Fashion Assistance Series:

December, 2023, by Shirley Willett

Second in series … in Design, Pattern & Production Ideas & Stitching Ideas,

To help young fashion designers, dressmakers and home sewers, free of charge.

Images from the author’s collections.

Sections:

1. Exciting idea to make boots more affordable and more fun: BOOT-TOPS.

2. The Story of a Dress Template

3. Beautiful, repeatable draping needs a foundation

4. Pleating is done easily as manufacturers do.

5. Redesign, Repair, and Rewear for Sustainability.

…….Making old sweatshirts usable by adding zippers.

……..Creative fun doing appliques and making clothes wearable again.

Drawing by the author.

1. Exciting idea: Make boots affordable and more fun: BOOT-TOPS

Images/photos from the author’s collection

Images/photos from the author’s collection.

2. The Story of a Dress Template

Images/photos from the author’s collection.

In the 1960s, I started my design and manufacturing business, Shirley Willett, Inc., selling to many top designer retailers. One of the first best-sellers was my Polo Dress.

In the 1980s I developed Stylometrics (Image Codification Language) and I won a series of engineering design grant awards from the National Science Foundation, to develop it further. The group of Nine Templates evolved and was checked for excellence by my pattern engineering skills in business.

After selling my business, I went into teaching fashion and pattern engineering at various schools and colleges, and developed the basic Primitive #1 in a range of sizes — added other dress shapes, to be easy for students. Polo was a favorite because of its easy shaping to the body, as seen in the original Polo Dress, and amazingly more helpful than the Basic, in creating new styles. “Primitive” was used in my grants and “Template” was used for my students and proteges.

3. Beautiful, repeatable draping needs a foundation

Images.photos from the author’s collection

1st Pic is me, 1986, in the draped dress. 2nd Pic is a sketch of a draped dress. 3rd Pic is the Empire Template used as a foundation. 4th Pic is one of my famous styles, the Sunburst dress in Boston Herald, 1962, also using the Empire Template. 5th is the back view.

The template is used as a base for draping the dress and then becomes the lining pattern in the finished garment. Images by the author.

The first example is Yves St. Laurent. The next three are from Vogue. The last by Edelstein for Princess Diana

4. Pleating is done easily as manufacturers do.

Images by the author.

My sunburst dress has accordion pleating. Because the fitting is in the shaping, the pleating must be more customized, and draped first over a template. The blue in the photo is the empire template. The top of the dress is draped while keeping the pleating in mind. After the muslin is taken off and laid flat on the table, the pleating can be perfected for the pleated in and outlines.

Images/photo by the author.

5. Redesign, Repair & Rewear — Sustainability

Making old sweatshirts usable by adding the zipper

I have a lot of sweatshirts and they can get too warm. At 90, I am no longer able to easily put on and off over my head. A zipper was the answer. Steps are shown

1. Plain sweatshirt — 2. Black bands to finish edges — 3. Finished zipper. Images by the author.

Creative fun doing appliques and making clothes wearable again.

1. Fabric I found with many motifs to use 2. Cut out the motif wanted 3. Clear fingernail polish on all edges. Images by the author

Image by the author.

Some creative placements if you find some good motifs in a fabric print

First is Taylor Swift — and Second is Amal Clooney. Photos from the author’s collection.

Ponder” 1. Cutting your own shapes, 2. Polka dots can cover a stain. 3. Motifs at hem. 4. On an edge

Images/photos from the author’s collections.

Let’s work together to Redesign, Repair, Rewear for sustainability and save our Planet Earth