LivingSoft Subscriber Newsletter | Volume 3
Introducing the Princess Designer Collection
This collection is pure fun.
There are 42 new patterns included, an assortment of dresses, blouses, jackets and coats. The patterns are split between armhole princess styles and the classic shoulder princess styles. And each of the new 42 patterns has something unique and different about it.
There are the styles that have a pleat added. The princess line draws to the waist or hip, and then merges into a pleat (in the sewn pattern, the overall effect is that the princess line completely disappears and a pleat flows out of it).
Then there are styles that have the princess line merging into a pocket. We’ve engineered the princess line to just disappear where the pocket begins. Actually, the princess seam is manipulated to go into the pocket seam.
Oh, and we have patterns we’re calling “mock” princess styles, which give the vertical styleline similar to a classic princess, but the pattern pieces aren’t separated as regular princess styles are.
These 42 pre-drafted styles are just the tip of the iceberg, compared to what you can create with the new Princess Tool, which also comes with the program.
The new Princess Tool button will appear in your vertical design menu when you purchase and activate the Princess Designer Collection (see picture).
To use the Princess Tool, select any princess style from the Patterns menu (even an ordinary princess pattern that came with your Dress Shop program) and then click on the Princess button in the vertical design menu on the left side of your screen. If you want to make the princess line disappear into a curved pocket that begins at your waistline, for example, select either “armhole disappearing” or “shoulder disappearing,” depending on where you want the princess line to start at the top of your garment. Then pull down the “Princess Line Disappears…” menu and select “into curved pocket at waist.” Then hit Redraft.
But what if you want a pocket shape which isn’t as shallow as the default? Simply change the field for “Height of Pocket Opening” (say replace the default 4.5 with 10) and hit redraft again. Your pattern will redraft with a deeper opening.
We’ve anticipated all the changes needed to make this pattern design work well. For instance, the back pocket lining piece actually sinks down into the interior of the pocket, to keep the seam hidden. Try it, you’ll be delighted at how well it works.
Now try something else. Try pulling down the “Princess Line Disappears…” menu and select “into hip pleat". This creates a pattern that will sew into a pleat emerging from the princess line at hip level. You can choose to make the pleat very tiny or very wide (or create enough width to accommodate multiple accordion pleats) by changing the Princess Line Spread field.
Included with the Princess Designer Collection is a “How To” article by Livingsoft Educator Kaaren Hoback, on how to sew the pocket and lining pieces, including important information on how to “stay” the pocket to keep it from drooping along the top edge.
Use the Princess Designer Collection with the included Princess Tool to create lovely day dresses, stunning jackets for business wear, kicky blouses, and interestingly styled coats. You can even adjust other design options in your program to create a full length evening dress with graceful, flowing pleats. Or a beautiful nightgown. The possibilities are endless.
We encourage everyone to check out this innovative collection. To view the patterns in Dress Shop Princess Designer, and play with the Princess Tool, within your Dress Shop program go to File, select Previews, and pull down the menu to select Dress Shop Princess Designer (it may still be called Princess Variants because that was the really boring name we originally released it under). Within the demo, go to the Patterns menu to view as many of the patterns in the collection as you want. Or select a Princess pattern of any kind, then hit the Princess Tool button to play around with it.
To order the Princess Designer Collection with the new Princess Tool, for $49 total, go to /new.htm and click on the link for the Dress Shop Princess Designer. Then click on Add to cart. It is as simple as that.