This section is from the book "Text-Book On Domestic Art", by Carrie Crane Ingalls. Also available from Amazon: Textbook On Domestic Art: With Illustrations And Drafts.
Make width of front gore 1/8 of the whole waist measurement, or 1/4 of half the waist.
Make width of side gore 1/6 of the whole waist measurement, or 1/3 of half the waist.
Make width of back gore, the difference between half the waist measurement and the sum of front and side gores.
Make width of front gore (6 inches below waist line) 1 inch larger than the front gore at waist.
Make width of side gore (6 inches below waist line) the same as side waist measurement, plus 1/2 again.
Make width of back gore (6 inches below waist line) the difference between half the hip measurement and the sum of front and side gores at hip.
An underskirt should be one inch shorter than the outside skirt, as well as narrower, except the flounce.
A dust ruffle about 4 inches deep is generally put on to prevent wear, while the flounce, which can be any depth, is added for flaring as well as beauty.
To save time, use hemmer and gatherer attachments of the machine.
For gathering, use No. 2 or 3 hemmer on lock stitch machine, or the linen or flannel hemmer on the automatic.
Gathering on the lock stitch machine may be done with the longest stitch, using a coarse upper thread to pull up into the required space.
The gatherer on the automatic can be regulated to fit space.
Halve and quarter ruffle and cut small notches, after joining ends.
Do likewise to bottom of skirt.
The average width of an underskirt on lower edge, before dust ruffle is attached, is between 2 1/2 and 3 yards, for the average person, unless very wide skirts are in vogue.
The dust ruffle and flounce have the same amount of fulness, which is equal to once and a half the distance around the skirt at the line where they are stitched on.
 
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