Fashion Design Drawing

Before cutting the material read the pattern instructions, examine the pattern and identify the pieces, observing the notches and perforations according to the directions. No fixed rule can be given for laying out material for cutting. It is frequently necessary to open out double-width material, cutting each part separately. Be careful in this case to observe the right and left side of the garment. In cutting a skirt, make a lengthwise fold in the material for the center of the front gore. Never start cutting with the widest part of your pattern toward the solid part of your material. Lay out your pattern carefully and place it on the material economically before starting to cut. If the material is narrow, it will be necessary to piece the lower part of this gore at each side; but this need not be done until after the rest of the skirt is cut, as some of the pieces cut from the side gores will probably be large enough

for this purpose.

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Single-width material should be laid out straight for all breadths except the front. It may be folded across at half its length, or cut in two and reversed (if it has a nap) and

cut double. After all the breadths are cut, and before removing the pattern, mark all perforations except the ones that indicate the cutting or grain line, with tailors' tacks. (See Chapter IV, Fig. 71.) In a plaited skirt remove the pattern and place a yard-stick on the cloth with its edge even with the tailors' tacks, and draw a continuous line with chalk. Mark this line with tailors' tacks. (Fig. 292.)

The long threads should be cut, the pieces separated, and the breadths joined at the seams. In sewing a bias edge be careful not to stretch it. Basting the seams is shown in Fig. 284 on page 110.

For a Box-Plaited Skirt, after ail the seams are joined (except the back seam, which is not basted until the plaits are all laid), begin at the front breadth and bring the two lines of markings at each side of the center front together and baste. This forms a large tuck. (Fig. 293.) The next two rows of markings are then basted together to form a* second tuck. Continue in this way around each side of the skirt. Each seam corresponds to a row of markings, and is to be basted to the line

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formed at the perforations on the breadth toward the front. After the plaits are basted into tucks, each one is flattened to form a box plait, bringing the seam in the center on the wrong side. The method of forming the plaits is shown in Fig. 293.

Be careful to get the box plaits even, without any draw, especially where the edges come bias. As each one is flattened, it should be basted a quarter of an inch from the fold edge, as shown in Fig. 294, to keep it in shape. This will be found a great convenience later.

The skirt is now ready to try on. Draw it up to reach the waistline all around, and pin it to the petticoat at the hipline. Then, from the hip up, arrange each box plait in a good line. The basted seam at the center of each box plait can be ripped as far as the hipline and the waist adjusted to the correct size. The bastings at the edges of the box plaits will hold the plaits in place so that their size can not be interfered with. They may be brought closer together to make the waist smaller or spread farther apart to make it larger.

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The edges of the box plaits should be pinned in correct position at the fitting, and when the skirt is taken off, they should be basted as pinned. The skirt can then be turned to the wrong side and the ripped seams rebasted. When this has been done, mark on the skirt the edge of each plait that has been altered. Then remove the bastings that hold them to the skirt, so that the under seam may be stitched.