Dress designing and dress making are as far apart as architectural de­signing and laying bricks, or reading blue prints, and yet — if the artist is going to design a dress or a building — in order to design not only a beautiful creation which can be executed and put to practical use — it will also be necessary to have knowledge of the dressmaking, or bricklaying, or the practical application of it.

We may have all sorts of beautiful ideas jogging about in our brains — but none of these can be of any use unless we can express our dress designing theories either on paper or in actual substance. In order to be able to give full expression to our ideas we have to have material to work with.

In dress designing — or more correctly in costume designing, as we intend to design not only dresses but all other items of wearing apparel in current use and fashion — in costume designing then, your basic material is the cloth which, by means of your artistic and creative genius, you intend to change into a glamorous costume.

There are a great variety of dress designing materials on the market today. Each is especially suited for specific uses, each has certain advantages and draw­backs. Only experience will tell which will suit your purpose best. To help you choose what you need for your work following is a list of material types and characteristics:

NATURAL FIBERS, ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE:

wool — hair fibers of various animals. Warm, absorbent, and wrinkle resis­tant. Should be preshrunk before being cut. Wool should be steam pressed with a cloth, never apply iron directly on material. Wool blended with syn­thetic fibers tends to pull. Some wools can be washed. Others have to be dry cleaned.

cotton — fluff from the matured seed pod of the cotton plant. Strong and long wearing. This dress designing material is sometimes blended with other fibres. Can be treated to become wrinkle resistant. Should be preshrunk before cutting. Can be pressed with hot iron while damp. Most cottons are washable. Comes in a variety of finishes and weights from sheer to heavy, and crisp and stiff to soft and clinging. Woven or knit.

silk — Unwound cocoon of the silk worm. Lustrous, naturally resilient, drapes well. Often blended with other fibers. Can be dry cleaned or washed. Should be pressed on wrong side.

linen — fibers of the flax plant. This dress designing material is cool and absorbent. Wrinkles excessively unless treated with crease resistant. Washable. Should be preshrunk before cutting. Must be pressed while very damp.

SYNTHETIC OR MAN MADE FIBERS:

rayon, acetate, triacetate — from cellulose. They come in a variety of finishes and weaves. Can be dry cleaned or washed. Must be pressed with a cool iron only. Cut edges tend to ravel very easily.

acrylic, modacrylic — acrilan, orlon, dynel — from acrylonitrile. Warm, bulky, and light weight. Moth resistant. Washable.

nylon — from coal and water. This dress designing material is tough and elastic. Moth resistant.

polyester — dacron — Used mostly in blends. Wash and wear type. Dries quickly. Cannot be eased in or shrunk during construction.

metallic — lurex, mylar — Yarn made from metal foil covered with plastic film. This dress designing material is usually woven or knitted in with other yarns.

Before deciding on any fabric — there are certain points to be checked: Find out whether it has to be dry cleaned or whether it can be washed. Has it been preshrunk ? Is it color fast ? Is the grain straight and are the prints on straight grain ?

All dress designing materials, after they have been loomed, are treated in various ways so that they will have special characteristics. They can be made moth proof, water repellant, crease resistant, fire proof, shrink proof, given insulating properties, and textured. Each of these processes have spe­cial process names and are labelled so for identification.

In addition to these materials there are also other dress designing materials used espe­cially for shaping. They can be either woven or non woven. Shaping materials are used to give added support for correct fit and to add firmness and body to fashion details, as in tailored clothes and in bouf­fant fashions. Trade names for these shaping materials which come in various weights for use with materials of corresponding weight are: Formite-Evershape, Pellon, Interlon, Veriform-Crisp, Siri-firm, and Sirisoft, Key back. Acron, Armo, and Hymo are hair canvas materials and are usually used in tailoring wool. Other materials used for this purpose are organdy, muslin, China silk, net, marquisette and a number of other materials. Shaping materials are available in widths of 25 to 49 inches.

SEWING EQUIPMENT

In order to do proper work the dress designing and sewing room has to be properly equipped. There are many labor saving devices on the market and many of these you will discover for yourself as you progress with your designing studies and work.

These are your basic tools:

Measuring tools — tape measure, yardstick, tailor's square, right angle triangle, T square, French curves.

Cutting dress designing tools— Shears, scissors, and pinking shears.

Marking tools — Skirt marker, tracing wheel and dressmaker's carbon paper, Tailor's chalk, and chalk board. This last you will have to make for yourself. Instructions will be found at the end of this chapter.

Sewing machine — electric preferred.

Seam ripper, pins, needles, and thimble. Get dressmaker or silk pins — they will not mark delicate fabrics.

Dress Form. There are various kinds on the market which are adjustable. You can also make your own with gummed tape over cotton jersey.

Full length mirror.

Cutting table of folding cutting board.

Emery bag; Tweezers; Pressing equipment; Iron — This is one of your most important tools. If you press each seam as you sew before sewing on an adjoining piece — the effect will be more professional. Press cloth. Ironing Board. Sleeve Board. Tailor's Ham. Press mitt. Seam roll. Needle board for pressing pile fabrics. Pounding block or tailor's wooden clapper.

NOTIONS AND TRIMMINGS

Threads — one shade darker than your dress designing material.

Mercerized cotton for cottons, linens and blends. Silk for silks and wools. Nylon for synthetics.

Zippers and Nylon Tape Closures.

Belting, bias binding or seam tape, ribbon seam binding.

Snaps, hooks, and eyes.

Buttons, buckles.

Elastic, cording, horsehair braid.

Featherboning, zigzag stays, weights.

Shoulder pads.

Trimmings, braid, ribbon, rickrack, beading, pearls, sequins.

HOW TO MAKE A CHALK BOARD:

The chalk board for dress designing should be about 20 x 24 inches in size. To make it you will require:

2 pieces of 22 x 26 inch soft white flannel

powdered chalk

rayon or cotton coarse net

carpet or thumb tacks

Smooth both pieces of flannel, one on the other, over the board — allowing an inch overlap on all sides.

Sprinkle powdered chalk evenly all over flannel. Rub in thoroughly and evenly.

Lay the net over the chalked flannel, tuck flannel and net under the board without tipping over the board.

Tack the center of each of the opposite sides to the edge of the board, then the centers of the remaining sides, then all around to keep chalked flannel and net stretched smooth and tight over board.

Cut off excess material.

Store your board for dress designing in a horizontal position to keep chalk from spilling.

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