IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF Trowsers.”
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Symes, of No. 30, Nelson Square,
'
Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of “IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF Trowsers.”
i
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Symes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th July 1874.
I, EDMUND SYMES, of No. 30, Nelson Square, Blackfriars, in the
County of Surrcy, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN "THE MANUFACTURE OF TROWSERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a method of shaping the parts of which
trowsers are made up, and arranging those shapes on the cloth to be cut
out from them in such manner as to effect a considerable economy of
material and to avoid waste.
The method which I will describe is chiefly applicable when
considerable numbers of pairs of trowsers are required, as for army or

page_text: navy clothing, but it is applicable in all cases where three pairs or any
multiple of three pairs are to be cut from the same fabric. of three
quarters of a yard in width, the economy effected amounting to about
half a yard of length for each pair of trowsers.
I will first describe the method by which the greatest economy is 5
effected, which can be applied when the material has no pile that has to
be laid, in one direction. In this case I use about 6 yards for three
pairs, and I proceed as follows:-I suppose the total length 216 inches
to be divided into three parts, the first and last part each about 85 inches,
and the middle part about 44 inches in length: From the first and last 1
I cut the same parts which are as follows:-On the one side a pair of
back leg pieces and on the other side a pair of front leg pieces, the
shapes for these being laid foot to foot close to the opposite sides. I
make the back leg pieces to curve over more than usual at the top, and
the front leg pieces to curve less than usual, the effect being that when 1
the pieces are stitched together the side seams bend at their upper parts.
a little forward beyond their usual line, but that greater freedom is thus
allowed to the wearer to bend his body. Moreover, this increased
forward curvature of the back leg pieces leaves room in the cloth to cut
another front leg piece out of the space between the front and back leg 2
pieces in the two end parts. From the middle part I cut two back leg
pieces, laying the shapes side by side with their straighter sides next the
selvages of the cloth. Thus from the whole 6 yards I obtain 6 back leg
and 6 front leg pieces in pairs, right and left-handed, and a number of
smaller pieces cut out of the curves of these principal pieces, whichi 2
smaller pieces make up the pieces necessary to complete the three pair
.
of trowsers.
When the stuff has a pile which requires the leg pieces to be all cut
in one direction; I use, in some cases, a few inches more than 6 yards,
which I suppose to be divided into 5 parts, the first and fifth about 3
42 inches, the second and fourth about 44 inches, and the middle part
about 46 inches long. From the first and also from the fifth part I cut
three front leg pieces side by side, namely, two of one hand and one of
the other hand, and one of these encroaching a little upon the adjacent
part. From the second, and also from the third and from the fourth g
parts I cut a pair of back leg picces, the shapes for these being arranged
right handed in the second, left handed in the fourth, and one right and'

page_text: one left in the third part. In the spaces between the shapes so arranged
I find room for the smaller pieces necessary to make up the three pairs
of garments.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund Symes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
SYMES, of No. 30, Nelson Square, Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Edmund Symes, Her special license that I, the
said Edmund Symes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Edmund Symes, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANufacture
OF TROWSERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edmund Symes, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Symes, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:
This Invention malatos to mathed P

page_text: ཨམv ག, w S
out for them in such manner as to effect a considerable economy of
material and to avoid waste.
The method which I will describe is chiefly applicable when
considerable numbers of pairs of trowsers are required, as for army or
navy clothing, but it is applicable in all cases where three pairs or any
multiple of three pairs are to be cut from the same fabric of three
quarters of a yard in width, the economy effected amounting to about
half a yard of length for each pair of trowsers.
I will first describe the method by which the greatest economy is
effected, which can be applied when the material has no pile that has to
be laid in one direction. In this case I use about 6 yards for three. pairs,
and I proceed as follows:-I suppose the total length 216 inches to be
divided into three parts, the first and last part cach about 85 inches, and
the middle part about 44 inches in length. From the first and last I
cut the same parts, which are as follows:-On the one side a pair of
back leg pieces, and on the other side a pair of front leg pieces, the
shapes for these being laid foot to foot close to the opposite sides. I
make the back leg pieces to curve over more than usual at the top, and
the front leg pieces to curve less than usual, the effect being that when
'the pieces are stitched together the side seams bend at their upper parts
a little forward beyond their usual line, but that greater freedom is thus
allowed to the wearer to bend his body. Moreover, this increased
forward curvature of the back leg pieces leaves room in the cloth to cut
another front leg piece out of the space between the front and back leg
pieces in the two end parts. From the middle part I cut two back leg
pieces, laying the shapes side by side with their straighter sides next
the selvages of the cloth. Thus from the whole 6 yards I obtain 6 back
leg and 6 front leg pieces in pairs right and left handed, and a number
of smaller pieces cut out of the curves of these principal pieces, which
smaller pieces make up the pieces necessary to complete the three
pairs of trowsers.
When the stuff has a pile which requires the leg pieces to be all cut
in one direction, I use, in some cases, a few inches more than 6 yards,
which I suppose to be divided into 5 parts, the first and fifth about
42 inches, the second and fourth about 44 inches, and the middle part
about 46 inches long. From the first and also from the fifth part I cut

page_text: three front leg pieces side by side, namely, two of one hand and one of
the other hand, and one of these encroaching a little upon the adjacent
part. From the second, and also from the third and from the fourth
parts I cut a pair of back leg pieces, the shapes for which may be arranged
right handed in the second, left handed in the fourth, and onė right and
one left in the third part. In the spaces between the shapes so arranged
I find room for the smaller pieces necessary to make up the three pairs
Fig. 1 represents a 6 yards length of cloth, % yard wide, with the
shapes marked thereon for cutting the pieces necessary for three pairs
of trowsers, the cloth being supposed to be of such kind that it is not
necessary to regard the lie of pile, as in tweeds or dry finished cloths.
A, A, A, A, are four of the back or under leg pieces which are curved
forward more than usual at their upper extremities, and A¹, A¹, are
other two back or under leg pieces which are not so much curved
forward; B, B, B, B, are the four front leg or top side pieces corre-
sponding to A, A, A, A; and B₁, B¹, are the two front leg pieces
corresponding to A¹, A'. To make up the four seat pieces, such as c for
the pieces A, there are the four pieces marked C, and for the two seat
pieces, such as d for the pieces A', there are the two pieces D, D. The
six flys and button catches. are marked E. Four front waistband
pieces F are provided for the pieces B, the pieces B¹ being of such
length as not to require them. The several pieces required for facing
the pockets are marked G, and there are spare pieces H which may be
used for back straps when desired.
Fig. 2 represents a length of 6 yards 8 inches of cloth having a pile,
such that the main pieces must be cut all in one direction. Similar
letters in this Figure indicate similar parts to those shewn in Fig. 1.
It will be observed that at K the end of the piece, a few inches of
length of the cloth are saved over a portion of the width; this is rendered
available for the next set of three pairs.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,-
First. The method of forming the patterns and arranging the same to
be cut for three pairs of trowsers irrespectively of direction of the pile,

page_text: substantially as herein described in reference to Fig. 1 of the accom-
panying Drawings.
Second. The method of arranging the patterns for cutting three pairs
of trowsers with pile lying in one direction, substantially as herein
described in reference to Fig. 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Symes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.