There was a lot in just putting together maybe half of the lines necessary to draft a basic sack coat in Diagram 1, but it was necessary to establish the methods and terminology that will appear throughout the text in later diagrams, because most of it won’t be explained later on. Parts weren’t even explained then. And it’s not done yet, we have two more diagrams to get through before we can even consider this mostly finished and there are yet more issues we’ll encounter along the way.
Diagram 2
Diagram 2 starts the process of turning that basic block that we created in the last post into a pattern for an actual garment that we might be able to cut, sew, and wear. This will involve shaping the neck, shoulder, side seams, and armscye.
Step 1
Before we can even really begin drawing anything new, we need to measure some of the lines that we’ve already drawn.
We need to know the distance from Point A, the very first point we drew at the base of the neck, and point 11, which will end up being at the middle of the neckline. This distance is the top width of the back. Based on the Regal’s sample measurements, that should be 3-1/9″
Next, measure the distance from Point 11 to O, this line is going to be the shoulder seam. On the diagram at right it comes to 5-2/3″.
(length V-L) = (strap)/2 – (length A-11) + 3/4″
Step 2
Now things get a little weird. We should now “apply this amount [line A-11] to point L and measure up to V the strap measure plus 3/4 inch for seams;” which just couldn’t be any more clear.
After several attempts to piece this together I finally jumped ahead to another section where similar instructions show up with equally obtuse phrasing, “from 25 [near A] to 11 and L to V is the strap measure plus 3/4 inch;” a wording he uses fairly often to indicate that these two values should sum to a particular amount. With both phrasings as context, I put it together at last.
It means that Point V should be on the line coming out from T through U and be half the strap measure minus length A-11 plus 3/4″ away from L.
On the sample that length is 9-2/3″ away. I tried a few techniques for this but, lacking a compass large enough, found the easiest was to just shimmy a ruler around until I found the right spot.
Step 3
Draw point Z on the line from V to O, the distance from V to Z is the “3/8 inch less than the width of the back shoulder” by which he means the distance from 11 to O.
We’re then going to drop down 3/8″ from that point and mark point Z just below line V-O.
Step 4
Now shape the shoulder and armscye. This is pretty much by eye. Use your French curve to create curves that are tangent to line QRL and line KL. Another curve connects X to a point just outside O that has a tangent to line NPO.
Add a curve from point X linking to line 7-23-4.
First time we’ve used the French curve
Step 5
Now we draw line VW, which is perpendicular to line TV and is 1/6 the (half) breast measure plus another half inch, 3.5″ on the sample. So we set our square up along line TV and draw this line to that length.
Step 6
Now draw a slightly rounded line connecting W and J.
Step 7
The distance form V to Y is 1/8 the half-breast measure, 2.25″ here drawn along line TV. From W to X is 1/6 the half-breast, or 3″ drawn along the curve from W to J.
Draw a line from X to Y.
Step 8
Draw a curve from V to X, it should be tangent to XY and TV at the ends.
Step 9
From point J we come out 1″ and mark point 12, from S to 13 is the same distance.
Step 10
Now draw a line perpendicular to RS but starting from point 13. This is going to be a lot easier with a transparent square.
Where this line intersects the line coming out from D is point 6. Where it intersects the line coming out from E mark point 16.
The last step on this diagram is to mark point 15, which is 3″ back from point 6.
Diagram 3
Now we’ve got something that’s at least sort of looking like a garment. From here on out we’ll finish drawing the rest according to Regal’s instructions.
Frustratingly, Diagram 3 is actually missing out on quite a few details. Regal adds in the collar, lapel, and pockets here but gives very little information on how. He will give us more to go on later in the book for some of this. Not all, but some.
Step 1
Measure the distance from point 3 to point 23, the distance from 15 back to 19 is the same. In the diagram given this is 6-5/9″.
From point 19 go back another 2″ and mark point 20.
Step 2
Draw a vertical line coming up from point 19. Where this crosses the horizontal line coming out from C, mark point 18.
Now draw a line connecting point 18 to 20 and continue out.
Step 3
Measure the distance from point 5 to 7, on the diagram as given this is 13.5″
On the line from 18 and passing through 20, measure the same distance from 18 and mark point 21.
Step 4
Continue down the line that connects 13-6-16 to find point 17. The distance from 16 to 17 is equal to 1/8 the half-breast. Now draw a line from 17 to 21.
Here we hit a few of the vagaries in this diagram, Regal never tells us to shape the curve that runs from just to the left of P down to line 18-20, it just appears. It curves gently so its widest point just touches 18 and blends smoothly into curve 18-20 just below that.
His next instruction is simply to “shape the bottom of the forepart from 21 to 17” with no additional information on how to do that. It should curve out very slightly from the straight line connecting those two points
He also never instructs us to find point 33. It isn’t used in any of his instructions. Nothing like it appears in any other drawings later on in the book, either. It just sits there in the diagram on curve 17-21 for no discernible reason. Maybe it’s to indicate where the curve deviates from the straight line. Or maybe its just a mistake that we should ignore.
Step 5
Step 5 is optional, and gives a more fitted jacket.
From S back to 14 is 2-1/4″. Now measure the distance from 14 to 18 (10-2/3″ on the diagram) and from 5 to 2 (6-4/9″) and add those to together. Subtract the half-waist measurement from this amount, this is the width of the underarm fish. According to the sample measurements, we get a fish that is 1-1/9″ wide.
“Fish” is a somewhat antiquated term, meaning a fisheye or double-pointed dart. Other than this intended width, Regal provides no assistance with how to place or draw the fish. Digging through his book provides no additional information, presumably it was considered so elementary that it needed no explanation. Unfortunately, I’ve had no luck finding any modern instructions for this.
Examining the diagram closely, the fish seems to start halfway along the curve from Z to O and run parallel to line TUV, ending on the pocket line, which we have yet to draw.
After marking the fish we need to lower the back curve of the armscye by half the width of the fish where we draw it.
Step 6
Now we start trying to draw the collar. Fortunately, Regal has fair amount of information later in the book on how to draw collars. Unfortunately, this section has very little. It isn’t until Diagram 121 that he finally bothers really explaining how to construct a collar.
The distance from V to 34 is 1-1/4″ for the collar stand. Draw a line from the lapel crease, J, that passes through point 34.
From V to 25 is half the top back width (shoulder-to-shoulder) plus 3/8″ which adds up to 3-4/9″ on the sample. Now we need to locate point 24, which is 1-1/4″ from point 25 and on the line passing through point 34.
Regal is only kind enough to give us those distances and infinite possible arrangements exist knowing only that from V to 25 is 3-4/9″ and from 25 to 24 is 1-1/4″. Fortunately, the only angle between those two segments that makes sense is a right angle. Line V-25 should thus be parallel to line 34-24 and that allows us to find everything.
Distance 24-26 is “the width of the collar plus a seam” and on another page it is “according to the style of collar desired.” On a typical jacket that might be about 2″ or so. Point 26 should also be 1/8″ out from point 24, which means an extra 1/8″ along a line parallel to the 34-24 line.
Finally, we shape the collar and lapel. Again, there are no instructions in the book on how to shape the lapel. Modern guides don’t have much more information, either. It really is just done by eye.
Step 9
Regal’s last step is adding a ticket pocket, a second, smaller pocket above the jacket pocket that is still sometimes seen on sport coats.
This is drawn by squaring up from 28 a line perpendicular to 28-29 and drawing point 30 3″ up from 28.
Square forwards and back from 30 perpendicular to line 28-30, which should be parallel to line 28-29. From 30 to 31 is 1″ and from 31-32 is 3-1/2″.
Step 7
Now we’re going to mark the pocket width and location. First square down at R perpendicular to line RS. Point 27 is on this line, at a distance from point L equal to 2/3 the desired sleeve length plus another 1/2″.
Draw the line that it will appear on, then work out the correct distance, 13″ for the sample, and find the point along the new line that has the correct distance from L.
Step 8
Now we’re going to draw a line passing through point 27 which runs parallel to the bottom of the jacket, line 27-7-33-17. Point 28 is forward from 27 by an amount equal to 1/6 the breast, or 3″ here. From 28 to 29 is unhelpfully just “the size pocket desired.” On the diagram it looks to be about the same distance from 27 to 28 as from 28 to 29.
Conclusion
Now we’ve blocked out the start of a basic sack coat, the first garment in the book. Along the way we’ve gotten a slightly better handle on how to actually read the book and follow Regal’s directions. This, of course, isn’t the end of things. Now we’ve actually got to cut out the two block pieces we’ve created so that we can use them as a pattern.
Obviously, if you’ve been doing your work digitally, this isn’t an issue. You can find any number of ways to print the front and back pieces separately. You could even just print the whole thing twice and cut them both out once. The final result of all our work with Regal’s instructions appears below.
When we work analog, however, we’ll want a way to distinguish between the front and back, since they overlap. One option is to trace one of the two pieces on tissue paper, another is to place newsprint underneath the finished drawing and using a tracing wheel. Either way, we end up with a second piece of paper with either the front or back panel traced onto it so we can cut that piece out and then cut the other out of the original paper. The third option involves cutting, tracing, and taping in a way that lets us cut the back piece out and add the missing part back onto the front.
However we get the front and back panels out, it’s now time to figure out how to actually use them to produce a sack coat. This is going to involve some last minute adjustments before we can finally start cutting fabric. We’ll have a look at the last few steps, appearing on diagrams 4-8, in the next post.
One response to “Diagrams 2 and 3: Finishing a Basic Sack Coat Pattern”
[…] difference in the instructions for drafting the coats in diagrams 161 and 163 and those for the sack coat in diagrams 1, 2, and 3. Regal advises going up two sizes when drafting youth garments, and that […]