Page:The Cutter's Practical Guide 1898 Edition Part 1.djvu/12

Rh exceeded his height by 5 inches, whilst the other extreme was an architect whose arms were 4 inches shorter than his height. Thus it will be seen these divisions must not be relied upon too implicitly, for

Consists more in dealing with abnormalities, and bringing them as nearly in appearance to these ideals of proportion; hence it is not only necessary for us to know what constitutes a proportionate figure, but also by the measures we take and the peculiarities of form we notice, to be able to detect wherein each customer varies from proportion, and by thus toning down the abnormalities to produce the most suitable garments for each customer. It is such work that transforms the science of tailoring to an art, and if we wish to rank as artist tailors and rise in our noble profession, those are the lines on which we must act and not use one pattern indiscriminately for all of a given size, and so produce the same style of garment, irrespective of the customer's peculiarities. It may he urged the pressure of business will not allow sufficient time for this, which is doubtless true in many cases but if we aspire to reach the top of the ladder of fame it is the only way it can he attained, and as there is always plenty of room in the upper stories of our profession for really good men. whilst the lower branches are always too crowded, we can only exhort our readers to aim high, and, by diligent application and study, master every problem connected with our calling, and make themselves worthy of the highest position the trade can offer.

This, we think, will be sufficient of anatomy to fully explain all there in to be learnt in connection with it and tailoring, so we will now turn our attention to another science, viz.,

Or that branch of mathematics which investigates the relations, properties and measurements of solids, surfaces, lines, and angles: consequently, any system of cutting is, strictly speaking, a development of geometry, for the whole thing is arranged by taking certain measures of the body, and, by the aid of lines, curves and angles, to produce a pattern that shall be a fitting covering for the surface of the body. Taken, however, in the light in which it is generally viewed, there is one fact which must always be of use to the tailor in his daily practice, and that is to know the relation the diameter bears to the circumference of a true circle: this has been deduced to the following proportions, which, for all practical tailoring purposes, are sufficiently correct. It is as follows:—A trifle under a third, or in the relation of 7 to 22, or as 113 is to 355; of course, it is quite useless for us to go into fractions, $7/22$ is quite near enough for my use we may put it to, and means that if the circumference he divided in 22 equal parts, the diameter would be seven of those parts; this will be valuable knowledge in dealing with such sections as the neck, scye, etc.

The degrees at which the various angles are drawn need not be studied, as the tailor always has his square and chalk handy, which are quite sufficient to enable him to draw a line at any angle he may choose; in fact, it is so generally the custom of the trade to go down 9 and out 1, or down 12 and out 3, and so on, in order to produce an angle of any given degree, that we should only be adding mystery to a very simple matter, and from which no compensating improvement would accrue, and as such is not our intention, it being rather our aim to simplify simplicity than to produce a complicated work of use only to the few.

There is one other geometrical fact worth our noting as being of use to the cutter; viz., that all points of a circle are the same distance from its centre, so that if we wish to draw a part of a circle by sweeping it will he the some distance at all points from the centre; these are the practical lessons of geometry and anatomy. Not much, you will say! still, of great value in daily practice, and we especially commend them to the careful consideration of the reader.

So much might be said on this topic that we feel we should be overlooking a most important factor in successful cutting if we did not make some allusion to it, for not only must we have the seams to run in graceful curves and devoid of all sharp angles, etc., but they must be also arranged so as to bring out the special points of beauty which exist in a more or less degree in every figure, as