UNICUT - A Uniform Drafting System for Women's and Men's Clothing

[Schneiderfrei]

I wanted to continue to explore the UNICUT system of Robert Rähle from the late 1960's to the early 70's.  Thanks as usual to peterle for locating and assisting in the translation of a very significant article, early in the series, that outlines the intent and system for producing the drafts.  In this case, the instructions are for a jacket.  The point being that one can use the very same system to draft a Ladies' Jacket as for a Man's.  A great feature of this publication is that it offered the information in three languages. Alas, not English, so English speakers must laboriously work to get the information out.  Only fair really, considering to massive effort the world must make to translate from English.

As usual - this translation is presented for private study only. the original text is available at pg 143 of:

http://www.intermode.org/pdf/69-70_gross.pdf

A Uniform Drafting System for Women's and Men's Clothing.

Robert Rähle, Zürich

It can't be overlooked: the border between women's and men's fashion is beginning to dissolve.  Not only in the fabric sector, but also with the cut itself.  Indeed, one no longer speaks of Unisex, but of Partner- or Together look.  Thus, if not an identical, yet a similar, clothing for both sexes.  In any case, the topic is current and has its implications.  In the future, tailors and textile manufacturers will be even less likely to specialise in women's or men's clothing but rather in particular types of clothing for him and her.  In the case of professional and sports clothing, trousers, blouses, and shirts, this is already the case today.

So far, anyone wanting to cut women's and men's clothes had to learn two fundamentally different systems.  Until now, for borderline cases of body shape and fashion line, a smooth transition from women's to men's clothing has been missing.  With UNICUT it is possible, for the first time, to design every article of clothing, from men's shirts to women's fur coats, with the same simple, reliable drafting system.

The allowances included in the draft measurements are solely for ease: the seam allowances can be added at any desired width.  Variations to the fashion lines are therefore no problem.  The usual circumstance in men's tailoring, seams partly included, comes from a time when menswear was stuck in rigid formulae.  The conversion of the sleeve cap to a classic Raglan is already excessively difficult.  To say "One has always done it this way", should not be a cause to refrain from something more reasonable.  At least, not for members of the ever changing fashion industry.

This also applies to the view that a draft should always be made from right to left, which is not necessarily true for women's clothing.  Whether one begins a draft with the centre line left or right is indeed, irrelevant, but the logical direction would be to draw from right to left.  With women's overcoats and waisted jackets with button front edges, the application of particular fashion styles to the pattern is easier than the other way round.  This is true at least for manual drafting.  Electronic drafting, in the future, will be governed by other rules.  A men's jacket or coat, drawing from right to left can be justified by the buttoning in the same direction.  Thus, one can better judge the overlapping side with the correct ratio from lapel to breast pocket.

Since everything in this present system arises from the same draft, mistakes could arise between women's and men's clothing.  Therefore, and based upon the considerations above, we begin with the centre back women's left and men's right (Fig. 2).

For practical reasons, for the enlargement and reduction of the normal cut (grading), the patterns are rotated so that the centre back and centre front are facing down and the shoulder and sleeve cap lie to the right.  Drawn in terms of the right angle coordinate system, the positive X axis points upward from the waist and the positive Y axis points forward from the centre back.  This will be true, in this case, for both women's and men's and facilitates the transition from manual to electronic resizing.

We will return to this in the continuation of this treatise on the unified system – UNICUT.

UNICUT:   For Versatile Technicians 

un Systeme universel
un sistema universale

Robert Rähle, Zürich

The following draft setup, refers to the article «Einheitliche Schnitt-Technik für Damen- und Herrenbekleidung - A Uniform Drafting System for Women's and Men's Clothing» above.  Our example concerns respectively, the draft and seam placement for a women's waisted jacket with a side body, and a men's jacket.  Both are for 48 chest (thus women's size 42 and men's size 48)

Les constructions suivantes permettent de couper chaque vêtement, soit pour dame ou pour homme, d'après le même traçé de base.  Notre exemple concerne les formes classiques d'un tailleur et d'un veston, les deux pour un tour de poitrine de 48 cm, soit taille 42 pour dames et taille 48 pour hommes.

Le costruzione seguente permettano di tagliare ogni vestito per donne e uomini.  L'esempio spiega il disegno di una giacca per donna (fig. 1 et 3) e per uomo (fig. 2 e 4), tutti due per un giro del torace di 48 cm, dunque grandezza donne 42 e grandezza uomini 48.

     Abbreviations:      abreviations:                       abbreviazione:

Dgr:   Women's size       taille dames                        Grandezza donne
Hgr:   Men's size            taille hommes                     Grandezza uomini
Kg:    Body Height          Stature                                Statura
Ow:   ½ Chest Circ.        ½ tour de poitrine                ½ giro del torace
Tw:    ½ Waist Circ.       ½ tour de taille                     ½ Giro della vita
Hw:    ½ Hip Circ.          ½ tour de Hanches               ½ Giro della bacino
Tl:      Waist Length        longueur de taille                 lunghezza della vita
Rh:     Back Height         hauteur du dos                      altezza del dorso
Rb:     Back Width          largeur du dos                       larghezza del dorso
Bb:     Chest Width          largeur de poitrine                larghezza del petto
Ad:     Armhole Width     larg. Emmanchure  largh.     giro manica
Hb:    Neck Circ.             largeur du col                        larghezza del collo
D:      Women                  dames donne
H:      Men                       messieurs uomini

Proportional Measurements:       mesures normales:              misure normale:

a  Body Measurements                 mesure etroite                     misura stretta
b  Ease allowance                         augmentation                       aumento
c  Draft Measurements                 mesure de construction       misura di costruzione

Dgr. 42/Kg 168
      a   b   c
Ow:      48      
Tw:   Ow —11   37      
Hw:   Ow + 3   51      
Tl:   ¼ Kg — 1   41   1   42
Rh:   ¼ TI + ¼ Ow — 1   21   1   22
Rb:   ¼ Ow + 6 ½    18.5   1   19.5
Bb:   ½ Ow — 3   21   1   22
Ad:   ¼ Ow + 1         13
Hb:      6.5   0.5   7

Hgr. 48/Kg 176      a   b   c
Ow:      48      
Tw:   Ow -4   44      
Hw:   Ow + 4   52      
Tl:   ¼ Kg   44   1   45
Rh:   ¼ Tl + ¼ Ow   23   1   24
Rb:   ¼ Ow + 8   20   1   21
Bb:   ½ Ow – 5   19   2   21
Ad:   ¼ +2         14
Hb:      7.5   0.5   8

The following draft description includes Ease (measurement c).

Aux constructions suivantes, les augmentations sont comprises (mesures de construction c).

Ai disegni seguenti, gli aumenti sono compresi (misure di costruzione c).

 

Fig. 1, Fig.2:

The Draft / le tracé de base / il disegno di base

                                            D cm   H cm (D = Damen/Women, H = Herren/Men)
A . . . A1   =  Hb                           7   8
A1 . . . A2   = 2 cm                           2   2
A . . . W   = 1/3 A - A1                   2.3   2.7
W . . . O   = Rh                                   22   24
W . . . M   = ½ Rh                           11   12
W . . . T   = Tl                                   42   45
T . . . H   = 20 cm                           20   20
O . . . O1   = Rb                                   19.5   21
A3 . . . S   = ⅕ A3 . . . O – 1 cm           3.8   4.3
S . . . . S1   = variable                           2   3
O1 . . . O2   = Ad                                   13   14
O2 . . . O3   = Bb                                   22   21
O2 . . . B1   = D : ¼ Ow H : ½ Bb           12   10.5
B1 . . . B   = 1 bis 2 cm / 1 á 2 cm   1   1
O2 . . . A4   = D: O1 . . . A3 + 0.5 cm   24.8
                = H: O1 . . . A3 – 1 cm       25.7
W . . . A5   = D: W . . . O2                   39
                = H: W . . . O2 + 3 cm   46
O2 . . . S2   = O1 . . . S1 – 2 cm           18   19
A5 . . . S2   = A2 . . . S1                   12.5   15.5
O1 . . . 4   = ¼ O1 . . . S1                   5   5.25
4 . . . . R   = 1 cm                           1   1
O2 . . . V   = 4 cm                           4   4
V1   = ½ V . . . S2                           7   7.5
R1   = ½ R . . . S1                           7.5   8
O1 . . . O4   = ½ O2 . . . O1 + 2 cm   7.5   8
T2  . . . T6   = ½ Tw                           18.5   22
A6 . . . A7   = Hb                                   7   8
A6 . . . C   = Hb + 1 cm                   8   9
T. . . . T1   = 1.5 cm                           1.5   1.5
H . . . H1   = 1 cm                           1   1

The Position of A6: If T3 lies inside O3 (In general, for women, see Fig. 1), then A6 is formed from a right angle from O3. When T3 lies outside O3 (In general, for men, see Fig. 2) then we get A6 by a straight line from T3 over O3.

In the corpulent case, A7 comes to lie behind A5, then A6 is first advanced, by the corresponding (i.e. A5 . . . A6 = at least A . . . A1) and then connected with T3 by a straight line.  So we get the necessary extension for O3.

At Hip height the vertical CF centre front is made ½ cm wider.  Point H2 therefore lies 0.5 cm outside the vertical from O3 (Fig 1) or respectively from T2 (Fig 2).

Waist Dart:  When T3 lies inside O3 (see Fig. 1), T4 . . . T5 = T3 til the CF centre Front — 1 cm (Fig. 1: 3 cm, Fig. 2: 0 cm) H4 . . . H5 = 1 cm less (Fig. 1: 2 cm). When the waist dart is omitted, (Fig. 2) H5 lies vertically under B.

 

Fig. 3/4:

Classic Seam Posititons / coutures classiques / cuciture classiche.

H1...H2 = Hw + 4 cm (D: 55 cm. H: 56 cm)
H6...H7 = at least 1 cm / 1 cm au moins / 1 cm al meno
T6...T7 = 2 cm (1 cm higher/ rehausser 1 cm / rialzare 1 cm)
T8...T9 = 4 cm (note the shifting of the set points)
with R: Fold under ¾ cm, tapering to the CB centre back
vers R: plier ¾ cm, en mourant au milieu du dos
al punto R: piegare ¾ cm, morendo al centro del dorso
A1...A2 = Back dart / pince au dos / ripresa al dorso
A7...A5 = Front dart / pince au devant / ripresa alla parte del davanti

The 1 cm deep dart between T1 and T8 can be used with derivatives of phantasy jacket forms. For the classic back shape it is not used.

Fig. 5 and 6: If the back is to be processed without the dart the pivot the CB (Centre Back) from 10 cm below the neck ring.  In this case A1 . . . A2 then becomes the ease amount of 1 cm.

Fig. 7: Normal Men's bodice front part after closing the dart A5 . . . A7.  At A5 an additional waist suppression of 1 cm. The dart tip lies 1 cm behind B.

Fig. 8: The same, for a figure with a bigger chest (keeping a 1-2cm dart in the neck hole).

 

Fig. 9 and 10: Corpulent Figure

Fig. 9: L1 = extension of the line T3 . . . H2
L2 = Extension of the line O3 . . . T3
L3= ½ L1...L2
L3...L4 = ½ L1...L3
L5...L6 = 2/3 L1...L2

Fig. 10: L6...L5 and A7...A5 are pinched away. *
* (A5 is erroneously labelled here as A6.)
Chest dart is the same as in Fig. 7.

The Sleeve / la manche / la manica

Measurements: mesures: misure:
Dm: diameter / diametre / diametro
Kh: cap height / hauteur de la tete de manche / altezza della tromba
Al: Sleeve length / longueur de la manche / lunghczza della manica
Dm = (U — ⅛U)/2 or: armhole circumference minus ⅛ divided by 2
ou: pourtour de l'emmanchure moins ⅛ e, divise par 2
o: circonferenza del giro della manica — ⅛, : 2
Kh = O1...S (Back/dos/dorso) — 1/5 O1 . . . S
D: circumference/pourtour/circonferenza = 45 cm, Dm = 20 cm, 01...S — 20,5 cm Kh = 16,5 cm
H: circumference/pourtour/circonferenza = 48 cm, Dm — 21 cm, 01...S — 21,5 cm, Kh — 17,5 cm

Fig.11:

Draft / trace de base / la base

                                             D (cm) H (cm)
D...D1   = Dm                           20      21
D2           = ½ Dm                           10      10.5
D . . . O2   = 2/3 Dm                           13.5      14
O2 . . . O4   = 1/3 Dm                           6.75      7
O4 . . . R   = ½ O4 . . . D1                   9.5      10
O2 . . . V   = 4 cm                           4      4
O4 . . . K   = Kh                                   16.5      17.5
O4 . . . K   = Kh (E1 = Senkrecht)   16.5      17.5
D . . . . K2   = Kh                                   16.5      17.5
D1 . . . K3   = Kh                                   16.5      17.5
O2 . . . P   = Al                                   41      44
O2 . . . E   = ½ Al – 1 cm                   9.5      21
P . . . P1   = 3 cm                           3      3
P . . . P2   = 12 . . 16 cm                   12      15
E . . . E2   = 1.5 cm                           1.5      1.5

Fig. 12:

E1 . . . E3   = 1 cm   1   1
E1 . . . E4   2 cm   2   2
P . . . a   2,5 cm (horizontal)   2.5   2.5
P . . . b   2,5 cm   2.5   2.5
a . . . c   The length b...d   la longueur de b..d   lungezza da b...d

For a women's sleeve with a slim sleeve cap transfer outwards the width R . . . m minus 0.5 cm.

Mesurer de m ä droite la largeur de m...R moins 0,5 cm pour obtenir la manche pour dame (forme etroite de la tete de manche).

Misurare da m a destra la distanza m...R meno 0,5 cm per ottenere la manica per donna (forma Stretta della tromba).

Fig. 13: Men's comfortable sleeve with a very flat sleeve cap.  On a horizontal line transfer the amount e . . .K1 from K1 to f. 

Forme tres comfortable de la manche pour messieurs. Au moyen d'une ligne horizontale, mesurer de K1 ä f la distance de e...K1.

Forma molto confortabile della manica per signori. Con una linea orizzontale, misurare la distanza e...K1 da K1 a f.

Fig. 14: Men's modern sleeve or women's comfortable sleeve.

Manche moderne pour messieurs (ou manche plus comfortable pour dames).

Manica moderna per signori (o manica piü confortabile per donne).

K1...g = 2 cm (horizontal line / ligne horizontale / linea orizzontale
g...i = h...g

Fig. 15:

The Pitch Points / les points de repere / i punti di riferimento

(Women's sleeve: dashed line, men's sleeve: solid line)

Average amount to be eased in between the pitch points:
surplus d'ampleur entre les points de repère:
ampiezza supplementäre media tra i punti di riferimento:

V . . . V1 = 0.5 cm
V1 . . . S1 = 1 cm
S3 . . . R1 = 1 cm
R1 . . . R = 1 cm
R . . . O4 = 1.5 cm
O4 . . V = 0.5 cm

The sleeve width can be corrected by folding under (pinching) or opening at S3.

On peut corriger la largeur de la manche en pliant ou ecartant le patron vers S3.

Per corrigere la larghezza della manica, aprire o piegare il modello al punto S3.

To be continued  / à suivre / continua

1970 - (see pg 172, 182, 208)
1971 - (see pg 24, 36, 42 (hosen), 48, 60, 66 etc)

[TTailor]

Wow, thanks a lot for this. I am quite interested in delving into it once I have some spare time.

[Schneiderfrei]

What are you talking about Terri'?? What spare time??

;p

G

[SlipInTime]

Thank you for sharing these!

My current area of study is pattern cutting for transgender people - i.e. people whose bodies have developed as one sex up to a certain point, and then as another, who won't be well served by any sort of draft with assumed proportions.

I'm doing a lot of nerdy reading & system to try and understand the assumptions and maths underlying existing draft systems, and I'm *extremely* excited that you posted this! Because this is the sort of thing I was trying to develop: a system which fits people with all sorts of bodies.

Cheers for sharing, you've made my week. Can't wait to dive in and analyse the ways it's different from other drafts I've looked at! 

[Schneiderfrei]

Thanks for your comments slipintime,

On the other forum, Der Zuschneider claimed that Rahle's system ended up being the same as the Rundschau in its results.  Also, some have commented on its complexity.  On the other hand it could give a jumping point for the sort of requirement you are talking about.