Originally published as Disappearing old craft: tailoring Tailoring handicraft has a long history. Most of the tailors in history are women's professions, from spinning to weaving, and then to tailoring ready-made clothes, a series of procedures are completed by women. Of course, there are also men in the tailoring and handicraft business. Tailors not only make clothes, but also make hats, socks, shoes and so on. Here are some basic procedures for making clothes separately. Expand the full text Cloth is the basic material of tailors. According to the distinction of gender, men's clothes are usually black, blue, brown, gray and other stable color materials; women's clothes are mostly made of colorful or variegated materials, which are more gorgeous and colorful. A piece of cloth is placed on the tailor's desk. First, it is determined whether it is for a man or a woman. The tailor tailors the clothes according to gender, body material, age and other characteristics. First, use a tape measure to measure his figure. If he is making a jacket, measure his shoulders, chest, arms, neck and upper body (from shoulders to buttocks), and write them down clearly on a paper book. Tailors must ask what kind of clothes they want to make, such as suits, Zhongshan suits, jackets and so on. In the past, it was local clothes, or Han clothes or Qing Dynasty clothes. When making, the cloth is laid flat on the table (some cotton cloth has to be soaked in water and cut after drying to avoid shrinkage). Chemical fiber cloth is generally not soaked and is more stable. Use the tailor's flat chalk to draw lines on the cloth, and then press it with a ruler to cut it according to the size of the body. After roughly cutting out the outline of the body, consider the cloth of both arms. Finally, cut out some bits and pieces of cloth to make pockets or neck ties on shoulders. The cut selvage has to be sewn tightly with thread to prevent it from falling off, and then sewed. In the past, manual sewing was used, but now sewing machines are used, which is very fast and convenient. At the joint of cloth and cloth, paste is used, and then pressed with an iron to make it stable and not easy to deform. Every connection has to be pressed tightly with an iron. In the past, the iron used charcoal to make fire, but now it uses electric stove wire, which is very convenient. When pressing, it should be sprayed with clean water to prevent the cloth from being damaged and catching fire after heating. In the meantime, the most difficult part is the collar part, the use of double cloth in the middle also have to add some miscellaneous cloth, make it hard, straight. Experienced tailors always cut properly and appropriately, sew in an orderly manner, and are symmetrical and appropriate. When cutting, seamstress measuring tape , it is estimated that sewing will consume a little length, not too long and too wide, nor too short and too narrow, so as to be just right and seamless. The same is true of making trousers. First, measure the size of the figure, especially the distance between the waistline and the bottom of the trousers. It must be moderate. If it is too deep, it will be excessive. If it is too shallow, it will be tight, uncomfortable, or even broken. In the past, besides making clothes for men and women, children and the elderly, tailors also had to make cotton-padded clothes and trousers. Now the climate is getting warmer year by year, so there is no need to wear cotton-padded clothes and trousers. Tailors are most afraid of making young women's clothes, in addition to the rich and colorful colors, more is the requirement of style. On the one hand, we should retain the traditional format, on the other hand, we should follow the fashion and have fashionable clothes. For example, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Western countries and other strange clothes. In view of this, tailors have to find reference materials from professional books to learn the style of new fashion. At the beginning of the 1990s, people's clothes were mostly purchased from stores, while the products of clothing manufacturers were imported from all over the world. At home and abroad, there are fashion shows at any time, which are the most popular clothes. In the meantime, the establishment of fashion design specialty in colleges and universities is basically a model designed for female comrades. As a result, many tailors have quietly switched to other lines of work. In the past, tailors not only set up shops in the streets, but also went to the countryside to work for three or four days, or even longer. A tailor squatting in a village, half a year or a year is not enough, busy, business is booming. In the past, women could make simple clothes, especially linen clothes, short trousers, underwear, underwear used in summer, as well as clothes used by children or the elderly. There was a small disc woven with bamboo at home, which contained scissors, rulers, steel needles, cotton thread and so on, at least to sew clothes. Nowadays, families hardly have these things. Who wants to wear shabby clothes and trousers? Brand-new clothes are worn for two or three years and then thrown away, and then go to buy new clothes, buy fashion, reflect wealth and elegance, the concept is that a beautiful and novel is happiness, why worry about spending money. We should advocate the style of thrift, hard work and plain living. Folk tailoring handicraft has been gradually eliminated by modern industrial production, and the traditional intangible cultural heritage has gradually disappeared. (David Guo) Return to Sohu to see more Responsible Editor:. tape-measure.com