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to make up a pair of trousers. It is needless to remark they consist of a body and two legs, yet it is in the relation the one bears to the other that many of the defects may be traced, for it must always be remembered that the legs of the trousers are forced to follow the legs of the wearer except to the small scope allowed by their width, and just as they are made to swing in or out, or in other words are open or close, will there be cleanness about the fork or surplus material there. Then again them is another factor to the fitting of trousers, and one which is often overlooked, viz., the harmony of the parts, that is the undersides being cut the same in the balance as the topsides, and we are of opinion very few indeed are to be found fully cognisant of the result that would be produced by letting the undersides pass up or down at the sideseams. We all know it affects the hang of the sideseam, but it does not end there, and if those who are striving after knowledge on this topic will make the experiment, we think they will learn much from it.
The Body Part
Is precisely the same as is contained in the plaid Kilt, or any garment which wraps right round, independently of the legs. For convenience sake We divide it into top and undersides, and there is of course no actual necessity for a sideseam in this, it only asserts its claims when the legs are added. If we were going to cut a perfectly close-fitting garment without any division of the legs, it would be necessary for us to allow a certain amount for ease over and above the consumption of seams, for which of coruse we should allow the usual 1⁄4 inch. It is rather an interesting, and certainly a very instructive experiment, to test how much the body expands at the seat when sitting, and especially to those who have never thought why so much more was allowed over the measures of the seat than was consumed by the seams. In teaching, we always make it a practice to give a reason for all we do; possibly some are more apparent than others, if so, this is one of the most so, for we find that the difference between a measure taken fairly close round the seat, about the hip bone, is at least 11⁄2 or 2 inches smaller than if taken with the same degree of tightness when sitting, hence the necessity of allowing 1 inch or thereabout for ease, besides the 1⁄4 inch for every seam. At the waist there is no expansion such as this to be provided for, so that the allowance for seams is sufficient at that part. An interesting question, however, comes in at this juncture, viz., it what part should this inch of ease be placed? Some allow it on the back seam and produce a very round seat seam, others allow it on the sideseam. It has been our custom, however, to place it midway, which is done by taking out a 1 inch fish at about the middle, or a trifle nearer the sideseam of undersides, see
Diagram 68.
This method distributes the size more equally over the seat, and we have always found it to produce satisfactory results. However, we have no wish to say it is the only spot for it, for although the figure increases in width when sitting, get un- doubtedly the increase takes place at the back, so that although we have every confidence in the plan we have laid down as being the most satisfactory, and as far as we can see in accordance with the development of the figure when sitting, yet if our readers think it should be put on the seat seam in the form of a round at S, in diagram 57, they may do so, but in doing so they must not reduce the angle from the fork point to the top of sideseam or undersides, so that the V will be taken as it were from the seat seam at back. We only mention this so as to fully explain principles, and why patterns, apparently so very different in outline, may both fit very nearly the same.
The Fork.
This is undoubtedly that part which joins the forepart to the undersides through the logs, and although it is very closely allied to seat angle, yet it is a totally distinct quantity and one which serves a different purpose. In the Federation Prize Essay, this quantity was obtained by taking the tight thigh undress side and treating the thigh as a circle, taking the diameter of it. It has occurred to us this is scarcely logical, and although it has been found to operate in the most satisfactory manner in thousands of cases, yet we think this
