Fashion Design Drawing

LINED WAISTS

THE CONSTRUCTION of a lined waist requires the most minute attention to every detail. If great care is given to the work one can feel sure of satisfactory results. For a draped waist the lining is made separately, fitted, and the seams pressed open and boned before the outer material is adjusted.

THE. LINING is the foundation of a fitted waist. When cutting the lining, lay the perforations indicating the lengthwise thread of the material parallel to the selvage. If the directions are not followed exactly in this respect the waistline of each section of the pattern will come on the wrong thread, and the lining will stretch out of shape.

Some dressmakers advocate cutting cotton linings crosswise of the material, but they do not cut to advantage this way. The argument is that material used crosswise will stretch very little, if any, and the lining may be strengthened by making it double at the points where the greatest strain will come.

At the seams of the under-arms, the shoulders and the darts, mark the sewing line by tailors' tack: along the line formed by the large perforations. Do this when cutting the lining and while it is double, so that both sides may be marked exactly alike. Mark with a colored thread the perforations that indicate the waistline and also those marking the elbow in the sleeve portion. Baste the seams of the lining together with their notches matched, basting the outlet seams through the perforations and the other seams three-eighths of an inch from the seam edges.

A waist lining should be reenforced for a stout figure in the following way: Before cutting out or closing the dart seams, baste an extra piece of lining from the front of the waist to the second or back dart, and reaching from the top of the dart to the bottom of the lining. (Pig. 239.) Now cut up the center of each dart between the rows of perforations, then bring these perforations together, and, beginning at the top, baste the darts and include the stay pieces in the seams. A waist fastening at the back has the back portions reenforced to a corresponding height.

Baste the under-arm and shoulder seams toward the outside for the first fitting, for it is at these seams that the greatest alterations are usually made. Put the lining on and draw it toward the front, bringing the two raw edges together. Pin them in a seam, placing the first pin at the marks indicating the waistline. Smooth the lining over the figure at both the front and back, and be careful that the waistline of the lining is at the waistline of the figure. Make alterations at the under-arm and shoulder seams and at the front edge if necessary. Draw the lining up well at the shoulder seams, but not enough to draw it from the correct waistline. It may be fitted at these seams a little more snugly at the final fitting.

Sometimes after the shoulders are carefully pinned there will be wrinkles in the front, between the shoulder and the neck. These are caused by the natural hollow of the shoulder. In this case the shoulder seam must be ripped open and the front stretched to the back from the center of the shoulder to the neck. Wrinkles at the back near the neck are often caused by the lining being too long-waisted in back. Or the shoulder seam may have been sloped too much, especially if the person is very square-shouldered, It is always better to rip the bastings and pin the seam over again.

If the waist draws to one side it is because the waistlines have not been pinned together at the line of bastings. The top of the darts must come just below the curve of the bust and they may be raised or lowered if necessary.

If the armholes feel too tight, be very careful not to gouge them out under the arms or around the front, or the waist may be ruined. The best plan is to snip the armholes for about three-eighths of an inch. This will give sufficient spring for the arm, and the sleeve can be stitched in just beyond the end of the snippings. If, however, this does not give

sufficient ease to the armhole, pare the edges off a little and snip the seams a trifle deeper. The same caution applies to the neck.

Pin the alterations, and mark carefully along the line of pins with tailors' chalk. Without removing the pins baste through the corrections, keeping a well-shaped line for the seams. Try the lining on again to be sure that the alterations are right. Transfer the alterations to the other side of the waist by using the corrected side as a pattern. Baste the seams again, this time with the seams toward the inside. Stitch the seams just outside the bastings so as not to make the waist any smaller, bearing in mind that the sewing of the seams will tend to tighten them. It also allows the bastings to be drawn easily, for if the seam is stitched directly on top of the bastings, both rows will be so interwoven