present generation of cutters knows nothing about them.

SCIENTIFIC CONUNDRUM IN THE SQUARE.

Mark a square of any unknown surface; divide one side into 20 equal parts, each part of which is a unit, or one number of the scale; use said 20 parts as a scale, representing the half breast circumference, and 2½ inches; with this scale make a diagram or draft of a vest, or coat, according to this work—all of which is done before the size of the square is known. When done, measure the square, or 20 parts of the scale, by inches.

Now, suppose the square turns out to be 20 inches; the size of the garment is 35 breast, or 17½ inches and 2½ inches. If the square turns out to be 22½ inches, the garment will be size 40, and so on, always 2½ sizes less than the square. If, however, the size of the square is too small to make a full size, multiply its units by any number whereby you can find a certain desired size. For instance: If the square contains 5 inches, each ¼ inch is a unit, or one part of the scale. Multiply the 5 inches by 4 and you have 20 inches. Now, take 4 units of the original, which represents here 1 inch, and your new scale will represent 20 inches divided into 20 parts, and will also cut size 35. If you multiply the 5-inch square by 3½, you will produce 18 inches, and if you take 3½ units as 1 unit, each unit will represent ¹⁄₂₀ of 18 inches, and the size of the garment will be 30½. If you multiply the 5 inches with 4½, you will obtain 22 inches, and by taking 4½ units as 1 unit for the scale, each unit will represent ¹⁄₂₀ part of 22 inches, and the size will be 39.

SCIENTIFIC CONUNDRUM IN THE CIRCLE.

Divide the half-diameter of a circle into 20 equal parts; then measure the half-diameter of the circle by inches, and if said result does not give a required size multiply the same as in a square; use the same units, and the same result will be obtained. All this must be done as in a square of 20, but afterwards the square of 17½ may be produced as shown in the diagram.

Fractional multiplication will result in the same thing, but may result in the fractional sizes, as 34½, 35¼ and 36¾, and so on. The six points of the compass will give all the base lines correctly on the square of 20 as well as on the square of 17½. It requires no scale, for one main point will give the other complete. The full diameter of the circle is 40 parts, and the triangle, as shown in Dia. XII, contains 35, half of which is 20 and 17½, for which reason the square of 20 and the square of 17½ is adopted as a base.

With the aid of the above calculations a person can go to any cutter, obtain from him any graduated scale, and with it cut a garment before he knows the size thereof. Or he can select for himself a scale from any set for a certain size by simply finding a scale whose 20 units will correspond with the size. Should the scales contain too large or too small units, they may be multiplied or divided, and a new unit found by doubling or halving the units, or by dividing or multiplying them with any number, to gain the desired result.

The conundrum is this: To use an unknown square or an unknown circle to cut a garment, and produce the smaller sizes large enough and the larger ones small enough for all practical purposes.

CHIPS AND WHETSTONES.

A sweep from the point of the angles, as at 80, will make a horizontal line when the pants are on and inflated with the body. No squaring from any one line will make it perfectly horizontal all around. The sweeps from the points of the angles will always be together when the pants are correctly sewed up and flat upon the table. Said sweeps will not fit together in all positions, if made from any other points, which proves their common center; and they will always be found reliable for the connection of the leg seams when the front is cut small and the back wide, and for squaring the bottom of pants.

Never change the angle of seven and a half degrees as a base.

Never try to find the perpendicular and horizontal lines on a pants, except for a person who always stands perfectly still; and as no such persons are found, said lines are therefore useless.

Allowance in the curve of the back of a pants cannot spread like the front, but will hang there like a bag, and may even cut the seat.

Extra width should never be allowed in the back of the crotch; better allow it over the hip. Allowing extra width in the crotch is just like allowing extra cloth on the front of the armhole,—it makes the whole smaller.

The trick in altering any garment is to first ascertain what will make it worse, and then make the contrary alteration. Example: If a pants cuts in the seat pinch the top of the sides together, which will make it worse, then put a wedge in the top of the side seam, and reduce again in the center of back.

If you find your pants too large or too small do not change the drafts, but take the measure smaller or larger, as the case may be. Take the seat measure close, like measuring a barrel, and have no slack.

Your customer’s pants waist must be as large as what he measures when he is in a sitting position. A man’s waist in that attitude may expand anywhere from one to five inches.

A waist-band made according to the old teachings, as three-fourths inches more than half measures, will not stand the test, and is a delusion.

If a customer tells you to make his clothing very large, he means that it should not be too small. If he instructs you to make it tight, he means that he wants it not too large. Either will be returned if it does not come up to his actual wants.

If a customer gives you a thousand and one directions, take them all in, study what he wants, or what he really needs, make his garment accordingly, and he will usually turn out as a customer not hard to please. But if he tells _you_ that you are the tailor; that _you_ know best what he wants; that _you_ shall make it according to your judgment, do not think that he will take anything, for he will usually turn out to be a very particular customer, who expects you to know your business.

Remember that old men require a larger seat—that is, a larger back slope in their pants; because, in aged persons, the seat actually caves downward, hence old persons grow shorter.

Give boys considerable straddle in their pants, not only for comfort, but for the more important reason that boys should never have any pressure on their sexual organ. Thousands of young men go to their early graves because some silly tailor made their pants too tight, by which they learned to abuse themselves.

Better talk half an hour with your customer after he has been measured, in order to observe his build, rather than to spend half a day in altering afterwards.

Do not consider yourself too expert a cutter not to try on the coat you cut. No cutter is infallible. But trying on a coat without sleeves will be found “no good.”

Your trade will depend upon how you please your customers, _not how cheaply_ you work.

The best customer is he who trusts you, and the worst is he whom you trust.

As long as your customer believes that no one else can fit him, you will have his patronage.

A cash customer’s trade is lost as soon as you trust him.

Trust no man for his wedding suit, even if you ever do get your pay; you will earn it over again by “dunning” him.

The best way to collect bad debts, is never to scatter any around you.

A large funeral is had only by those who collect their dues.

You may feel happier if you give a poor man a suit of clothing. Try it.

You will surely be angry if you trust a so-called “gentleman” and get caught—better not try it; but put your trust in God.

Do not try to alter a faulty waist by changing the neck of a coat, or _vice versa_. You will always fail.

Do not try to convince your customer that you have sold him a suit too cheap. You will lose him, for he expects that you will endeavor to make it up if he gives you another chance, and therefore will buy the next suit elsewhere.

If an old customer begins to grumble, try to pacify him, but if you cannot, better let him go for a time; he will be so much better when he returns.

A new customer may be “cranky” when he starts in with you, but if you treat him right he may turn out to be your best one.

To make a nice edge on worsted goods without binding, work the underside with a button-hole stitch and fill the edge like broadcloth. It takes a few hours extra work to make such an edge for a coat, but it saves the binding, and it makes a neat job for anyone who does not want binding on the edges of his garments. Reasonable stretching of the edges of a button-hole, while making, is better than drawing the edges together.

Cords to work button-holes over should be made by twisting three or four fine threads of silk together, and doubling it and letting that twist together again. This will make a strong cord, which will not fade like gimp or linen thread.

Corded pockets on ravelly material should be sewed double, not one seam on top of the other, but one alongside of the other.

Next to natural gas, gasoline is the cheapest and the most convenient fuel for heating irons in the hot season. Gasoline will loosen and destroy all gum at the pants bottom, or wherever it is used. Gasoline is the best article to clean straw goods, if used with a brush, and it is the best and cheapest article to remove grease, or any spots from cloth. To remove fresh paint spots from cloth, soak the paint with some kind of oil, common coal oil will do, until the paint becomes loose and soft; then wash out with soap and water. This will not injure the cloth, nor will it require any scraping whereby the nape or surface of the cloth is made threadbare.

Guarantee nothing but the fit and good sewing; all other guarantees are worthless to either party. How can you guarantee the color of any material when you know that rain and sun and time will change even the color of a live animal? Guarantee the color only so far as to be as good as any other of that kind, or as far as you know, and your customer will always be satisfied with you if not with the color of his garment.

Pieces of silesia are just as good for stays as Holland linen is; therefore cut your sleeve lining or your vest lining out of the whole cloth.

As a general rule, garments should be made up with very little wadding. I have made my vests without wadding for years and no customer has found fault. Black wadding should never be used for vests, it soils the lining.

Some, especially young cutters, may not know the following, but to them it will be worth the price of this book: If a coat is too small in the breast and no outlet anywhere, cut the canvas, and all lining and all padding through downward, and at the center of the breast, and insert a wedge of say one inch, after which the outside can be stretched that much, and the stretching will never go back. If the armholes are too small and no outlets, and the breast will become too small if the armholes are cut forward, cut the lining and padding through, under the arm down to the waist, insert a wedge of say one inch and stretch an artificial wedge in the outside until the armhole is large enough; this works always. It may cost a good deal to alter such a coat, but if a coat is worth altering at all it is worth altering right, and it is better to spend a few dollars for alteration than to throw the coat away; but you must be a cutter or a bushelman who knows how to do it.

To find an angle of 135 deg., go up and sidewise equal distances and strike a line as in Dia. IV.

An angle of 135 deg. is one square, and one-half square divided from corner to corner.

The angle of 120 deg. consists of two points of the circle, as shown in Dias. XI and XII; each point is 60 deg.

The Equilateral Triangle consists of three equal lines, each line of which is 60 deg., like in Dia. XII.

To find the angle of 15 deg., spread two lines one-fourth of their length, or 20 in. long and 5 in. wide.

To find the angle of 7½ deg., spread two lines one-eighth of their length, or 80 in. long and 10 in. wide.

If I had known something of geometry, it would have saved me years of labor on this book, but somehow we all must dig for our living, and sometimes our digging is very uncertain, and we may find things which we never dug for. Such is the ways of an Allwise Providence, and it is a blessing, maybe in disguise, that we must grope in the dark; but when everything around us is dark and uncertain, we should put “_Our trust in God_,” and we will be brought from “_Darkness to Light_,” in due time.

A short lecture to young cutters: “The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is their gray head.” Young cutters, do not spend your strength on fast women, nor do you exchange your money or your beauty for strong drink; you need all of it when you are old, and all of it you should have while young. As a general rule old cutters are useless. You may kick against such a fate to your heart’s content, but it will do you no good. The old must decline. As it is not natural for young women to court the attention of old men, so it is not natural for young men to patronize old cutters or tailors. Merchant tailoring, without young men’s patronage, will, and must always be a failure. Forget it not! Forget it not!

How to treat an apprentice: I commenced in March, 1848, to learn tailoring. I worked three years for nothing; my parents furnished me with clothing and boarding. There were only two houses between my parents and that of my master, and some of my folks always called me when ready to eat, and I had to come back when eating was done; there was no such a thing as an hour of rest at any meal. The first two years of my apprenticeship were, I believe, worse than the lot of any slave. In summer time I had to come to work at least at five in the morning, and after about one and one-half hours work, I had to get breakfast, and thus I kept on until dark, which was near nine in that latitude and in the longest days. In fall and winter I had to be there at six in the morning and keep up till nine in the evening, and three or four weeks before any holiday I had to work till midnight and all day Sunday. For all this I do not remember to have received more than “_zwei groshen_” as spending money, during the first two years. But the master worked at the same rate, and in the spring of 1850 he died of consumption. After that the widow carried on the business, and a new foreman, Mr. Geo. Hase, treated me more human. As a general thing, he would not let me work over twelve hours a day, and every now and then he gave me a few “_groshen_” for spending money, and the Lord has blessed him with a long life, and so far as I know he is still living in Crawford Co., O., and well and hearty, and as an ex-soldier, draws a good pension from “Uncle Sam.” But I must return to my first two years serfdom. I had to sew all the seams; I was nothing but a sewing machine, and after one year’s slavery I could sew like lightning and that was all that I had learned during that time. I was constantly driven to sew faster, in order that others might go ahead with their work, and in my misery to escape from such a “hell-hole,” I conceived this wish: If I could contrive something by which means I could make stitches as fast as I could count, I should not care if I had to give “_Old Harry_” a deed for myself, for all time to come. Boys may have ideas, too, and this was one of them. At that time I had no idea that that same thing was just then completed in America, and that, too, without the help of the devil. Well, after I came to America in 1852 and found that just then sewing machines were completed, and that they sewed even faster than I could count, I was very glad that I was fortunate enough not to be the inventor of one, though there were millions in it. I would always consider that Old Harry would appear and prove a just claim against me. I started this point to tell how to treat a boy, but I should have said: “_How not to treat him_.” But I must start in again. During the last fifteen years I have instructed seven boys, and I have found that boys of sixteen to seventeen years of age are the best to instruct. Such boys are able to work, while younger ones are too tender to be kept constantly at work, and older ones soon think themselves too smart, or too big to obey, but even if they are obedient, they are naturally harder to instruct, especially when they commence running after the girls. There are exceptions, however, and I would sooner instruct an intelligent boy of twenty years, if I were satisfied that his mind was made up to learn. Take only healthy, intelligent boys, who went to school, and are willing to work. I have rejected several boys whose parents came to me saying: “_He is not fit for much, but he is good enough for a tailor_,” or, “_he is lying around on the street, and we want him to go to the tailor shop, so he learns to do something_,” etc. Well, as long as a boy is fit to be a tailor, well and good, he needs no other qualification, but the qualifications to become a good tailor are just as various as that of a lawyer, or a doctor, or a preacher. If a boy is not brought up to work, but has been loafing most of the time, I would not risk him as an apprentice. After all other things are considered, and the apprentice is to be taken, make as good a bargain with him or his parents, as you can. Get him as cheap as you can; tell him that tailoring is all work, with not much fun in it, and make him work regular hours, and any boy can stand ten hours work. Give him to understand that he is not to be a slave, though he must work, and if he pays attention to the work and learns fast, and does what can reasonably be expected, give him a word of praise and a quarter or half a dollar weekly for his special use, and when a show comes around, or something special goes on, give him a ticket and a holiday and you will have the good will of the boy, and that will repay you for any liberality you may bestow upon him. My way of instructing boys was this: To learn to sew a back-stitch by hand, to fell on patches, to get acquainted with the sewing machine, to clean, oil and operate it, on straight seams first. Next teach him to baste up the sleeves and to make the sleeves on common coats if any such are made. Teach him to make inside coat pockets, hip pockets in pants if it can be done, then gradually show him how to make a pocket for the outside of a coat, teach him to baste and to pad the canvass and padding over the breast. Show him how it is to be done, and why it is to be done so, and not otherwise. If he makes anything wrong, explain it again, and again. Never scold and call hard names, and if you say some harsh words to him, speak that much more pleasant to him a few minutes later. Make him understand that you can smile over one of his mistakes and that he must not hide them, and that he will make mistakes as long as he works at tailoring, and that all tailors are in the same condition and therefore must watch themselves. A boy with a sensible instructor can learn the above in six months, and then he is worth something, and within one year from the start a boy can learn to make a fair sack coat, and in another year he ought to be able to make a tolerable good coat, pants and vest. Boys should be taught to make pants and vests besides making coats, in order that they may be able to instruct others, _should occasion require_. As soon as a boy is able to handle a needle, he should be set to work, to spend any time he may have to spare, in making button holes, which may be just as well done, in the beginning as in the end. Let boys work button holes in patches, and in a few weeks they may be able to make button holes in the flys of pants, and by the end of two years they are able to make a good button hole.

It is also a good idea for boys to become acquainted with cutting garments as soon as possible. They will learn faster, because they have more interest in tailoring, and are stimulated by the hope of becoming cutters in due time; and even if they never become cutters, they will be so much better tailors if they know how to cut. It is true not all good tailors will make good cutters, and vice versa, but “cutting” is considered a higher degree of tailoring, and every tailor ought to know something about the cutting and the fitting of the garments he makes.

_From the “BOSTON TRANSCRIPT”_:—

THE TAILOR.

The tailor is a very worthy person, notwithstanding his
occupation, like that of the enemy of mankind, is to sew tears.

You can hardly call him a person, as it takes nine of him to
make a man. Therefore when anybody asks you if a tailor is a
man, you must answer, Nein. A tailor, in fact, is but one-ninth
of a man, a vulgar fraction. This makes him a little man, or
a manikin, and therefore to man akin. Hence, for convenience
sake, I will call him a man.

Most men reap what they sow, but the tailor reverses the
process and sews what he rips. He is generally kept hard at
work, as his business is most of the time pressing. Sometimes
he is quite poor, but need never go hungry, as he always has a
goose, and finds no difficulty in getting all the cabbage he
wants.

Some people complain of the tailor because he is generally
behind time with their garments; but the tailor doesn’t care
to sell clothes on time, and in fact he suits most of his
customers.

Many mean things are quoted against the tailor, but he gets
even by coating those who talk about him. No matter how he
seems in society, a good tailor always seams when about his
work.

There is one thing very strange about the tailor. Although the
pantaloons he turns out are constructed on correct principles,
he makes them all cross-legged. Like other men he pants for
renown, but is mainly concerned for the renown of his pants. If
you say ought against his trousers, I trow, sirs, he will give
you fits. No matter how he may wear with others, the tailor
tries to make others wear well. If he trusts you for your
breeches, do not repay his kindness by breaches of trust.

He cuts his cloth economically, and yet much of it goes to
waist.

The tailor is as good as man in general, but I never knew but
one General Taylor who achieved especial distinction.

Some people object to the tailor on account of his bill; but it
must be admitted that a little bill is beak coming.

The tailor is a great student of human nature. He takes the
measure of every one of his customers. Of this you may surely
speak. The tailor is full of pluck. I have seen him collar a
man twice as big as himself, and he did it coolly and without
choler.

The good tailor never slops over, though he puts in much time
over slop work. The tailor cuts to order and orders to cut.

One thing must be said in his dispraise. He is the most
inveterate fellow to buttonhole a man you ever saw. Another
thing: Notwithstanding almost everybody cares more about the
outside than the inside of his coat, the tailor will make the
inside more lasting than the outside.

He makes custom work and will work for your custom. Too often
when his work is done he has to dun his customer for the pay.
The tailor owes his living to sin, for through sin came cloth;
but though one of the cloth, the tailor is not a clergyman, who
also, by the way, gets his living through sin.

Address him at the old stand, and a dress he will make you.

_From the “AMERICAN TAILOR.”_

BLUE MONDAY.

The cutter who is afraid of Monday is as miserable as his
deadliest enemy could wish. Saturday the coats which he has
seen tried on were all more or less faulty. One was too large,
another too small; one kicked at the waist, another was too
large at blade; one creased through the shoulder, another fell
away from the neck; one sawed the ears and another would not
cover the collar button of the shirt. He goes to bed Saturday
wondering if the boss has made up his mind to give him Hail
Columbia or the grand bounce. He awakes Sunday, nervous and
fidgety, and feels that he would like to have some one die
suddenly and leave him a fortune so that he could run away
and hide his misery. At noon he thinks he may, after all,
come out all right. At night he wonders how many suits will
come back on the morrow, and when he sleeps he dreams of
processions of angry men walking over him with misfit garments,
and a disgusted employer trying to persuade him that he is
a complicated idiot. Monday morning he goes to the shop
reluctantly, smiles with a sickly assumption of confidence,
shakes and trembles as he says “Good morning,” and wants to
perform the knot hole act as the first bundle of clothing is
returned. It is all right to

“Pity the sorrows of a poor old man,”

but when it comes to downright agony, we are of the opinion
that the cutter who is afraid of Monday can discount the “poor
old man” and is entitled to unlimited commiseration. He is
miserable beyond imagination, crushed, chronically, into mental
jelly, and rendered abject and ridiculous by the haunting fear
of returning bundles.

The awful terrors of each Monday’s morn,
Make the poor cutter wish he were not born.

Nov. 26th, 1891, 4 p. m.

This is Thanksgiving day and I am glad _I can say_: This work has been finished to-day, except corrections which must yet be made. This means that I have spent most of this legal holiday by working on the manuscript of this book, and I hope that some of my fellow workmen will be benefited by it.

But I cannot let this opportunity pass without publicly acknowledging the guiding hand of an Allwise Providence, which has been visible to me in the past and in whose power I trust. I know of no better way to express my feelings at the present hour than to repeat the first and last verses of that beautiful German hymn which was sung in church this morning:

1. Lobe der Herren o meine Seele!
Ich will ihn loben bis zum Tod;
Weil ich noch Stunden auf Erden zähle,
Will ich lobsingen meinen Gott.
Der Leib und Seele gegeben hat,
Werde geprießen früh und spät.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

8. Rühmet ihr Menschen den hohen Namen
Deß, der so große Dinge thut!
Alles was Obem hat ruse Amen!
Und bringe Lob mit frohem Muth.
Ihr Kinder Gottes, lobt und preis’t
Vater und Sohn und heil’gen Geist.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Aug. 15th, 1892.

FORTY YEARS OF GRACE.

On the 15th day of August, 1852, I was a passenger on a sailing ship nearly in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. On that night we had a storm of a pretty good size, and the way our old ship was rocking us, it seemed to me that I would never see daylight again. Well, that condition of things will learn a poor sinner to pray, and learned me to pray at least for that night, and in my prayer of that awful night I promised the Lord, that if he would deliver me from the _Perils_ and _Dangers_ of that night, I would always keep the 15th day of August as a day to offer especial thanks to Him as my Deliverer. _Well the Lord seems to_ have heard my prayer and that storm passed off and now—forty years after that time, I am able to record it in the pages of this book. I feel as though I cannot close this work unless I give at least one page of it to the praise of Him from whom all blessings flow, and who is able to deliver us from all dangers.

But I must acknowledge that I have not fulfilled the promise of the night of the 15th of August, 1852, at least not in that sense in which I made it, though I have remembered it every year but one, when it slipped my mind until a few days after. Some of my readers may say that it is silly to write the above in this book, but I think any place is good enough to give thanks and praise to the Lord.

SUPPLEMENT.

The manuscript for this work has been closed, but I feel that I must write a few things more, for I intend to record all that I know, at least all that which I remember and is worth knowing, and all that which I may have learned since the manuscript is closed. I have come to the conclusion that it would be better to give a frock coat diagram with no lap at the front waist seam, and for this reason I have made Dia. IIa, and in order to make the most of it, I have made it to fit the following forms:

I. For a medium long neck,

II. For a medium full waist,

III. For a medium erect position,

IV. For a medium short form,

and to the following measure: Breast 37, waist 37, hip 38, length of waist 18, length of coat 36, length of legs 30 inches.

Dia. IIa is a trifle wider at the shoulders than Dia. II, which is seen by the 9⅜ at 60 deg., and by the width of the back at the armhole, which is ¼ number more, and which requires the back sleeve seam ¼ shorter than Dia. II. The neck is for a form with ½ in. more length than the normal form, hence the top of back is placed at 2¾, and the spring between the shoulder seam is ¾, which requires the collar to be sewed on loose over the side of the neck. The armhole is in all respects the same, and the neck is changed from the top of arm upward.

Dia. IIa shows a full waist which is shown by the ¼ gore in the underarm gore at the waist, and in the larger width in the front of waist. The roll is shorter than on Dia. II. It buttons three buttons but may easily be made longer. The heighth of back above lines 9 and 13¹⁄₁₆ is only 14¾, being ¼ shorter over the blade, because most all such forms are more or less erect forms. In place of a lap of 1 in. in front the waist seam has a gore of 1 in. behind, and the run of that seam may be made to suit fancy or style. In cutting, the top of sidepiece should be run out into the armhole until it is long enough for the back from the nicks upward, as shown on Dia. IIB.

DIA. IIB.

I also add another diagram, IIB, which illustrates the erect and slender form—hollow back—full breast—square shoulders—forms which are mostly hard to fit. It is on the same square as Dia. II and IIa, but the difference is shown between the back and the side piece. The height of back is 14¾ and the front and back is even at the neck for the square shoulder.

Now, it will be seen how closely Dia. II, IIa and IIB are connected, and yet how far they are from fitting the same form. With the help of these three diagrams it seems to me any cutter should have easy sailing in fitting his customers. There is the tall, slim person to be fitted by Dia. II and IIB, and the short form and the full waist by Dia. IIa, and any of the other abnormal conditions here shown by the three diagrams, may be taken from one of them and placed on the other. Often, the abnormal conditions may be just contrary to the illustration.

DIA. VIII B.

This is produced here as a fine seamer sack. It can be used as a three seamer by taking a trifle more out between the back and side. For a short roll allow 1 inch in front of point 9 only, and reduce the gore under the lapel to about ¼ inch. The back is hollowed out ⅜ at the waist, and the center at the bottom is not thrown outside of the base.

In all other respects it is the offspring of Dia. VIII, and may be a trifle better. In practical cutting it will be found that Dia. VIII is more toward the erect form, because of its back being thrown outside of the base at the seat.