Drafting Bespoke Trousers

[Steelmillal]

Video popped up on feed. Looks like my first studio but MUCH more organized.

Haven't watched all way through but very recent by dates. Cheers, Y'all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciKtmHko0vg

[kate2]

I'm interested in the drafting systems mentioned in the video - the "college system" and the "fly line" method.   I've heard mention  of the "fly line" method but can't work out if it's the same as Tailor and Cutter. I'd never heard of the "college" system before but funnily enough I think it's similar to the one I was taught... in college. If anybody can give any further information, I'd be very grateful.
Kate

[Gerry]

The terms simply denote what gets used for a reference line when drafting.

'Fly line' is a centre-front outwards approach: trunk measurements being measured outwards, and marked, from that line. The leg position is then determined and a crease/grain line dropped from that point to floor.

Other systems, such as the one shown, use a side-in approach whereby everything is referenced to a side-line (which represents the farthest limit of the side seam).

[kate2]

Thank you very much Gerry that's very clear.

[Hendrick]

Thanks, never realised I was tought the "fly line method"...

[Gerry]

Tom Mahon refers to the two methods as "centre-line" and "side-seam":


https://youtu.be/Vvj5kkmkHgQ?t=831

[Der Zuschneider]

Tom Mahon refers to the two methods as "centre-line" and "side-seam":


https://youtu.be/Vvj5kkmkHgQ?t=831

The Germans work the front/top trouser from the side-line and the back trouser is constructed from the center-line.

[Schneiderfrei]

The Germans work the front/top trouser from the side-line and the back trouser is constructed from the center-line.

That's always made best sense to me.  the back is the part that changes the least, the still point.  All variations in shape and size occur forward.

[Gerry]

I do exactly the reverse. The topside is worked either side of the centre line, the underside worked inwards from the side-seam.

I do this because I wear relatively (they still have a 16" hem) narrow-leg trousers. With conventional cutting, taking out the side-seam on the underside to create ease across the seat, creates drape at the side of the trousers (particularly along the lower hip and thigh). And because the taper to the knee is more pronounced with a narrower leg, this drape is very apparent (even though, in theory, some of it works its way to the back of the trousers) and, frankly, ugly.

By replicating the top's side seam on the underside (it's an exact facsimile) and working inwards towards the CB seam, that drape is shifted across the backside and, lower down, more towards the inside leg where it looks more natural (it can actually drape due to the slight inverted V of the inside legs, rather than catching on the outside curves of the hip and thigh, where it looks unsightly).

Pros: pattern matching is exact all the way up the leg. The fit is smoother over the thighs without needing to take them in (invariably the solution when using a conventional draft).

Cons: the cloth at the side seam isn't as towards the bias (though the material across the seat still is) as normal, so endures a little more stress. I either double stitch that seam (along the trunk part) for security, or (if the cloth isn't patterned) slightly tilt the whole back pattern from the hem, so that the whole underside is more towards the bias (increasingly so as we travel up the leg from the hem).

I came to this way of cutting through experimentation, making countless alterations to toiles, trying to avoid the 'jodhpuring' effect of conventional drafts. However, I've subsequently seen a lot of Nigerian tailors on youtube doing exactly what I've outlined above. Clearly I'm the wrong nationality.

[peterle]

The Rundschau System reduces the jodhpur effect by first tilting the Centerline of the undersides from the knee upwards. Usually it tilts about 1,5 cm at the hipline and thus shifts some material towards the seatseam.  The Side seam gets a bit straighter.

[Gerry]

I've noticed that sides do look cleaner with that system, peterle, compared to conventional drafts. I'm stuck in my ways now, though, plus sewing the side-seams is ridiculously easy when they match exactly. 

[Gerry]

Speaking of trouser cutting, this is a fun watch ('no seams' pantaloons):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJaz76RPhT0

[Gerry]

Draft here (diagram on next page)

https://archive.org/details/cutters-practical-guide-trousers/page/42/mode/2up?view=theater

[peterle]

So much good work to make trousers without a seam. I wonder why he then destroys the effect by adding a braid along the whole side ( wich usually hides a seam)?

[Gerry]

So much good work to make trousers without a seam. I wonder why he then destroys the effect by adding a braid along the whole side ( wich usually hides a seam)?

You're right, I hadn't even noticed that. Let's face it, he's a little eccentric. 

I really like his channel. Always fascinating to see how tailors worked in the past, plus he has bags of enthusiasm. A nice chap.