I’ve got a few reasons for wanting to skip ahead to Regal’s first set of instructions on trousers. That I’m working on a set of Orville trousers and need to draft a new pattern for them is not the least of them. It’s also going to give us a good place to head after finishing up the sack coat. After finishing a classic jacket, a matching set of trousers could finish up the outfit nicely. Granted, men’s pants haven’t changed much in the last century, so a modern pattern might work fine but the whole point is to experiment with the drafting methods introduced in The American Garment Cutter.
For a set of basic trousers we have two diagrams. Diagram 144 shows how to draft the front piece and 145 drafts the back piece over that. There’s no waistband, so we’ll need to figure that out later.
We’ll need to take our measurements, the standard ones that Regals uses are:
| Measurement | |
| Outseam | 42″ |
| Inseam | 32-1/2″ |
| Waist | 32″ |
| Seat | 38″ |
| Knee | 19″ |
| Bottom | 16-1/2″ |
Diagram 144: Front
We’ll start off by tracing out Diagram 144, the front trouser pattern piece. Note the horizontal lines. Line A is the waistline, D is the hip line, C the crotch line, E the knee line, and B the hem line. Regal has not given us a waistband here, anything we choose to add for a waistband or facing will be done later on.
Step 1
As usual, we locate point A and square down from that. From A to B is the outseam measure and from C back up to B is the inseam measure plus an extra 1/4″ which, for the sample measure is 42″ and 32-3/4″ respectively. This means that from A to C should be the rise minus 1/4″, or 9-1/4″ given the above measurements.
From B to E is half the inseam plus another 2″ or 18-1/4″ on the diagram. From C to D is 1/6 the seat measure, or 6-1/3″ on the diagram.
Square out from A, B, C, D, and E.
Step 2
Once again, Regal casually decides to cut a measurement in half without telling us. From C to F is half the seat measure, but he means half of the half-measure here, or 1/4 the actual circumference. For the sample that’s 9-1/2″.
From F forwards to 1 and backwards to 2 is 5/16″, meaning that from 1 to 2 is 5/8″.
Step 3
From 1 to G is 1/8 the (half) seat measure. From G back to H is 3/4″ and K is halfway between C and H, putting it at 5-23/32″ on the diagram.
Step 4
From B to L is the same distance as from C to K. Draw a vertical line starting from L through K. M appears where this line crosses the horizontal line coming out from E and N where it crosses the line coming out from A.
Step 5
From L forwards to T and backwards to S is 1/4 the ankle or bottom measure minus 1/4″, which comes to 3-7/8″ on the diagram.
From M forwards to Q and backwards to R is 1/4 the knee measure, or 4-3/4″ with the sample measurements above.
Step 6
Draw a line from S to R and then from R to C.
Now draw a line starting from T through Q and up. Draw an arc, using Q as the center, from G and on back. Where this arc crosses line T-Q, mark point J. This means that point J is the same distance from Q as is point G, so an alternative would be to measure this distance and make point J the same distance from Q along line T-Q. We’re going to need this “draw an arc” method later, however, so we might as well figure it out here.
Step 7
At the top, O and P are one quarter the (half) waist measure from N, which is 4″ given the sample measurements. Add lines from O to 1 and 2.
Step 8
Now we can finish shaping the front piece. The side seam top is an arc passing through P which is tangent to line A-B at point D, as shown.
Hollow the bottom at L by between 1/2″ to 3/4″ at the center for the front pieces.
The front comes out from O parallel to line O-1 and curves to meet G. The center inseam then traces a shallow curve down from G to Q.
There is also a second fly line, which starts off at O parallel to line O-2 and curves to meet point J. Add a line down from J to Q.
The two sets of lines are for “dress” in the trousers. “Dress” here refers to extra space in the crotch to allow a little extra freedom. To cut the dress properly, we would cut the left hand side to the larger O-G-Q curve and the right side to the smaller O-J-Q curve.
Most modern patterns no longer have this extra space. We can use both of these lines, or just pick one for both sides. For the sake of convenience, I’ll leave both lines in from now on.
Diagram 145: Back
Diagram 145 gets drawn over diagram 144. Before starting it, we’ll want to trace out the front pattern piece somehow. A tracing wheel and newsprint placed under the sample or a sheet of tracing paper placed over it will be the easiest methods. If you’re using drafting software, instead, then this is even easier to deal with, but other irritations may arise later, depending on the software.
Before starting, take note of point 4, where the front hip line which comes out horizontally from D meets the front center line coming horizontally through L-K-N. We’ll need this later.
Step 1
First we need to extend lines S-T and R-Q forwards and backwards.
From S to W is 1/2″, from T to V is 1-1/2″ and from Q to U is 1″.
Step 2
We need to next find point 7. To do that, we sweep out an arc centered at Q and starting at G. Using the sample measurements, length G-Q is about 14-1/4″, so we’ll want to mark out an arc of that radius, or at least pencil in a collection of points that distance away from Q. Point 7 is the point on this arc that is a distance 1-5/8″ back from G.
Step 3
From R back to H and forwards to 12 is 1″ each. Now we need to sweep out three arcs. We need one starting at C centered on H, another starting from D centered on H and a third starting from P and centered at 12. On the sample, P-12 is almost two feet, so it will require some work to draw manually.
Step 4
From 4 forwards to 5 is 1″. Square up at 5.
Locating points 3, 6, and 8 requires a bit of work. We need to place a square so that the vertex rests on the vertical line coming up from 5, one leg lies on point F and the other crosses the arc coming out back from P. This means that line F-6 is perpendicular to line 6-3 and their intersection, point 6, is on the vertical line coming up from 5.
Point 3 is where one leg of this angle intersects the arc centered at 12 and starting at P. Point 8 is where line F-6 crosses line D-4-5.
Mark both points 3 and 6 once you’ve found them. Point 8 is the point where line F-6 crosses line D-4-5.
The back center seam is a curve starting at 6 that begins along line F-8-6, coming off the line around 8. The seam arcs through G and ends at 7.
Step 5
Point 9 appears on the arc coming out from D and is half the seat back from 8, or 9-1/2″ on the sample drawing. From 9 to 10, which is on the same arc, is another 1-1/2″.
Draw a line from R through 10 and on to 3.
Step 6
From point 6 to X is half the waist, or 8″ given the sample. From X back to Y is 1-1/2″.
Step 7
Now we adjust the back with a dart, which is frustrating because Regal gives very little information.
Measure the distance from Y to 3, this is going to be the dart width, on the sample it’s 1-1/8″. Come back by that amount from X and note the location. This point is unlabeled but important.
Back waist darts are usually about 5″ long. Come down that amount perpendicular to the line 6-3 at the dart point found earlier and mark 1 as shown.
Draw an arc starting from X and centered at 1. Where this line intersects the dart line, which is the radius passing through perpendicular to 6-3, mark Z. This means that Z-1 is perpendicular to 6-3 and is the same distance as X-1. Draw lines 6-Z and Z-X to complete the back waist.
Step 8
Drop the center bottom by 1/2″ and shape the back bottom hem. Shape and finish the back piece.
Conclusion
Now we finally have two trouser pattern pieces, as seen below.
Armed with this, it is at last time for us to start cutting material. Almost. As usual, Regal hasn’t bothered with little things like pockets, linings, or facings. So we’ll consider that problem another time.
