The Art of Dressmaking

One Thousand Things Worth Knowing, 1854

The number of yards required depend[s] upon the width of the material. Ten yards of any material eighteen inches wide, will make a dress for a moderate-sized person, with full body, but no trimming on the skirt. Six yards of French merino, or any other material of that width, will be found sufficient.

Cutting Out.

When you are about to begin to cut out a dress, recollect whether it is to be cut on the cross or straight of the material. This will in some measure depend on fashion; therefore get a fashion book of the month, and study it a little. They are to be had at any of the bookstores. It will tell you if sleeves, bodies, trimmings, or flounces, are cut on the straight way of the material, or on the bias or cross way. By taking notice of any lady well dressed, that you may meet with, by a little attention you can observe how her dress is made, supposing you to know already something about the making of a dress. Fashion is an imaginary idea, and there is much less change, than many persons think. I would recommend to any one who wishes to see what is going on in the way of a dress, to pay a visit to Broadway any fine afternoon. When that is not in your power, go to any public place where there are genteel people, and make your own observations. With the help of those you will never be far behind the genteel style. Those who can afford to get a few things made, let them go to a respectable dressmaker, and then, if your means are limited, and it suits you, take your ideas from them, and set to work with courage. Many dresses are spoilt in the making, by too much fullness being put in the bodies. It is a mistake, to suppose that it adds to the richness of the dress. Anything of a dress is spoilt by being overloaded with trimmings or material.

Waist or Body.

All thin figures ought to wear full bodies; with stout persons it is matter of taste. Plain bodies require more care in making than full ones. Every small imperfection is seen in plain bodies. Great care must be taken with seams in front. They must not look full or puckered; stretch them well and notch them; let the stitches be even; do not draw the hand too tight. If you have no paper pattern that fits, unpick half an old body that fits well; lay your new lining on your cutting board, with an old body on top of it, and with your piercer prick through both, in the old stitches of your body pattern; prick them well, as the marks are apt to rub out; tack all the body well in the holes round it, before you begin, and be very careful to stitch your body to the tacking thread; take care and attend to this. Five out of six persons have their dresses made too tight across the chest; it is a sad fault; I have many times seen waists out of reason in length, and the front two inches too narrow; if a penknife were run up the middle, it would burst open; when I had occasion to do it, I have never found any one willing to have the seam sewn up again; and I feel convinced, that any lady, once wearing an easy dress, would never go back to a tight one; to say nothing of its being healthy and beautiful.

Great care must be taken with the arm-holes; do not make them too large or too small; thirteen inches is s nice size for a person not more than twenty-four inches in the waist; fourteen inches is a large size only required for stout persons. If you have to alter the arm-hole, never do it under the arm; in nine cases out of ten, it will spoil the dress, and it takes away the free use of the arm; a very small pieces cut off round the arm-hole, except underneath, will be all that is necessary. Do not forget, your sleeve must be larger than the arm-hole an inch and a half; when put in, it never looks the least full, and sets better. The seam of your sleeve must not be even with the seam of your body, but half an inch in front of it. In cording the neck, do not stretch it; hold the cord tight.

The waist must, on the contrary, be pulled well, when the cord is put on, or it will never fit; it requires much stretching. The fit of the body often depends on the finishing of the waist. In putting on a waistband, let it be larger than the body; the fashion at the present moment, I am glad to say, is not carried to the extreme; the waists are moderate in length, and I do hope the sensible women will cease to think tight waists are an ornament. Nothing is so beautiful as nature, if we only let it alone; it is presumption to think we can improve it; so much has been said by all our clever physicians on this subject, that more than a passing remark from me, will be unnecessary.

It is a common error to make the backs of a dress of a different size; both halves should be of the same size; as one comes under, and the other over, they must of course wrap equal, and certainly require to be both alike. Put the hooks not more than one inch apart, and a quarter of an inch from the edge of the back. If the dress fastens in front, make the fastening the same; and I think a hem down the back, a decided improvement; it takes off the width of the back, for narrow backs and wide chests are what is considered right. In gathering a body at the waist, if it is at all thick material, gauge it with strong silk or thread and large stitches, for it is a small compass it has to be put in; all full bodies are made with quite a straight piece of material, twenty inches long, and eighteen wide; this is half the front; gather it straight at the bottom, and then place it on your tight lining; fix it firmly, and then gather it at the shoulder; but mind and do the bottom gauging first; to make a body with folds, still have your material twenty inches long, and nineteen wide; the selvage must reach from waist to shoulder.

Have the piece on a table before you, and make about four folds quite straight; lay them on your lining, push them close together at the waist, and pull them wider apart at the shoulder. I find it makes the folds set better, to cover over half the body lining with a plain piece of the dress, like you would wear a stomacher, and then place your folds to meet it; so that a folded body will be in two pieces, the plain part put on first, and then the folds after. In putting folds on a body, let it be on the straight, or a good a cross; don't let it be neither one nor the other, which is too frequently the case, and always will, as a matter of course, set badly; do not put your folds into the neck, let them come towards the shoulder, it widens the chest; they had better be laid a little on the sleeves, than pushed all towards the neck. In making your body lining read to put on the part, be careful it is very exact and smooth; and mind your body is neat inside as well as out; don't let raw edges be seen; turn them, so that the outside fullness or plates cover what you can, and make the seam under the arm and on the shoulder neat, by sewing them over with white cotton: that is, if your body is lined with white, which it certainly ought to be; do not let your body lining be very stout; it is a mistake with many persons so to do. A stout lining prevents the dress going in to the figure, and is not stronger than one of moderate quality. A nice twilled lining at 8 or ten cents per yard, will answer the purpose. A yard and a quarter is plenty for a moderate sized person. We all admire the gracefulness of the French dressmakers; they are shocked at our body linings, and well know we shall never fit nicely while we use them. They use little or no bone in a dress; if a dress does not fit nicely without bone, it will never fit with. Evening low bodies require a little. The jackets are made to fit without bone, then why not a dress body? In making jackets you require a pattern; if you buy one on paper, a middle size is best; you can cut it smaller or larger, without injuring the pattern. It is a good plan to fit on a jacket in a common lining, and then cut out the material. Never make them very tight, and be sure to give ease in the arm-hole, and width on the chest.

Sleeves: How to make them.

In making sleeves, with one good pattern, strange as it may seem, you can very easily make six different fashions by cutting your sleeve a little longer or a little shorter, and putting on different trimmings, or making some in a band at the wrist, or leaving them loose. The same shape is by a dressmaker altered in the manner I describe, and with a little observation I think can be done. Try and procure a good pattern at first. With taste, one pattern can be made to look like six. A trimming on the top of the sleeve is a great improvement to thin persons, and, to my taste really pretty. It should match the bottom part of the sleeve and body trimming. Let it all match.

Most sleeves are now cut on the straight, but cross will do. This must be decided by the wearer, and sometimes by the material if it is stripes, they do not always look well on straight way; and if a sleeve is tight to the arm, it would hardly fit on the straight. In making up an open sleeve, lay the material on the lining, cut them both the same size, and tack them together flat on the table. Line the bottom of the sleeve with silk to match the dress, or a piece like the dress, about three inches deep. Put your sleeve together, and let the fullness for the elbow come in the half of your seam. Stitch up your sleeves, and nicely sew them over. Do not leave large turnings. If the material is not soft, you had better stitch up three pieces of your sleeve, and let one side of your lining fall over the three other pieces, and you will find this quite neat. Don't forget to cut both sleeves at once; that is the outside double, and the lining. Double your material and lay the two right sides together; you cannot then make up both sleeves for one arm, a very common occurrence with young beginners. One good pattern is absolutely necessary for cutting out your sleeves. Some persons think almost anything will do for a sleeve patter; it is a mistake; no part of a dress requires a better pattern to cut by.

Skirts: How to make them.

Supposing you have measured over your material, have your inch measure ready to cut the skirt from it. It is a good plan to write down in a little book the number of inches long your skirt is required. Measure it at the back of the dress, and then from the seam under the arm. The slope begins here, and gradually goes to the point. Lay the skirt on a table, and have both halves exact, pin them together at the bottom, and pull them even at top. A dressmaker would have a person to hold the skirt at the bottom, while she made it even at the top. Put seam to seam. Care should be taken to cut your skirt even, every breadth the same length; and let your seams be nicely pinned before you begin to run them. Make yourself a heavy cushion, to pin your seams to. A common brick covered makes a very good one. In cutting off the skirt, if the length, we will suppose, should be forty-two or forty-six inches long, leave four inches more for the hem and turnings at the top. Cut the lining for the skirt exact to the material, and mind it fits when finished. Supposing you to have run the seams of the skirt and the seams of your lining, lay the lining on the table, placing the skirt on top, and then tack the seams of your skirt to the lining. Begin at the first seam, and gradually go on to the last seam; stitch up three pieces together, and fell over the fourth; having done this, hem the bottom. Fix your hem all round before you begin, and do not take the stitches through; unless your hem is tacked or pinned, it will be sure to be on the twist and set badly.

Having done this, run on your braid, which must be put on easy or rather full. Attend to this, or you will spoil the set of the skirt. If the skirt is to have flounces, they must be put on before you gauge the top; and while the skirt is on the table, put a white tacking thread round the skirt where each flounce is to be fixed. Flounces take the same quantity of material if cut either on the straight or the cross. It is a common error to suppose they take more on the cross. For the fullness of a flounce allow one width on the cross to one width on the straight of your skirt; so that if you have six widths in your skirts, you will have six widths in your flounces on the cross. If there are three flounces of different widths, let the bottom and widest one have the most fullness; three inches more fullness will be sufficient. If the flounces are on the straight, allow eight widths in the flounce to six widths in the skirt. A small cord run in at the top of the flounce makes it look neat. Before running the cord in your flounce, join it round the exact size of the skirt; join round likewise your flounces, and full them on the cord as you go on. Halve and quarter your flounces and also the skirt, and you will find them no trouble to put on.

To cut flounces on a good cross, have the material on a table, and turn down one corner in the exact shape of half a pocket handkerchief, and then cut it through. In turning down your half, try two ways; one way lays flat on the table when folded, and the other does not look so flat, cut through the latter. In silk there is no perceptible difference which way you cut it; but in crape you will very easily observe it. Take any piece you have by you, and try it while reading this. Now begin to turn down your material on the cross, like a gentleman folds his neckerchief; keep folding until you have the number of pieces you want for one flounce, and keep each one pinned to the other as you fold them, so as to leave them all exact in width. Mind the edges measure exact. Supposing you to keep turning each one as you fold it. If the flounces are to be nine inches, cut the selvage the same length.

Some persons are at a loss to know how much three or four flounces will take. Supposing you have three flounces, one ten, one eight, and one six inches deep at the selvage, the flounce of ten inches wide would take not quite one yard and three-quarters; that of eight inches, one yard, a quarter and three inches; and that of six inches, exactly one yard; making in all four yards for three flounces; this, you will understand, is for flounces cut on the cross or straight in any material you may choose to use. I should advise you to have paper and pencil and your inch measure, and reckon before you purchase your material. Trimmings down the front of a dress when on the cross, should be cut the same as flounces. In trimming the front of a skirt, it is a good plan to cut a paper the length of the skirt, and pin it on the way you intend to trim, and then tack a tacking thread by it. Put tackings wherever you mean to trim, before you begin trimming, and lay your skirt on a table to do it; put on all trimmings with a light hand; do not sew them as you would a shirt, it gives them a puckered look. Now mind a good cross, no attempt at making pieces do, unless they are good corner pieces that will join well; you are more sure of making a trimming well, if cut all from one piece.

Before cutting a skirt off, that you wish to put tucks in, have a piece of lining or calico at hand, pin the tucks in it as you wish to put them in your skirt. Supposing you have pinned your calico exactly like one width of your skirt, take out your pins and measure with an inch measure the exact quantity, and then calculate the exact quantity you will want for the whole skirt. As a general rule, a tucked skirt takes more than a flounced one, and makes less show for the quantity of material used. When running seams of a silk skirt, notch the selvage all the way up the seams of every breadth and pass a moderately warm iron over the seams when finished; seams in a merino skirt, require to be run thickly and pressed open; press every join you make in every part of a dress. In gauging a skirt of any kind gauge the four back widths in larger stitches than you gauge the three front ones; the rule in gauging is to take as much on your needle as you leave; that is, if you took up on your needle a quarter of an inch, you would leave a quarter of an inch; this size would do for the back gathers, but the front must be smaller. All seams should be run with silk the color of the dress. It is a good plan to have fine black thread in your work box, to sew waists on and gauge the skirts of a dark dress.

Cloaks; How to make them.

Supposing you have a pattern of a cloak that suits you, if it is a paper pattern you have bought, before cutting your material, cut the shape in lining and fit it on; in case it should be too large or too small in the neck or shoulder, pin it the size you require, and before taking out the pins put a black tacking thread in, to mark the size you want it; having done this, untack the lining and lay it on your material, and then proceed to cut out your cloak. Whatever you are going to line the cloak with, must be cut the same size as the outside. If the cloak is not lined, and there are white selvages on the silk, be sure to cut them off, it is very ugly to see a black cloak on the wrong side with white selvages.

If you trim your cloak with lace, and it measures three yards round, put four and a half yards of lace on, —wide lace requires more fullness than narrow. Gimp and fringe require to be put on easy. To make up a winter cloak, it generally requires to have wadding in it. Buy two or three sheets of good white wadding—white is better than black for anything; before opening the sheets of wadding, lay them before a fire for half an hour, they will then open nicely in the middle; they are better opened by two persons than by one; if the wadding is a little thick, all the better; pull off a little of the soft part and leave the skin. Lay your silk lining on the table , the wadding on top, the soft part towards the silk, keeping the skin side up; lay one sheet of wadding on first, and tack it all over with white cotton in large stitches; having done this, have ready the finest black cotton you can get, or fine black sewing silk; have ready your inch measure, place a row of pins an inch apart, and now put a stitch in place of each pin, and so keep going on throughout the cloak that your stitches form squares of an inch.

Mind the silk must be cut about one inch larger than the shape of your cloak bfore you begin to wad it. If you wish to quilt a cloak, the wadding and silk are prepared in just the same manner, and it is a matter of taste which you do. Thin flannel is sometimes used to line cloaks with, but to my taste very ugly, there is nothing like good wadding for warmth, for dresses, petticoats, or anything else. To see if a cloak sets well, it had better be fitted on some one before quite finished; any part of the cross always will droop a little, and requires care in fixing. If you trim a cloak with velvet or any light trimming, do it before you line the cloak; fur or heavy trimmings are better put on after the cloak is lined, but don't take the stitches through. Half of any round table will make a very good pattern for a cloak; cut a piece out of the part where the middle of the table comes, half the size of the top of a gentleman's hat; now make two pleats in each shoulder; this is the round or circular cloak, which is now worn; lined or not lined they do equally well.

General Remarks.

Cut your plain skirt off the piece first, body and sleeves after, leave your trimmings to the last; large turnings are bad and waste the stuff; measure carefully and cut exact. I have met with many who fail in making a dress owing to their really cutting every part of the body too large, and getting confused; recollect to cut all your body double, that is, the two halves of front, and the two halves of the back, at the same time. When you are about to commence a dress, have the following things in a basket or box at your hand, viz.: sewing silk, the color of the dress—a pair of scissors, not small - a penny inch measure, you can procure one a trimming shop; don't cut without a measure, and always measure all that you have bought or have given you for a dress before you begin to cut.