The Meaning of "Belle"
Belle is the feminine form of the French word for "beautiful" and is often used to refer to a beautiful lady, especially the most beautiful one in the room. The "e" is silent, so belle is pronounced like a musical, ringing "bell," though a true French pronunciation would make the "ll" soft and prolonged. Bella, ending in "a" instead of "e," is a popular variation that comes from the Italian and Latin words for beautiful. Since this is a fashion company, the French form, belle, has been selected for the name Fashion Belle because of the historic center for haute couture (high dressmaking) in Paris in modern times.
Sewing Patterns for the Home Sewist
Fashion Belle is a company founded in 2010 by an apparel patternmaker who grew up learning to design sewing patterns from her mother, several skilled family friends, and eventually a university degree in apparel design and production with subsequent work for corporations and private clients. The goal of this website has been to provide a pathway for offering well-fitting, printed patterns to the home sewing audience.
Sizing practices as well as pattern development software in the sewn products industry are both in an ongoing state of progress, and it will be interesting to see where this leads the home sewing industry over time. Patterns printable at home have exploded in popularity, and technology is developing for patterns to be projected straight onto fabric. When it comes to high degrees of accuracy for the home sewist, working with a pre-checked physical pattern and sample garment construction are still the gold standards. The Fashion Belle collection will be based on Size USA data and developed with Optitex pattern software using printing techniques on full-sized pattern paper.