A key aspect of successful design is cohesion:

Every element of a well-planned garment or ensemble should make sense within the whole. In 2024, Threads challenged the members of the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals (ASDP) to create a one-piece dress with an innovative collar or neckline feature, and a coordinating hem detail.

Imagination and a sharp eye for editing were required to ensure that the resulting dresses included focal points to capture the viewer’s attention, as well as areas for the eye to rest. The winning entries range from a showstopping ball gown to a bright and youthful mod shift.

At the ASDP’s annual conference in Portland, Oregon, the finalist garments were evaluated by expert judges: Mary Funt, the 2023 Best Overall winner; guest judges Tricia Crockett, a former challenge winner, and Becky Johnson, an owner of Portland’s Josephine’s Dry Goods fabric store; and Threads editor Carol J. Fresia, who joined the team via teleconference.

The judges enjoyed getting up close with the finalist garments and admired the design acumen and technical expertise on display in every piece. Solutions to the collar/hem challenge included innovative embellishments as well as unexpected patternmaking. Read on to find inspiration for your next special garment project.

Best Overall: Michelle Loggins

Midnight Gold Remembrance Dress

Michelle began with a silhouette she loves—the fitted waistline and full skirt—and then decided to add an asymmetrical collar and hemline. The gold tulle and feather embellishment she applied were inspired by the idea of an angel’s wings.

Using her personal sloper as a starting point, Michelle drafted and draped the details. The collar begins narrow on the left side, broadens as it circles the neck, crosses the bodice, and continues down the skirt’s overlay and around the hem. The feather adornment varies in density, drifting apart as it approaches the skirt’s back hem.

Iridescent midnight blue taffeta provides a stunning background for the gold feather trimming. It’s made of metallic tulle strips, ostrich
feather tufts, sequins and crystals, as well as machine-embroidered gold feathers, stitched onto tulle and appliquéd in place. The judges found that Michelle successfully brought together a complex assortment of elements into a stunning, cohesive design.

Skirt drama: The full skirt is formed with eight godets, adding to the hem circumference without needing gathers at the waistline. Supporting the skirt are multiple layers of tulle and netting, as well as horsehair braid along the hemline. 

Hidden closure: The bodice has an asymmetrical overlay, with decorative buttons covered to match the garment. Hidden snaps release the overlap section, revealing an invisible zipper closure that extends from the neckline into the skirt.

Secret pocket: Inside the skirt’s overlay is a double-welt pocket, sized for a lipstick tube. It shares the theme of the dress, with an embroidered gold wing motif.

Finest Construction: Patty Robison

Piña Bow Neck Sheath

This delicate pink dress has a simple silhouette but many exquisite details. Patty opted to use a special vintage fabric, a piña-silk blend with scattered woven motifs of a báhay kúbo, a traditional Philippine hut built on stilts, beneath a palm tree. The miniature leaf shapes represent pineapple plants. (Learn more about piña fabric here.) Although the fabric is from the 1950s, Patty gave the dress details to modernize it. 

Starting with a close-fitting sheath design, Patty created a halter-neck bodice with a stand collar and long ties. These can be tied in a large bow, as shown, or left hanging loose in front and back. Sizable neckline bows are on trend this season, so the dress fits well with what’s on the runways for spring and summer 2025.

Fabric structure: The piña-silk blend is lightweight and a little stiff, with a soft sheen. To support the fabric, Patty underlined it with silk organza and lined the dress with vintage silk broadcoth. Within the collar ties, there are bands of horsehair braid to create buoyant, voluminous loops.

Custom trim: The feature that most captivated the judges was the sheer, patterned trim that borders all edges of the garment. Patty cut striped lace fabric on the bias and applied it like binding. Where the lace folds over the edges, it appears as diagonal stripes. Where the seam allowances show through along the binding seams, the stripes are angled in the opposite direction to form a zigzag design. The effect is visually intriguing, and it harmonizes in scale with the patterned dress fabric. A wider version of this trim appears along the hemline, as well as at the back bodice’s upper edge, where it tapers to the narrow width on the side fronts. At the side vent, the stripes are perfectly matched.

Fine details: Patty hand-stitched the lining at the side vent and hem for optimal control. 

Most Unexpected Fabric Combination: Judy Huyck

Roses and Tweed

Judy’s beautiful black, white, and silver-gray dress emerged from a selection of stash remnants. The designer was inspired by a Dolce & Gabbana dress from 2022, which combined lace and tweed. As she developed her design, it changed from the original idea of a dressy business look to a style worthy of a black-tie event.

The gown features a black-and-white embroidered lace bodice, sleeve, and lower skirt panel. The skirt portion, shaped with princess seams and extending to an empire waistline, is made of black-and-white wool herringbone tweed. Silk crepe satin in black defines the waistline, cuffs, and the seam joining the wool skirt to the lace hem panel.

Judy used the lace’s scalloped border for the stand collar and repeated this at the hem. This embellishment echoes and helps unify the design. The judges appreciated how Judy incorporated two contrasting fabric types: they enhance, rather than conflict with, each other.

Design process: Referring to her original Dolce & Gabbana inspiration, Judy created several fashion sketches until she was satisfied with the basic style lines. She then drafted the pattern by hand. After she created the basic dress, she cut rose motifs from the lace and appliquéd them by hand. She determined the placement with the gown on a dress form.

Construction details: To maintain the lace’s transparent look, Judy lined the bodice with pale beige stretch net. She used French seams on the lace and net lining. The skirt is lined with polyester, and the herringbone seam allowances are bound. The dress closes in back with a hand-picked zipper in the skirt area, and knotted frogs at the collar and above the zipper.

Stash notions: Along with the main fabrics, Judy sourced the linings, black trim, and closures from her collection. Some elements date back 15 years, before coming to light in this winning project.

Most Cohesive Top to Bottom: Barbie McCormick

Round and Round

Barbie’s concept for this challenge was to create a collar that was breaking off the garment’s body, with a coordinating hem treatment. She sketched a number of designs before landing on the idea of a floating spiral. After making a few half-scale samples, she says she realized that there would be some engineering issues to address for the garment to go on and off easily. Once she decided on the final design, she drafted the dress and draped the collar and hem bands.

The judges were impressed with the intricacy of the design and the effective relationship between collar and hem features. The asymmetrical spiraling bands impart a sense of movement and energy, which is further emphasized by the choice of a vibrant turquoise fabric. The result is a dress that’s equal parts fun and glamorous.

Fabrics: The primary fabric is rayon ITY (interlock twist yarn) knit, used as fashion fabric and self-lining. Barbie underlined it with a supportive knit.

Spiral bands: The bands vary in width at the neckline and hem. For the collar, Barbie used four different elastic widths, covered with fabric. At the hem, she inserted horsehair braid as a filler: It’s lighter and springy enough to keep the spiral band from drooping. To make this continuous band, she sewed a graduated tube, then filled it with braid. At top and bottom, the bands are joined and spaced with hand-sewn wooden beads.

Audience Choice: Nancy Petersen

Carnaby Street Mod Dress

The term “innovation” was Nancy’s point of departure for her colorful shift dress. It reminded her of the mod styles of the 1960s, when fashion shaped her point of view and spoke to her adventurous spirit. Missions to outer space were exciting and unforgettable, and their defiance of gravity inspired her design. From that decade on, fashion and innovation have been paired in her mind.   

The dress Nancy designed is based on a vintage silhouette—a body-skimming shift shaped lightly by darts. The novel addition is a “floating” collar that encircles the neck, leaving a bit of skin visible in front and back. This collar is made of bands that are continuous with the shoulder straps. The front straps loop around the back of the neck, and the back shoulder straps loop around the front. Front and back straps connect at the side seams.

Because the collar loops are not joined together, the neck opening can be enlarged for the head to pass through. Then, a pair of hidden snaps at each shoulder secures the straps. This ingenious design intrigued the judges. 

Fabrics: Nancy reached into her stash for the materials, a tangerine crepe and gold faille. The bold-hued fabrics have a slightly iridescent sheen. The faille was more flexible, so she chose it for the bands, adding a light interfacing for body.

Pattermaking strategy: The dress looks deceptively simple. Nancy draped the design on a dress form, using design tape to establish the shape and proportion of the bands
and open spaces.

Photos by Jack Deutsch.

Carol J. Fresia is Threads liaison with the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals.

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