Design Elements & Principles

February 1, 2026

A lot of the country is in the cold and ice so it's SNOW DAY aka SEW DAY in a lot of places.  And winter is always that time of year we think and plan, and dream and work out what we're going to be wearing when it gets warm again.  And there's no great tool in the sewists arsenal than the Elements and Principles of Design.

I know you all know my story, where I wanted to learn sewing more than anything, but because of Women's Lib, sewing, cooking, and housekeeping were considered worse than STDs!!!  So I had to find a major in school, so I went back to basics and majored in art.  Little did I realize, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, because I learned some pretty neat skills about how to create art well, AND how to fix what wasn't working but didn't know why.  

The biggest helpers were the Design Elements and Principles, which I still use today.  If I'm working with a client or even myself, I have to figure out why something isn't working.  A lot of non-artist types thing that this is intuition or just knowing.  Uh no.  Once you understand these tools and understand how to use them, wow!  The world opens up like never before.  

So here's a perfect example
 

I love this blouse/top

And it's worked really well for me -- when I wear leggings.  But I've moved away from leggings for a while, and am wearing a more professional look - pants that drape better and fit better and are more comfy, and they are from a woven fabric.  But they also have a fuller profile to give that ease that you need in a woven fabric.  

So when I put this favorite top on top of the pants.  Uh - something's wrong.  

Here I have my proportion tool - in particular, the Golden ratio next to my top, and you can see that it works (I reversed it cause it works either way).  The one on the left doesn't work, but the one on the right is right-on point.  

So this tells me that my proportion is correct, but there's still something wrong.  I look too baggy, and although the pants are a lot looser and they hang well, so what's the matter with this?

It looks all baggy and too much fabric.  One might immediately think that there's something wrong with the pants.  That probably is what we need: tighter pants.  And yes, that would solve the problem, but I like this top, and I'm not interested in wearing those tight pants all the time.  

So I'm thinking - what do I like about the top?  I LOVE that collar.  I like how it sits on me.  I like the line that it comes in at the waist, but it isn't tight or cumbersome.  Remember, my waist is really too small proportionally for my body, so when I pull my waist in, I look a little like my hips are too big.
 

Here's my point.  Which woman looks more in proportion?  The one on the right.  But a true hourglass has such a small waist that it makes her hips look larger.  Take your eye from profile to profile, and which hip looks better - the right one.  This is what Dior did when he created his Bar suit: he wanted to exaggerate the hourglass figure in his new designs.  

This was to show the drastic change in the older profile, which was an economical cut, up and down straight, to a skirt that might take 30 yards of fabric, but was contained by a small waist.  It was a glorious look and a complete change for the times.  

But I digress...back to my dilemma - too much bulk.  

When I first check a garment to see what's wrong, I check the proportion first.  The next is my Rules and Elements to see if there's something I can detect there.  

The first thing is to look at the Elements which are nicely listed here on this graphic.  Line - a little off; color - okay;  texture - fine; value - good; size - hmmmm; and shape - BINGO - something's really wrong with the shape, and it's making the line and size whacko too.  But for me, it's the shape.  

So what's wrong with the shape?

There's too much, and I look and feel like a bag lady.  But what exactly is wrong?

Now, if I were an apple or a rectangle, that might not be that bad, but for a pear or an hourglass, it spells trouble.  I gotta fix that volume and shape.  But what do I do with it?  I got choices of Alignment, Proximity, Repetition, and Contrast.  If you can't figure this out by picking immediately which one, then go through the process of elimination:  Contrast - no; Repetition - doesn't really apply; Proximity - maybe; Alignment - what does that really mean?  I know what the others are and the only one left is Alignment.  Well let's look it up:

Yep, I would definitely say that the size is poorly calibrated, ordered, positioned, and arranged!  So, Alignment it is. Now that we have a definition of the matter (our size needs to be reordered or rearranged), we know what the problem is.  

So where's most of the size?  It's at the hem of the top.  Whew!  I don't have to do anything to the collar and upper part of the top, which I adore so much.  So how do I resize the bottom?  The easiest way is to remove some of the bulk and size.  That means taking the hem up.  

So now that we've reasoned through everything, let's see what happens when we take the hem up.

So I've popped up the hem real quick to see about how short I should make this.  

Yep, this looks good.  I might like to tinker a little with the sides, like I have on most tops for these pants, and slit the top to the waist, but at least I have a good guess on the top length. 

I'm going to cut it a little longer - about 1", but I'm pretty happy with how this looks. 

Plus this isn't going to be staring me in my closet saying, "You love me, you know you do, all you have to do is make it work with all your new pants.  I'm your favorite green, and your favorite collar.  Do something for me and fix it so you can wear me!!!!!"  OK, I got the message!  

Yes, my clothes talk to me, and no, I'm not nuts - so far!

So this took about 30 minutes.  Why do the simplest things somehow get into our heads that it will take days to do?   I don't know, but it happens a lot to artists.  That's where our discipline comes into action, and finally, one morning, I just pushed everything to the side and said, this is it, I'm fixing this top!

So finally here I am with a perfectly happy top and happy owner!  


It has this gorgeous collar I love, the cool buttons that Walt and I picked up in some Route 66 rock store, and the line and gorgeous hang that I love on these pants.    

And it looks just as good from the side - look at that hang - I mean it's enough to drive any self-respecting tailor to tears it's so beautiful.  

Not to brag, but here it is lighted up a lot, so you can see all the wrinkles in the pants.  There's a nice break at the bottom, but otherwise hangs straight as a hanger.  

While  I have this all lightened up, let's put our proportion tool on it again.  You'll notice that I had it from the head down before.  This time it's from the shoulder down.  Either way is good.  This is why you sometimes see a shorter jacket or top on someone you would normally think couldn't wear one.  You can play around a little with this tool because its purpose is to get you in the right neighborhood for your hem lengths.  And that means you can play around a little with the placement of the proportions tool.

My choices and recommendations are either at full height-floor or shoulder height-floor.  Either will work, and if you fudge a little, it's OK.  YOU WILL KNOW if the look is right or not.  We seem to instinctively know.  

The whole purpose of the Design Elements and Principles is to help you analyze how to get to a point that you can discover what's wrong.  The same thing is true of the proportion tool.  It helps you find out what's off, so that you can fix it.  

I'm wearing this right now while I'm writing, and it feels enormously comfy and right,  and I didn't have to go through a ton of fitting problems to figure out what might be the problem.  It was all about the hem length.  

Sometimes we think we have fitting problems, but sometimes it's not the fit, it's the design, the line, the cut.  All of this used to be so important when I was growing up and first learning about fashion - "It's the cut, dahling!"  And enough said.  

So if you have a piece you've been creative with or thought might work, but it's just not quite right, consider running it through the Design Elements and Principles test to make sure the design is solid.  

Remember, too, that much of what you see on the street, on the runway, and even in the store is not design-savvy.  Those days are gone.  There is so much garbage in the store that the poor consumer doesn't know it, so they keep buying it, thinking it's OK.  

I mentioned that I have a client who has never had anything sewn for her, and I'm going to give her an interview after we finish...things like:

• What was the most important thing you learned about clothing?
• What was the most surprising thing about clothing?
• What was the most pleasing thing?

She's always purchased clothing, and she's always had to look professional and responsible.  She was the head of a large HR department at a large corporation, so she was constantly giving presentations, running workshops, and providing training, and had to appear authoritative and knowledgeable.  But she could only shop at retail stores, cause she didn't know she could have something made.  

To be able to take apart our garments, re-alter them, or simply take the hem up a little to make them sing like a professional opera singer every time we wear them is a gift that so few have.  In just 30 minutes, I took a top I liked and turned it into something I will reach for again and again in my closet.  It's a closely woven herringbone pattern with a gorgeous green, black, and white print.  It's not heavy; it's dense, so it drapes beautifully without being thin.  It's perfect for winter and for my new pants!  

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

I'm taking a break from teaching right now, but I am able to do Zoom demos or talks for your sewing group.  Contact me for details. 
 

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NOTE:  There are some folks who can't get my email, or it's sporadic, or something is hinky.  I will always respond to any of you who send a private message, whether it's about the topic of the week or something else.  If you don't get anything from me, it's probably because the support@sewingartistry.com email is blocked, and even a private message can't get through.  In that case, I'm on Instagram often, and you can always PM me at @sewingartistry.  

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Tracking a fashion trend isn't all that hard after seeing a few of them.  Living from Mid-Century Modern through Twiggy...

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This is the way fashion used to be -- pretty, flattering and I can't wait to make some of...

NOTE:  There are some folks who can't get my email, or it's sporadic, or something is hinky.  I will always respond to any of you who send a private message, whether it's about the topic of the week or something else.  If you don't get anything from me, it's probably because the support@sewingartistry.com email is blocked, and even a private message can't get through.  In that case, I'm on Instagram often, and you can always PM me at @sewingartistry.  

As a precaution, please ensure I'm in your email Address Book and check your spam, junk, and trash folders. Some email clients get extra excited when they see emails coming into the Inbox that go to many other receivers. They automatically think it's trash or spam, and it never makes it to the Inbox.    I must constantly check my spam and junk folders to ensure I'm getting the emails I subscribe to.  

To view in browser along with past emails, click here.

We respect your email privacy.

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