Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1891-12-24
MAKING cLoAKs.


Zach Garment Passes Through Many Hands
Before II Is Re ,dy For tho wearer.
In these days when well-fitting, styl-
ish, comfortable cloaks and jackets OF
good materials may be bought for very
little money, compared with the prices
OF cloals of materials that may be
more costly, but not more stylish in
cut, the wonder is that the styles are
not moro varied, The styles are more
varied than those OF tho outer
cloaks of the same pattern may
be seen in the streets any day.
Cloaks and jackets are garments on
which women cannot show much
originality In making them at home, as
they can on dresses, and the styles are,
therefore, fixed by the designers en-
ployed by manufacturers In many in
stances tho style depends on the ma
terial to be used, as it would be useless
to design style with many putfs and
folds for thick and heavy material
Besides, If style be good 1t is accept
able to many women, no matter
whether it be unsuitable to their fig
ures or out of harmony with the rest OF
their costumes.
In making cloaks where the demand
certain style, each piece of cloth is
thoroughly examined by experts in re-
gard to measure, texture and color,
then 1t is sponged by machinery made
especially for that purpose. All smooth
cloths and those with finished faces are
sponged by copper rolls, and the ma
chinery is so arranged that from the
time the cloth starts to go over the
rolls until it is folded dry it is not
touched by the operator The cloth is
then ready for the cutters, with all its
imperfections marked Each cutter
has separate check on which have
been entered the particulars about the
cloth, style and proper patterns. II the
quantity be large enough for the cut
ting machine, it is marked and laid in
folds, but small pieces are cut by hand
with shears
After the cloth has been cut accord
ing to the provided patterns the bum
dies are carefully compared with the
orders, and then a ticket Is made for
each garment on which is place for
each worker to put his or her number,
so that complete record is kept of
every hand that works on the garment
The garments then go to the seamers,
who are employed the year round, to
seam them on machines specially ad-
justed for that particular work, being
provided with fixed gauge that in
sures perfectly uniform seam. Ex-
pert seamers can work at machines
that make three thousand stitches a
minute. For the detection of any pos
sible mistakes and imperfections in
the fit, the garments are tried on
figures before being sent to the trim
mers. The collars, cuffs, facings, etc,
of each garment are cut according to
the style designed, and, with the main
part of garment, sent to a workman
who particularly excels in a certain
style. After leaving the finisher the
garment is inspected again by the fore
man, and If it be not satisfactory, it
goes back to the workman for altera-
ton.
After the making of buttonholes and
the sewing on of buttons and orna-
ments, the garments go to the presser,
and from him to the final examiners,
who are responsible for the fit and
workmanship, and who see that the
materials and trimmings are right, and
that any changes that may have been
ordered to suit certain customers have
been properly made. Then they are
ready for packing and shipping.
Records of the shape, cloth, trimmings
and buttons, or any other parts of the
garment, are kept in duplicate SO that
a copy of any garment can be made at
any time Sometimes garments that
are in fashion in this part of the coun-
try for year do not reach the western
states until year or more afterward,
when some particular style may be
favored more than another, and the
orders for it be larger than those for
any other By turning to the records
exact duplicates of any style can be
made at any time, provided the ma.
terial be in the market-N. Y. Sun.