1933—Principles of Tailoring
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, by Mary Brooks Picken
PREFACE
Time was when the word tailoring called to mind heavy, woolen materials and heavy-appearing seams and finishes. But today, silks, lawns, dimities, and even voiles and Georgettes, have tailored seams and edges, so that tailoring, as it is known now, is one of the vital parts of dressmaking.
This book treats of the subject of tailoring in its broad, present-day meaning. Covering first the equipment necessary for good tailoring and the way to sponge materials that are to be made up into tailored garments, it then proceeds to the making of seams and plackets. So much of the success of a tailored garment depends on the perfection of its seaming and openings that too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of this part of tailoring.
The next Section deals with buttonholes, buttons, and trimmings that are suitable for many materials and garments. The making of tailored buttonholes can become as significant a task as building a brick wall or shingling a roof or building a fortress. Each stitch, as with stones or shingles, is placed for permanent security. It has its definite place and must fit in against the others with ease and accuracy in order that a serviceable buttonhole may result.
A very important step in the development of a tailored garment is the making of its pockets. This embodies a definite feeling of responsibility because of the fact that a slash must be made in the garment as a part of the construction of the pocket, and once the fabric has been cut, a final step has been taken. Painstaking care, therefore, is necessary, and the instruction given on all types of pocket making keeps this point uppermost at all times. Step by step the various processes are accurately given. If each step is thoroughly mastered and understood before going on to the next, the finished appearance of the pocket will be proof of the value of the thoughtful care you put into its construction.
In presenting these various details of tailoring,definiteness and precision are constantly stressed. Puckered ruffles may be permissible, but tailored stitching must travel as straight as an arrow, tailored plackets must fasten so perfectly that there is never the hint of a bulge, tailored buttonholes must be exact as to cut and workmanship, and tailored pockets must display absolute accuracy and neatness. The first step to success is a full appreciation of how much these details add to tailored garments and the next is the willingness to spare no effort toward the careful working out of each.
