Page:The practical designer, for women's, misses', juniors' & children's cloaks & suits, shirt waist suits and dresses.djvu/268

259 THE IMPORTANCE OF FITTING.

The fitting of ladies' garments requires great confidence. To become an expert fitter it requires many real experiments. In order to give a correct theory I have prepared this lesson to aid the beginner and enlighten those who are somewhat advanced and to gain the confidence which is particularly needed for this action.

The first time you try on a garment you act very awkwardly, inexperienced; and get excited easily. You are afraid to place your hands on the garment to be fitted. In your excitement you do not know where to begin. At last you start to pull the garment up and down. You dance around the person like a kangaroo and get through in a hurry. The result is that the garment is put out of shape altogether. The measure might have been taken correctly and the pattern cut accordingly, but the garment is ruined when the fitting is not done properly. The majority who do fitting fail to think this matter over and to see to the best advantage the reason that they are not familiar with the easiest and most certain rectifications necessary in an ill-fitting garment. It is a bad-policy to tell your customers that "the garment will be all right," when it is not so. Naturally, the inexperienced fitter is in a hurry and thinks that he can make the garment fit perfectly when the customer is gone. No! Never do that. Fit the garment to perfection. Look up every part of the garment. See to its proper length and fitting part, decide what sort of fitting the garment is supposed to have when it is made up, and never mind how long it takes. It is much wiser than to have many fittings and have your customer call a dozen times for fittings and get the customer tired and disgusted with the whole job.

To fit a garment properly you must have patience and be sure to have all your changes marked on the garment or on an alteration blank. It is also the duty of the fitter to make the changes in order that the tailor should understand the alteration marks, because if alterations are misunderstood by the tailor the result will be that the garment will be a misfit and the same alterations will have to lie made again. Above all, you must have full confidence in yourself.

Special Notice.—To save trouble of making many fittings, do not take the garment apart when fitted. Leave it in one in order to see the proper hang of it until the fitting is finished. All marks for the alterations should be made with soap chalk.